Gordon can't keep Browns from losing
CARSON, Calif. — Josh Gordon made two big plays in his return to regularseason action, but the former All-Pro wide receiver didn’t produce nearly enough to prevent Browns coach Hue Jackson from making dubious history in his hometown.
Playing in a real NFL game for the first time in 1,077 days, Gordon finished with four receptions for 85 yards on 11 targets and the Browns suffered a 19-10 defeat Sunday to the Los Angeles Chargers at the StubHub Center.
Falling to 1-27, Jackson, a Los Angeles native, set a record for the worst start with a team by any head coach in NFL history. Last week, Jackson tied coach John McKay for the previous record. McKay went 0-26 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1976-77 before winning two games in a row.
The Browns also became just the second team in NFL history to begin consecutive seasons 0-12. McKay’s Buccaneers also did it. The Browns also stumbled to 4-45 dating to late in the 2014 season. It’s the worst 49-game stretch in NFL history.
Now they have just four games left to avoid finishing the season with a record of 0-16. Only the 2008 Detroit Lions have experienced such humiliation.
“All season, you can see that we’re very close to getting where we want to go,” rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer said. “But I can definitely sense in this locker room that close isn’t cutting it anymore. We need to get over that hill.”
They likely will need a stronger connection between Gordon and Kizer to prevail. Kizer either underthrew or overthrew Gordon a handful of times. Kizer completed 15 of 32 passes for 215 yards and a touchdown with an interception. He was sacked three times.
Gordon hadn’t played in the regular season since Dec. 21, 2014. He missed 44 consecutive games and 54 of 59 because of recurring violations of the NFL’s substance-abuse policy.
“It was real familiar, man,” Gordon said. “Football is something I have been doing my whole life. New stadium, that's about it, you know?”
For a moment, Gordon looked like the player who led the NFL with 1,646 receiving yards in 2013. On thirdand-1 at the Browns’ 44-yard line, Gordon ran a go route along the sideline and jumped to haul in a 28-yard pass over Pro Bowl cornerback Casey Hayward.
Two plays later, the Browns took a 7-6 lead and finished a five-play, 65-yard drive when rookie tight end David Njoku beat cornerback Trevor Williams to haul in a 28-yard touchdown pass from Kizer with 1:55 left in the second quarter.
But the Browns didn’t reach the end zone again, and the Chargers (6-6) avenged last season’s 20-17 Christmas Eve loss to Cleveland, which failed to defeat anyone else and finished 1-15.
The Browns trailed 19-10 after rookie kicker Zane Gonzalez made a 35-yard field goal at the end of an 11-play, 58-yard drive with 12:03 left in the fourth quarter. After their defense got a stop, they advanced to the Chargers’ 3-yard line on a 17-yard run by Kizer. But a holding penalty on receiver Corey Coleman pushed the Browns back to the 15. On third-and-goal from there, defensive end Joey Bosa stripsacked Kizer, and the Chargers recovered at their 20 with 4:48 left in the fourth quarter.
Another defensive stop allowed the Browns, still trailing by nine points, to regain possession at their 33 with 2:08 remaining. During the first play of the series, Gordon had a 39-yard catch-andrun against Hayward. Two plays later, Kizer threw an interception to safety Adrian Phillips with 1:14 left.
The Chargers reached the end zone for the first time and took a 16-7 lead when they opened the second half with a 10-play, 78-yard scoring drive. On thirdand-goal, quarterback Philip Rivers threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Keenan Allen, who got behind cornerback Jason McCourty in the end zone, with 10:35 left in the third quarter. Rivers passed for 344 yards.