Another slow start dooms the Browns

Browns players haven’t quit on Hue Jackson, who is 1-18 in Cleveland. But they need to get a win soon to keep morale from sinking, Jeff Schudel writes. Starting as well as they finish would help.

Hue Jackson’s task as head coach gets more and more difficult every time the Browns lose.

The Browns are 0-3 after losing, 31-28, to the previously winless Colts on Sept. 24. It is their second three-point loss of the season, but they looked much better losing, 21-18, to the Steelers than they did losing to Indianapolis.

Jackson somehow got his team to play hard all season last year while they stumbled through a 1-15 season in 2016. They played hard in the first three games this season — even in the 24-10 loss in Baltimore — but how long can Jackson keep that fire burning in his players before practice becomes a burden and the effort diminishes like it did in the final games of Mike Pettine’s tenure as head coach in 2015?

“We’re tired of being short,” Jackson told reporters after the game. “Nobody’s down. Nobody’s throwing in the towel. If anything I’m (angry) because we want to win. We deserve to win. We have to eliminate the penalties (10 for 113 yards).

“We can’t have a quarter where an offensive team scores a lot of points (the Colts scored 21 in the second quarter). We have to finish drives. We have to catch the ball better.”

The heat is going to grow on Browns owner Jimmy Haslam to make a coaching change if the Browns don’t start winning. But that would be ridiculously counter-productive as long as players continue to give constant effort.

The Browns’ receivers dropped eight passes and were called for offensive pass interference four times. Derrick Kindred, making a mistake a middle school player should never make, jumped offsides on fourth-and-2 with the ball on the Browns’ 40. Kindred’s mistake led to a field goal and a 17-point Colts lead at 31-14.

Neither Jackson nor special teams coordinator Chris Tabor should have to say, “Hey, guys, don’t jump offsides.” And if a ball hits an NFL receiver in the hands he should catch it — even the Browns sorry group of receivers should catch the ball.

Rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer took blame for losing to the Colts. He threw three more interceptions and now has seven on the season.

Kizer’s most crucial mistake was a pick thrown when the Browns were driving to cut into a 28-14 deficit. The pass was intended for Kasen Williams. Williams cut inside. The pass was thrown to the outside and picked at the Colts’ 3 by Rashaan Melvin with 8:27 left in the third quarter. Two possessions later a pass thrown behind Kenny Britt deflected off Britt’s hands and was intercepted by Melvin at the Colts 31.

The third interception was a desperation throw on the final play.

“Turnovers are the name of this game in this league,” Kizer somberly told reporters. “I went out there and had two crucial ones. They were prime moments for us to change the moments of the game.

“The first one I didn’t put the ball to where I was supposed to put it. The second one I didn’t put it where I was supposed to put it. There were a lot of opportunities for me to put the ball in better places and allow our receivers to have better opportunities to catch it. In order for us to move forward as an offense, I have to make sure the ball is in the right spot at the right time.”

No, the Browns didn’t quit. They just took too long to get going — again. They trailed the Steelers, 21-10, with less than six minutes left in the third quarter. They trailed the Ravens, 21-7, at halftime and the Colts, 28-14, at halftime.

The Browns have outscored opponents, 256, in the fourth quarter. That is not what 0-3 teams normally do. That is what 3-0 teams do.

“This locker room is one that’s never going to give up,” Kizer said. “No game is ever over for us.”

Jackson should be rewarded if, somewhere down the road, that attitude turns into victories.

Reach Schudel at JSchudel@News-Herald. com. On Twitter: @jsproinsider