Late in the second quarter of the Browns-Titans game on Sunday, the cameras showed Cleveland first-year coach Kevin Stefanski on the sideline and my mind flashed to the scene on the restaurant stairs in “Get Shorty,” where Delroy Lindo’s character says to John Travolta’s: “You don’t know me. You only think you do.”
This was, you see, supposed to be the most predictable game script of the NFL weekend. The top two rushing offenses in the league, squaring off in a December matchup. Derrick Henry. Nick Chubb. Kareem Hunt. Who’s going to want to throw the ball with all of that going on?
Stefanski’s Browns, that’s who. Baker Mayfield was 20-for-25 for 290 yards, four touchdown passes and no interceptions in the first half. Cleveland built a 38-7 halftime lead and hung on for a 41-35 victory that improved its record to 9-3 and stamped the Browns, if they still needed stamping, as one of the leading AFC playoff contenders.
