Sam Rutigliano, the head coach of those fun, exciting Kardiac Kids Browns teams of the late 1970s and early ‘80s, specifically 1980, used to talk all the time about “the vertical flow of the offense.”

And, now, 4-1/2 decades later, that term has gotten a second life — it has been reborn — as it explains why Shadeur Sanders just may have pulled the upset and won the Browns quarterback competition.

Much more often than not recently, including, and especially, in Saturday’s preseason home opener against the Buffalo Bills at Huntington Bank Field, the offense flowed vertically with Sanders in there. It looked so much better, and consistent, and organized and purposeful than it did with the presumed favorite, Deshaun Watson, playing. It clunked along, wheezing and vibrating and stalling like an old jalopy that was leaking oil. It just hasn’t looked right — not even close.

Never was this more apparent — it was painfully obvious, in fact — than in the 31-7 loss to the Bills. The offense moved up and down the field when Sanders played in the first half, which ended with the Browns trailing 14–7. It might’ve been tied at 14 if Sanders’ pass deep in Buffalo territory wasn’t intercepted when a receiver failed to catch a ball that he should’ve caught.

In the second half, with Watson doing his best Spergon Wynn imitation, the offense was just awful, only making the booing that greeted him when he walked onto the field fur the first time, just that much louder.

The eye test is always the best test. I think that Browns head coach Todd Monken is anxious to watch the tape to confirm what he thought he saw when all this played out. And when he does, then he will award the job to Sanders, I truly believe.

Steve King