It’s Week 5 of the NFL season and the 3-1 Washington Commanders will face off at home at Northwest Stadium (that feels weird to type) on Sunday at 1:00 PM EDT in Landover, MD. The Browns were eliminated by the Cowboys 33-17 in their home opener, but then won a close game against the Jaguars and then lost two close games against the Giants and Raiders. Although the Browns offense has seemed to struggle under QB Deshaun Watson, their star-studded defense has often kept them in games.

On offense, the Browns are coordinated by new addition Ken Dorsey (formerly of the Bills) and offensive head coach Kevin Stefanski. A variation on Stefanski’s offense was brought to Arizona by their OC Drew Petzing (formerly of the Browns), so it should be somewhat familiar from last week, albeit with wrinkles introduced by Dorsey last season. The offense uses multiple TEs to open up the run game while creating opportunities to make deep throws to WRs. In theory, this should be an offense that plays to the strengths of a strong-armed, dual-threat QB like Deshaun Watson, as it provides multiple ways to attack deep or threaten with the run game, but Watson didn’t seem to comfortable in the offense until last week, when he made some good reads and big throws that were often erased by a penalty or dropped by his WRs.

On defense, the Browns are coordinated by Jim Schwartz, who Commanders fans may remember as the Eagles’ former DC under Doug Pederson. Similar to his time in Philadelphia, Schwartz likes to run a Wide 9 defensive formation with a four-man front that lines the defensive ends wide to give them space to build momentum and isolate them from tackles from the opponent. However, unlike in Philadelphia, Schwartz has one of the highest man coverage percentages in the league, allowing him to blitz at sixth in the league. Cleveland’s defense is also loaded with quality players, including perennial All Pro and 2023 DPOY Myles Garrett, All Pro DE Za’Darius Smith and Pro Bowl CB Denzel Ward.

I asked Chris Pokorny of Dawgs by Nature five questions to better understand the state of the Browns and what to look for in this game.

1) Despite playing a bit better last week, Deshaun Watson hasn’t played like a franchise QB overall during his time in Cleveland. What are the issues with his play, why do you think he seemed to play better in Houston, and does Kevin Stefanski even have the authority to bench him for poor performance?

I always thought Deshaun Watson was a bit overrated in Houston, but that’s another topic. I think a few things happened. First of all, the league has evolved a bit to where you naturally have to be a very good decision-maker and passer, or you have to have a high degree of mobility. When Watson was at his peak, his level of mobility was considered top-notch. Then, with a few years off, Watson had the combination of rust and a slower ball delivery clock that, in my opinion, put him below most of the starting quarterbacks in the NFL, and below some of the backups . I mean, Joe Flacco came off the same foul and scored over 30 points in his sleep. In four games this season, Cleveland hasn’t even scored 20 points.

However, last week was by far Watson’s best performance of the season. He made good decisions and used his mobility to help set up more manageable situations. Does one game influence the opinion of him? Certainly not, as this is his third season with Cleveland and we need to see a lot more consistency to believe he has turned a corner. While some fans wanted him on the bench, and Kevin Stefanski would have the authority to do that, that won’t happen anytime soon. The offensive line has suffered an inordinate number of injuries, receivers are dropping passes left and right, and the team’s star running back (Nick Chubb) is set to return. With how much he gets paid, the leash is very long for him.

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2) Speaking of Kevin Stefanski, how would you characterize him as an offensive mind and playcaller? What has OC Ken Dorsey added to Cleveland’s offense since his hiring this offseason?

I loved Kevin Stefanski’s offensive play calling during his first few years when the offense was essentially his own. Cleveland’s offensive line thrived on the zone blocking scheme for their rushing attack, and we saw a lot of two- and three-tight end sets with the passing game working off of that creatively. With Ken Dorsey’s offense so far, I think they have tried to adapt to Deshaun Watson by putting him in Shotgun almost all the time. I’m not a fan of those types of offenses, even if the running game usually happens from that formation as well. It goes against the power of the type of blocking scheme our offensive linemen were known to thrive on. Cleveland is currently facing an identity crisis on offense because other than our first drive of the game, no one has any idea what our bread-and-butter or strength should be. I hope there is a strategic change to the offensive plan once Chubb returns, but that’s probably wishful thinking.

3) At the time of his signing in 2020, Browns GM Andrew Berry was the youngest GM in NFL history at 32 years old. What do you think of the job he has done in building the team and is there anything you would like to do differently?

Andrew Berry has done a good job, but there is one move that will clearly be a major hindrance for him: the acquisition of Deshaun Watson. Was it Berry in charge? Was it team owner Jimmy Haslam? Analytics guy Paul DePodesta? Did Kevin Stefanski play a role? Even though Haslam doesn’t get involved in things like he used to, based on what he used to do, I just have this vision in my head that he helped push to make the move happen. That move caused the team to lose first-round selections (and many other picks) in recent years, meaning Berry’s draft classes haven’t been able to accomplish much. Imagine if we still had Baker Mayfield, the defense we have now, And three years of first- and second-round picks stockpiled at other positions? Browns fans are still pulling their hair out over it. So while I like Berry, I think the Watson trade will unfortunately always be seen as the defining moment on his resume.

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4) Who is a Browns player on offense and a player on defense that Washington fans probably don’t know much about, but they should?

In attack, most players are quite well known; there have been no hidden gems making plays in secret. That’s why I’m going with rookie right guard Zak Zinter. He was the Browns’ third-round pick this year, but was heralded as a second-round talent. He made his first start due to injury last week and it was a bit tough. He has promised to improve in his second start, but that is a player to watch. On defense I’m going for linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (JOK). While Cleveland fans know he is a high-level talent, I don’t know how well known he is in the rest of the NFL, especially among NFC teams we don’t see often. JOK does a great job chasing down and generating tackles for a loss, and I consider him a future Pro Bowler with the ceiling of an All-Pro talent.

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5) How should Washington handle scheduling this game on both sides of the ball?

On offense, Washington should attack the edges. Use quick, short passes to receivers or running backs on the outside and let Cleveland chase them (I’m not talking about checkdowns, but intended plays). Use end-arounds; the Raiders did it last week with two receivers and scored touchdowns on them. Don’t rely on dropping back and trying to consistently throw the ball up the middle of the field or challenging the Browns’ cornerbacks. There is a formula for deceptive plays and the formulas I mentioned earlier that seem so simple, but they work against this aggressive defense.

On defense, I think Washington needs to attack the Browns with blitzes left and right, and run stunts with their defensive linemen. Cleveland’s offensive line is very poor at blocking consistently, and Watson and the offense will undoubtedly make mistakes as more pressure is applied. They haven’t scored 20 points yet this season, and one reason is because they haven’t proven they can handle the blitz. If they could do that and the light bulb clicks, then it would clearly be a bad strategy. But even bad defenses have done it repeatedly, and the Browns haven’t beaten it yet.

An accompanying article with my answers to Chris’ questions can be found here.

Thanks again to Chris Pokorny for taking the time to answer our questions about the Browns.