When the 1-13 Jets play against the Browns in their home final on Sunday, they need to look across the field at their opponent and see hope for themselves.
The Browns were 0-16 in 2017. Still, they go into Sunday’s game with a 10-4 record, they are a virtual guarantee to make it to the playoffs and still have an outside chance to take the AFC North. to win.
That’s a lot of progress in a short space of time for a Cleveland franchise that – like the perception with which the Jets are tagged (10 years away from their last playoff appearance) – was considered a black hole.
Is there a Jets fan on the planet who wouldn’t apply for the position the Browns currently hold over two seasons?
“That says a few things,” former Jets general manager and current ESPN analyst Mike Tannenbaum told The Post this week when asked about the revived Browns. “One is that they may have been a little closer than that. people thought, some of those games the Browns were in [in 2017] were single possession games, so close.
And now they’ve made some good decisions and the quarterback [Baker Mayfield] got better. They brought [head coach Kevin] Stefanski in, [offensive line coach] Bill Callahan in and have a better line of attack. A combination of all those things and you can turn things around quickly, because our sport is inherently built for teams to be in the middle, 8-8. ”
The Jets, 9-point underdogs to beat the Browns, have lost twice since finishing 1-15 for the second time in their history, and the rebuild seems daunting with a new coaching staff needed, quarterback uncertainty and a selection that just isn’t good enough.
However, Tannenbaum does not believe the Jets are light years away.
“If you’re just starting out with the last two months – they played the Patriots very close at MetLife, that game was really a competitive one-score game to the end,” said Tannenbaum. Look at the Raiders game [a 31-28 loss in the final seconds]. They clearly had a pretty good chance of winning that match. And they just beat a good Rams team on the road.
“So the closet isn’t bare at all.”
Neither did the Browns, who flourished under the leadership of Stefanski, a head coach who seems to have pressed all the right buttons.
Stefanski was in Minnesota who initiated the Vikings attack while the Browns toiled at 0-16.
When asked how daunting a task rebuilding from 0-16 was, Stefanski said, in his freshman year in Cleveland, after inheriting a team that went 6-10 last year, “It’s hard for me to get there. because I wasn’t there then. But I can tell you everything we’ve been doing since I got here, and all that was to do it day by day and build this thing painstakingly in terms of schedule and staff.
Then with Andrew Berry coming on board and taking the reins [as general manager], what he has done is bring in the right people, ” Stefanski continued. “We brought in good footballers and we brought in good people, hired a technical staff that I felt very much for.”
Stefanski has also proven to be the right person for the job. Interestingly, he was considered an ‘offensive’ head coach, much like Adam Gase was when he was hired by the Jets last season.
The difference, however, is that Stefanski has labeled himself the CEO of the entire team, not just the offense – unlike Gase, who hasn’t had much to do with Jets’ defense.
“I was just trying to be myself,” said Stefanski. “But I’m the head coach of the team, so I think the players understand that I am not the attacking head coach, I am the head coach. I also have a strong feeling for it. the technical staff we’ve assembled here.
Andrew drew up a plan in the off season and identified guys he wanted to follow through the trade, free agency, design. He addressed a number of areas that we thought were important. I know everyone is watching the offensive line, and that’s a fair thing to do. We went out and got a man in a free agency [Jack Conklin], drawn up [Jedrick Wills] and brought in coach Callahan, who I think is the best in the business. ”
Gase, who has tried to build two programs with the Dolphins and Jets with little success, admired the Browns’ build from afar. On Sunday he will of course be viewed closely.
“They’ve done a good job of building that thing front to back and have the right kind of guys up front, be it the O line or the D line,” Gase said. pass rusher [Myles Garrett], and they have an O line that does a really good job of creating holes and creating a really good running game [led by Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt].
“They have surrounded the quarterback with many skilled players who help him excel and keep getting better. At the beginning of this year, many people wondered how good [Mayfield] went to play. He has played very well this year and they have won many games. ”
If you think this is exactly what was missing with the Gase Jets – strong attacking line and skilled players around quarterback Sam Darnold – you’re not alone.
Asked if he sees the work the Browns have done to turn themselves into a contender in such a short time as a sign of hope for a franchise like the Jets, Stefanski said, “It’s really hard for me to go there . We keep our blinders on and focus on what we have in front of us. ”
What Stefanski did comment on was what his team had ahead of Sunday, and he seemed to echo Tannenbaum’s non-bald sentiment towards the Jets.
Browns freshman coach stood in front of his team Wednesday morning and told them, “Just put the tape on” from the Jets’ victory over the Rams last week.
“I know they won the game last week; you can see the result, ” he said. “But I also wanted them to see how they won. That was a physical group that took the ball away, attacked blocks, made the ball run, became explosive. I think the band jumped to the guys. ”