The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Enough losing; Browns need a coaching change
PITTSBURGH » Obviously, the ownership of the Cavaliers and the ownership of the Browns have different levels of expectations and different degrees of patience.
The Cavaliers fired head coach Tyronn Lue on Oct. 28 about two hours before kickoff in the game between the Browns and Steelers in Heinz Field.
Lue took the Cavaliers to the NBA Finals three straight times, but they are 0-6 this season so now he is getting paid to relax.
Meanwhile, here on the shores of the Allegheny River, life rolled on as usual for the dysfunctional, undisciplined, orangehelmeted Kardashians of the NFL.
The Browns left Heinz Field, where they have lost 15 straight times, with their tails between their legs and at the short end of a 3318 score.
The only reason it was that close is because Baker Mayfield threw a touchdown pass to Seth DeValve with 6 seconds left.
With rumors swirling that offensive coordinator Todd Haley will soon be fired because of a rift with head coach Hue Jackson, the Browns were throttled by the Steelers offensively, defensively, on special teams and in coaching – the grand slam of football.
Jackson is 3-36-1 with the Browns. This year’s version of the team is 2-5-1 with a home game against the Kansas City Chiefs up next.
Things could come to a head quickly this week if owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam have to choose between firing Jackson and naming an interim head coach or siding with Jackson and firing Haley if that’s what Jackson wants. Then the question becomes who has the Haslams’ ears more – Jackson or general manager John Dorsey?
It is inconceivable that Dorsey would want to hitch his wagon to Jackson beyond this year if things don’t change dramatically in the second half of the season. But for some unfathomable reason the Haslams have blind loyalty to Jackson.
Jackson dismissed the idea of a feud with Haley when asked about it in his post-game news conference.
“There’s nothing wrong with my relationship with Haley,” he said. “I said what I said last week. Obviously, it had legs. I never said I wanted to take over playcalling. I said I wanted to help. But it’s this big thing because everybody is going to look and say ‘What’s going on?’ The only thing going on is we need to get better. We need to coach better. We need to play better.”
The Browns were beaten, 26-23, by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week after trailing, 16-2, at halftime. Jackson in his postgame remarks said he was going to “jump in” to help fix the offense, which naturally came across as insulting Haley.
But the focus of the Browns’ problems extends far, far beyond a remark Jackson regretted making as soon as he realized how it was interpreted.
The Browns have a fragile psyche. They fold when things go against them, and that points directly to coaching.
The Browns took a 6-0 first-quarter lead against the Steelers on two field goals by Greg Joseph. Joseph missed a 41-yard attempt wide right early in the second quarter.
The Browns’ defense responded to that missed opportunity by allowing the Steelers to march 69 yards in six plays and take a 7-6 lead.
Joseph missed an extra point after Mayfield threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Calloway to cut Pittsburgh’s lead to 16-12. The missed PAT was another deflating moment. Still, the Browns were back in the game – but not for long. The Steelers needed only five plays to move 75 yards for another touchdown and seize a 23-12 lead.
Mayfield was sacked only twice by the Steelers, but that number is deceiving. He was running for his life all day because the Browns could not solve Pittsburgh’s blitzes. At one point, the Steelers got a safety because rookie left tackle Desmond Harrison was caught holding in the end zone – no sack, but two points for the Steelers.
The Steelers had a first down on the Browns’ 23 with 1:55 left in the first half. Time was not an issue for them. The Browns could have called three timeouts, held the Steelers to a field goal try and given Mayfield a chance to put points on the board. But they did not try to stop the clock. Jackson was asked about the situation, and he said he didn’t know what the reporter was talking about.
Instead of the Browns calling the timeouts and getting a stop, the Steelers milked the clock expertly, went for it on fourth-and-1 (and of course made it) and scored a touchdown on a one-yard pass from Ben Roethlisberger to Antonio Brown with eight seconds left in the half to finish off a 16-play, 87-yard drive lasting seven minutes, 12 seconds.
The Browns are a mess, and it starts with Jackson. Three wins in 40 games doesn’t make the grade.
The NFL is a copycat league. Haslam should be a copycat team owner in Cleveland and make a coaching change.