The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
LOSSES PILE ON
Browns quarterback DeShone Kizer (7) is tackled by Bengals defensive end Chris Smith (94), defensive end Carlos Dunlap (96), defensive tackle Geno Atkins (97) in the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday in Cincinnati. The Browns went on to lose, 30-16, bringing the Browns to 11 losses in a winless season.
How did the Browns get to 0-11 on a sunny afternoon on Nov. 26 by losing, 30-16, in Cincinnati?
With apologies to Elizabeth Barrett Browning, let me count the ways.
• They lost their 18th straight road game because they were 1-for-4 in the red zone.
DeShone Kizer led his best opening drive of his young career to the Bengals’ 8. But then after Isaiah Crowell was dumped for a 3-yard loss, tight end David Njoku was called for offensive pass interference. The drive died at the 9. Zane Gonzalez ended up kicking a 27-yard field goal.
The Browns’ penetrated to the Bengals’ 20, 3 and 19 before finally getting a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
• Bad football teams commit stupid, senseless penalties. The Browns moved to the Bengals’ 20 on their second possession after Cincinnati took a 7-3 lead on its first possession. It was a good counter-punch by the offense, but then Bryce Treggs — Bryce Treggs, ladies and gentlemen — was called for taunting when he and a Bengals defender were face-to-face.
The penalty moved the ball back to the Cincinnati 36 on second-and-26. The Browns picked up 15 yards in two plays, but the drive stalled.
Gonzalez compounded the penalty by missing a 43-yard field goal wide left.
• The Browns were swept (again) by the Bengals in the Battle of Ohio because Corey Coleman, in his second game back from a broken hand, dropped a perfectly thrown pass in the end zone from the Bengals’ 29. Gonzalez ended up kicking a 39-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 23-9, but the dropped touchdown pass was deflating.
• The running game was clicking, but after a deep pass on second-and-1 late in the third quarter fell incomplete, the Browns, down 23-9, instead of handing off to Crowell, Kizer dropped to pass and was dumped for a 9-yard loss. The sack eliminated the possibility of going for it on fourth down. Britton Colquitt had to punt from the Browns’ 47.
• Single plays always haunt a team that, in the words of head coach Hue Jackson, “has to be perfect to win.”
The play that is going to be scrutinized the most from the loss at Paul Brown Stadium was an unnecessary roughness penalty on Jabrill Peppers on third-and-5 from the Browns’ 40. Peppers appeared to lead with his shoulder on a pass intended for wide receiver Josh Malone, but the official ruled Peppers hit Malone helmet first.
The penalty cost the Browns 15 yards and gave the Bengals a first down.
Jackson was critical of the call in his post-game interview. He agreed with the suggestion that maybe the Browns don’t get the close calls because they are the lowest of the bottom feeders in the NFL and have been for a decade.
“That could be true,” Jackson said. “I don’t want to believe that. But I think sometimes, when it’s like it is, we don’t get the favorable things. We haven’t had one of those go our way this year. When we are winning, which we will here someday (I hope) we get all the calls. There are a bunch of people that owe us some stuff when the time comes.”
The penalty moved the ball to the Browns’ 25. Bengals running back Joe Mixon ran 14 yards on one play and after an incomplete pass scampered 11 yards to the end zone for a 30-16 Cincinnati lead with 2:57 to play.
• You can debate for a long time about the biggest reason the Browns lost again. It wasn’t Kizer’s fault. He was 18 of 31 for 268 yards. The Browns rushed for 169 yards. Except for Jackson out-thinking himself on third-and-1, he, surprisingly, did not abandon the run even after with the score 23-6 in the third quarter.
The Browns overcame all their errors and shrunk the deficit to 23-16 on a three-yard quarterback draw by Kizer on fourthand-goal with 6:57 to play.
One stop, that’s all the defense had to do — get one stop and get the ball back for Kizer. But it failed to stop the offense ranked dead last in the NFL. Instead, aided by the Peppers penalty, the Bengals put the game away. They gained 60 yards on their own in the drive.
Losing is a team effort for the Browns. They prove it week after week.