The Weird Ways Of The Cleveland Browns

From time to time, we have discussed the management philosophy of the Cleveland Browns and have found fault with it. The head coach and general manager, and the owner when he is available talk about the “collaborative effort” the team uses.

We don’t believe a committee is ever a good way to run anything and feel the Browns need to make someone, preferably with a football background, the ultimate hammer.

This comes up again because of the quarterback situation. There was a lot of conversation about the four QBs all during camp, and as we have pointed out before, that whole situation was created by the brass.

Coming off a 3-14 season and drafting a quarterback in the third round, someone should have said “no” when the subject of Shedeur Sanders came up in round five. That’s not a rap at Sanders, who we think has potential as an NFL QB. It’s more of why you want to create a situation where you bring four passers to training camp.

If Kenny Pickett didn’t get hurt, it is difficult to see how you could have picked up a read on either of the two rookies.

Then, the Browns traded Pickett to the Las Vegas Raiders last week, leaving a rookie that they picked in the third round, Dillon Gabriel, as the primary back up.

Did they not learn a lesson just three years ago when they traded Josh Dobbs at the end of camp, leaving rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson as the back up? And when Deshaun Watson was injured prior to a game against the Baltimore Ravens, they had to put him on the field, pretty much sacrificing that contest?

Listen, we understood taking a chance on Pickett, a former first round pick, why not see if you can salvage something there, but they decided on Joe Flacco, presumably because he gives them the best chance to win.

But what if Flacco gets hurt early in the season?

Obviously, the Browns have to see what they have in Gabriel and Sanders at some point this season, but is it wise to put either on the field prior to say, the 11th game of this season? Why not give both the time to settle into the NFL and watch and learn before playing them?

That plan is out the window. So, the mode for the Browns changes instantly from trying to win games early with a veteran QB to a rebuilding mode with two rookies at the controls?

Why not get another veteran on the roster, unless that’s the plan with Bailey Zappe.

This is an organization that doesn’t seem to value character and/or leadership. They brought in Dionte Johnson, a player who has quit on teams because he once produced. It was a waste of time and other reps for other wide receivers because Johnson was cut.

How many players have been signed to one-year deals and were made captain? Maybe Carson Schwesinger is the answer there, but haven’t we all wondered who is the team leader?

Remember, just last season, the spokesperson for the offense seemed to be the BACKUP quarterback.

Garrett Requests A Trade. Browns Need To Fix It

Only the Cleveland Browns could have a 3-14 season and have the off-season be worse than the actual season. But that’s where it seems we are after the franchise’s best player; Myles Garrett requested a trade.

We guess it is semantics, but Garrett asked to be moved, he didn’t demand it. People who know this stuff better than us feel it would be another huge hit on the salary cap to trade the All-Pro defensive end, which may preclude making the move.

Garrett has two years left on his current contract, so if push comes to shove, the Browns could play hard ball and refuse to trade him, making Garrett decide whether or not he is going to sit out a season.

It would also be stupid for it to come to that.

Our advice to the Browns’ front office? Put together your collaborative process (sarcasm intended) and fix this. And the sooner, the better.

We would even go as far as to say this. In his public statement requesting a deal, the former first overall pick gave a little tweak to GM Andrew Berry using the latter’s “Cleveland to Canton” comment. If Garrett’s issue is with Berry, it’s an easy solution for us, hire a new general manager.

Berry is easily more replaceable than the best defensive player the franchise has had over the last 65 years.

We understand that Garrett’s request got all of the football fans in northeast Ohio who crave and worship draft picks all excited. That’s what they love. But the reality is anyone you draft with one of the picks you get will not be as good as Myles Garrett.

And that’s not a slap at the front office either. Garrett has already won the Defensive Player of the Year last season and is up for the award this season. He’s arguably the best defensive player in the NFL.

The Browns could get 20 first round picks in return and not get anyone as good as Myles Garrett.

As for Garrett’s desire to play important games, let’s be honest about this, how many games would the Browns have won in 2024 with competent quarterback play? They certainly wouldn’t have been 3-14. Cleveland started 10 contests with Deshaun Watson, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, and Bailey Zappe behind center.

They were 2-5 with Jameis Winston, so is it out of the realm of possibility to think they could have gone 6-11 with Winston starting the whole season? If you agree, then that makes to trip back to the playoffs in 2025 shorter.

We understand Browns’ fans and media alike love to play the “woe is us” card. But there is talent on this roster. Denzel Ward and Jerry Jeudy made the Pro Bowl (such that it is), and the offensive line needs some tweaks, but there are solid players there.

David Njoku is a good player too, and Mike Hall and Isaiah McGuire look like they have talent. And don’t forget, the Browns have a first-round pick for the first time in four years and four picks in the top 100 of this year’s draft.

