Browns Digest

Cleveland Browns Put Major Narrative To Bed With Win Over Steelers

While outside noise suggested Kevin Stefanski was on the hot seat, the Browns prime time win over the Pittsburgh Steelers silenced that narrative in it's tracks

Spencer German

Nov 21, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski reacts during the second half against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Huntington Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
Nov 21, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski reacts during the second half against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Huntington Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images / Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
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Anyone looking to thaw out from the Cleveland Browns thrilling 24-19 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers shouldn't expect to find it from head coach Kevin Stefanski's proverbial 'hot seat" anymore.

In the days leading up to a Thursday Night Football showdown between the two AFC North foes, Stefanski's job began creeping into the national conversation. Hours before kickoff though, insiders like ESPN's Adam Schefter and MMQB's Albert Breer made it clear that Cleveland's head man wasn't going anywhere.

Stefanski's Browns then proceeded to deliver one of the most memorable performances in franchise history, pulling off an improbable win over the division leading Steelers in the middle of a snow globe. It was something from a football dream, and made for an instant classic of a football game on the shores of Lake Erie.

Beating that team always means a little bit more. But to pull off a dramatic, comeback victory – with Jameis Winston leading a late fourth quarter scoring drive, and Nick Chubb capping it off with the touchdown – draped in the pomp and circumstance of Thursday Night Football, in an absolutely perfect football setting, was the boldest of statement by Stefanski's group.

There would be nothing more detrimental to Stefanski's job security than players quitting on him down the home stretch of a season with very little to play for in the way of playoff positioning. That exact thing was called into question just four days prior to Thursday's win, after the Browns gave up 21 unanswered points to the Saints in the fourth quarter of an embarrassing 35-14 loss.

Myles Garrett said he didn't think effort was the problem afterwards. A fair assessment when you consider the game was tied at 14 entering the final stanza. It was just a bad quarter and it wound up telling the story of the game.

At 2-8 though, they could have rolled over in a short week, in the cold and snow and just accepted the tragic state of their season. They didn't though. Guys played hard on Thursday night, in every phase. There's no greater case to support Stefanski keeping his job than his message still getting through despite the circumstances the team currently finds itself in.

To make it clear, there was never any reason to believe that Stefanski's job was in jeopardy, going into Thursday night or otherwise. That doesn't mean it couldn't change if things really fell apart and he completely lost the locker room. Thursday night proved there's no quit in this team.

Too much was made over Mike Vrabel's increased presence on the sideline. While it was a little odd that he said during training camp that he wouldn't be around on game days, then was present for game days, that's been the case for a while now. Some people seemed to notice he had an ear piece and started jumping to conclusions that just don't have much merit.

The whole thing is a non-issue. And Vrabel has never been a threat to swipe Stefanski's job, despite how intriguing it may seem to some fans.

And so, the Stefanski "hot seat" narrative was put to bed on Thursday night. Buried under however many inches of snow coated Huntington Bank Field during Cleveland's unforgettable win over Pittsburgh. That's a conversation for another day, or year, really.

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Spencer German
SPENCER GERMAN

Spencer German is a contributor to the Northeast Ohio cluster of sites, including Cavs Insider, Cleveland Baseball Insider and most notably Browns Digest. He also works as a fill-in host on Cleveland Sports Radio, 92.3 The Fan, one of the Browns radio affiliate stations in Cleveland. Despite being a Cleveland transplant, Spencer has enjoyed making Northeast Ohio home ever since he attended college locally at John Carroll University, where he graduated in 2013.

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