Entering his sixth season with the Cleveland Browns, head coach Kevin Stefanski was already in a do-or-die situation. Determined to fix one of the worst NFL offenses from last season, he made some drastic decisions. However, not much has gone his way. After a 23-9 disappointment in Pittsburgh, the team’s lowest score of the season, the rumor mill is swirling, and the sword is on the coach’s neck.

Browns reporter, Brad Stainbrook, shared a hot take on his X as he wrote, “I’m not ruling anything out on what Jimmy Haslam could decide to do if the #Browns fall again on Sunday. The temperature in Berea is rising.

“Kevin Stefanski is a great coach…the best the #Browns have had in a long time. But the foundation he built is cracking, and it’s cracking fast,” he wrote in a follow-up tweet.

When Stefanski was brought to Berea in 2020, the focus was on the offense. However, after a 3-14 record last season, the team parted ways with offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey and offensive line coach Andy Dickerson. In a surprising decision, though, the team retained Stefanski and GM Andrew Berry, believing a healthy roster and a young QB from the draft could turn things around.

But things have only worsened for the Browns.

While it’s still not obvious whether the Haslams would fire Stefanski in the middle of the season, one thing is clear: Cleveland’s offense with Stefanski calling the shots has collapsed. The Browns are now 1-5 and entering Week 7. Consider these facts:

• The team extended its streak of scoring 17 or fewer points to 11 straight games, a franchise record.
• The Browns have the lowest-scoring offense in the league (13.67 points per game).
• They’re the second-worst team with 4.1 yards per play.

The reasons, however, are obvious.

For starters, the offensive line has been marred by injuries. Earlier this offseason, the team brought back most of its O-line members with the addition of veterans Cornelius Lucas and Teven Jenkins. Lucas had to start three games because Jack Conklin and Dawand Jones (season-ending) went down with injuries. However, with a pass block win rate of 79.8% ranking 59th out of 65 qualifying tackles, he has been a healthy scratch over the last two games.

Amidst multiple injuries on the O-line, the Browns have used five different players on the offensive tackle position this season. And the pass protection hasn’t exactly been doing them any favors either, as QB Dillon Gabriel took six sacks against the Steelers alone. The team’s run game was limited, too (65 yards on 17 attempts).

As for the wide receivers? They aren’t going any better.

Per ESPN, wide receivers Jerry Jeudy, Cedric Tillman, and Isaiah Bond, and tight ends David Njoku and Harold Fannin Jr. all rank in the bottom 15 among the 89 players in the receiver scores metric. In fact, Jeudy, who received his first Pro Bowl nod last season, is leading the league with five drops in the Browns’ NFL-high 13 drops. However, their rookie starting quarterback refuses to put all the blame on the receivers.

“I think it’s hard to just say there’s drops,” Gabriel said after the Steelers game. “There are a lot of ways I can be better to help them, and times that we can work through those certain things. But within plays, it ain’t going to be perfect. It never will. In the moments that we were in, it’s a lot more crucial to sustain drives and get catches to keep going. But like I said, I don’t want to get it misconstrued. That all starts with me as well.”

Certainly, the hole under the center cannot be ignored.

Gabriel has not turned the ball in his first two starts in the NFL. However, his performance hasn’t been enough to change the disposition of the Browns’ passing offense. Per ESPN, he has the lowest mark in the NFL among qualified passers with 4.8 yards per attempt. His 5.8 air yards per attempt is the third lowest.

He is completing 57.3% of his passes, and his 18.8% off-target rate is the fifth-highest mark in the NFL. But Stefanski is still sure Gabriel is the man to lead his team.

“Obviously, Dillon is in his second start,” Stefanski said. “Some good things to build off of. He’s learning, just like all young players are learning for us right now. And we’ll continue to try to get him to make those improvements that young players make and also play better around them. That’s our focus.”

Clearly, he is still looking for the light at the end of the tunnel.

But the tunnel only seems to stretch longer. After their 22nd straight regular-season loss in Pittsburgh dating back to 2003, the HC needs to find multiple solutions. Quickly.

Could Kevin Stefanski start Shedeur Sanders sooner rather than later?

The Browns made a change under center for better results. But it’s the same old story. Joe Flacco led the team to a 1-3 record before eventually joining the division rivals, the Cincinnati Bengals. Fast forward to now, and Dillon Gabriel has already dropped his first two starts of his short NFL career. As a result, the Browns’ faithful are now demanding to see Shedeur Sanders under center. The Colorado Buffaloes product spent his first five weeks as an emergency quarterback and then as a QB2.

But with Gabriel’s poor outing against the Steelers, the question now is: When will Sanders get the nod? In Week 6, Gabriel had a game to forget. Overall, he completed 29-of-52 passes for 221 yards with no TDs and interceptions. Add six sacks to it, and his struggles were hard to miss. Sanders was ready in his uniform to play if needed, but Stefanski had other plans.

Sanders didn’t get to play because Stefanski didn’t consider a quarterback change during the game.

“We’re doing everything we can to support the starter, and then you have to be ready in a moment’s notice,” the HC said before the Steelers game. “That’s just the life of backup players at every position.”

He is expected to start with Gabriel in Week 7. While it is still not certain how the QB picture in Cleveland will change or how the O-line will fix itself, Stefanski’s time in Berea is seemingly running closer to an end.