The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Kizer shows he can be the answer at QB
Playing quarterback for the Browns should come with a sack-survival bonus.
DeShone Kizer in the season opener against the Steelers became the 27th quarterback to start for the Browns since 1999. He quickly learned what happened to the 26 ghosts who took snaps before him.
The rookie from Notre Dame, the 52nd pick of the 2017 draft, was pummeled and pounded by the Steelers. But he hung in there like a lighthouse in a storm, and though the Browns lost another opener — their 17th of 18 — Kizer at least showed reason to believe better days are ahead.
Kizer was sacked seven times in the 2118 loss, and that doesn’t include two runs that left him counting his ribs to make sure they were all still there.
Ryan Shazier, the Steelers’ vicious inside linebacker, drove his helmet into Kizer’s right shoulder and drew an unnecessary roughness penalty for it. Kizer jumped up quickly as if to say, “Is that the best you’ve got?” and continued to challenge the best team in the AFC North.
“I like DeShone,” Browns head coach Hue Jackson said. “I like the feel of him on the sideline with me. I love our communication. He did some good things. There are some opportunities that he’s going to be the first to tell you he wishes he had back.”
“That’s going to happen to a young quarterback, but this guy gave us a chance. He put the team in position to give us an opportunity to make something special happen.”
Kizer completed 20 of 30 passes for 222 yards with one touchdown pass and one interception. He also was victimized by dropped passes — one by Kenny Britt over the middle and a pass to Kasen Williams down the right sideline that was ruled incomplete because Williams didn’t stay inbounds.
With the Browns trailing, 21-10, and no room for error late in the third quarter, Kizer telegraphed a pass Steelers rookie T.J. Watt picked off at the Pittsburgh 17.
“I saw Kizer looking my way so I kind of was sinking back into coverage and the ball came right to me,” Watt said.
Kizer bounced back from that mistake the same way be bounced back from the hard blows delivered by menacing Steelers.
Working almost exclusively from the shotgun, Kizer guided a 73-yard, eight-play match resulting in a 3-yard touchdown pass to Corey Coleman on fourth-and-3 with 3:36 remaining. Isaiah Crowell dashed into the end zone for a two-point conversion to cut the lead to 21-18.
Kizer looked like a skilled veteran in the drive, hitting Crowell on
a short pass for 10 yards, stepping up and throwing a rope 29 yards on the right side to Ricardo Louis to the Steelers’ 34, and following that with a short pass Crowell turned into a 23-yard gain.
The Browns’ defense needed one stop to give Kizer another chance, but the Steelers were able to bleed the clock dry.
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is now 21-1 lifetime against the Browns — 11-1 in Cleveland. But now fans at least have reason to hope the Browns have a quarterback who can stand strong and whip the ball downfield, a quarterback who will give the Browns a chance.
Kizer did not want to talk about what he did well. He didn’t want to talk about feeling satisfied
foe “almost” beating the Steelers. Instead he talked about what he can do better. He said he held the ball too long at times and was hard on himself for the pick by Watt.
“The competitor in me won’t let me feel that way,” he said. “We have to show who we are and the progress and compete against what is known as one of the better teams in our conference.”
The Browns close the season in Pittsburgh on Dec. 31. Whether Kizer will still be standing in 16 weeks is a chapter to be written. No Browns quarterback since Tim Couch in 2002 has lasted through 16 starts.