On the Lovie matter: Interesting he was chopped rather quickly, and I can't help but be reminded that someone that used to play for that team once loudly criticized them for their hiring practices....
Anyway, here's my continued post-mortem:
I see a lot of sentiment that if only the Browns had a fiery coach that the players would run through the wall for, their record would be better.
I think coach's demeanor is only mildly important in this regard. They gotta be competent first. I think Stefanski is that, I do not think that is true of the defensive staff.
The Browns rebuild which came under Stefanski really hit their "Detroit Lions" moment 2 years ago, in the COVID season. In the playoffs finally, beat the Stoolers 2x to end the season (capitalizing on the Big Ben decline), essentially jobbed by the refs out of the Chiefs game, but still had a chance to win.
People had them in the AFC Championship over a team like Buffalo, who I felt was moving along far better than the Browns in that regard.
We all saw what happened. Defense was ass (again), Baker Mayfield had his worst season ever with the Browns, and now the Browns had some hard decisions to make. They had to do something about the QB situation. Baker put a ceiling on the team's forward success, and he was just about due for an extension. The Browns either had to let Baker "prove it" for a season and draft someone (and this past draft, I can't think of anyone outside of Pickett who looked like they could make it through a game that actually played this season). Or see who was available in free agency. Didn't think the Browns had a chance or would even land Deshaun Watson (especially with the circus surrounding him) but they did. OK. The QB situation is essentially handled. While some will quibble about the money in that contract, the Browns were faced with having to do that anyway unless they found a rookie QB they liked, essentially rebuilding all over again. Give me a QB who is similarly aged, with All-Pro pedigree in that situation rather than the alternative.
The aforementioned circus had the Browns without their star QB for 11 games, so that essentially was the kiss of death. Besides acquiring Amari Cooper on the cheap (a deal I do 10 times out of 10), there wasn't much to write home about. The mercenary Jadeveon Clowney came back, but that's just about all they did on defense besides injury replacement. The season could have been more, but the defense said otherwise. Winnable games were dropped to the Jets, the Falcons, and the Chargers because of it. Given the way the rest of the season went, that's good enough for 10 games alone (In at least 4 games, 3 of them against AFC North opponents, the refs also had say in that). When the star QB came in, he largely looked like a guy who had missed 2 years of football, but also showed much more promise and a genuine upgrade from QBs past. His entry coincided with the decline of the offensive line, and coaching that wanted to ease the QB into getting the timing right among other things. Same process with the venerable Jacoby Brissett (a decision that the Browns should be happy they made, else this season would have been even uglier).
The screws are tightened, and as usual, the Steelers found a way to make lemonade out of piss. Baltimore looks like they're tanking, and those damn Bungles look like an AFC North Power with Home Alone at QB. Tough scene for the Browns. But all hope is not lost. Some very key talent is retained, and the front office will have to make their own lemonade with suboptimal ingredients. Atop that, whatever team comes out of this offense will have to adopt a "Browns Vs The World" mentality. They're up against a largely sanctimonious media who will micromanage their every move, competing in an overloaded AFC that is only getting better, and will be facing even worse officiating that they will need to outscore or otherwise neutralize.
TL-DR: Browns had their moment 2 years ago; it blew up in their face, and they've gone through the gauntlet trying to return to that high point. If anything, that big ass contract given Deshaun bought them sometime that they would not have had otherwise. Fix the damn defense and Cleveland will prosper. It's like the Cavs. Find a wing, and the team will prosper. Fix the defense, and the team will prosper. Fuck the haters.