And going back to the offense Kevin Stefanski likes to run should cause an improvement as well.

There is a long time between now and the beginning of training camp, so the front office is on the clock. Fix this issue with Myles Garrett. End of discussion.

Another Loss Brings More Puzzling Questions For Browns

It was another mind-numbing, head scratching performance by the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, capping their home schedule with a 20-3 loss to the Miami Dolphins.

If you thought it couldn’t get worse from the early season offensive struggles with Deshaun Watson at the helm, the Browns have now scored in single digits the last three contests, the last two with overmatched Dorian Thompson-Robinson calling signals.

At least Watson would put up at least 10 points per game. His low was the 13 scored against Washington in week five.

Offensively, Cleveland had a decent day running the football, gaining 114 yards (their 4th best of the season) on 28 attempts. And although we understand the Browns were trailing most of the second half, they still decided to have their inexperienced, ineffective QB put the ball in the air 47 times.

Thompson-Robinson completed 24 of those throws for 170 yards, and had an interception, the 10th of his career vs. just one touchdown pass.

The Browns said they wanted to take a look at the second year QB when he has time to prepare for games, and if true, they can’t like what they’ve seen. Jameis Winston has a reputation for throwing interceptions, and his career percentage is 3.5%.

DTR in his 14 games, including five starts, has a percentage of 4.4%. Add that to a career completion percentage of 52.4% and you can see he’s not ready to be a starter in the league, and really, you have to question whether or not he should be on a roster.

Which leads to another question. Why did the Browns cut Tyler Huntley in order to keep Thompson-Robinson? It leads us to believe there is an agenda, in that case being the GM drafted one and signed the other as a free agent.

We understand general managers have a fondness for players they drafted, but good organizations (note, we said good) make evaluations based on how people play, not where or by whom they were drafted by.

Is Huntley a better quarterback? He’s played 24 games in the NFL with 13 starts and has completed 65% of his throws with 10 TDs and 8 interceptions (1.8%). Yeah, he’s better without a doubt.

Which leads us to this question. Should Andrew Berry be making the draft picks this upcoming spring? It’s hard to make a case for him.

Yes, he’s been without a first-round choice for the last three seasons. However, he’s only selected one player who has made a Pro Bowl, LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. The first round picks he did make; T Jedrick Wills and CB Greg Newsome aren’t cornerstones of the team.

He’s made some good trades, like the ones for Amari Cooper and Jerry Jeudy, but he also dealt a second-round pick for Elijah Moore, whose roster spot is tenuous at best.

Does anyone trust Berry to change the landscape of the Browns in this draft where they likely will have a top five pick? It’s difficult to make that argument.

The Browns’ front office makes too many errors trying to justify bad decisions which is a twofold problem. The best thing to do if you mess up is to admit it, move on and get better.

There was another report this week about Watson competing for the QB job in training camp. If it is not true, then the powers that be should say nothing about him, so apparently someone is putting that out there.

Why? The guy doesn’t want to play in Cleveland.

By next Saturday night, this nightmare season for the Browns will be over. We still think Kevin Stefanski should be the coach next year, but someone needs to be held accountable for Watson and the offensive coaching staff firings.

Running it back with the same group shouldn’t be an option.

This QB Looked A Lot Like The One Who Started The Year For Browns

The ugly season authored by the Cleveland Browns continued on Sunday with another abysmal offensive performance in a 24-6 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in the Queen City dropping their record to 3-12.

It was the 10th time this season the Browns failed to gain 300 yards of total offense. Of the five games they exceeded that total, Jameis Winston was at the controls in four of them.

Dorian Thompson-Robinson was the starting quarterback and frankly, the offense looked a lot like it did in the first seven games with Deshaun Watson at the helm. He was skittish in the pocket, looked to escape very early, not giving receivers a chance, and of course, running himself into sacks.

The game started promising for the Browns as Jerome Ford ripped off a 66-yard run on the game’s very first play. But true to the Ken Dorsey offense, Ford carried just nine more times on the day, gaining 92 yards on the ground as Cleveland felt the need to have a very inexperienced QB throw 34 passes.

The Browns rank 28th in rushing attempts and 27th in yardage this season, which is by far the worst ranking for any offense coordinated or guided as a head coach by Kevin Stefanski.

Until last year, his teams were always in the top ten in rushing, and last season finished 12th and that was with Nick Chubb being injured in the second game of the year.

And when you think about it, the identity of the Cleveland Browns is the running game, tough, physical football. The greatest running back in the history of the game, Jim Brown, played here.

So did Marion Motley, Leroy Kelly, Greg Pruitt, Mike Pruitt, Kevin Mack and Earnest Byner both gained 1000 yards in the same season, and of course, Chubb has been one of the best runners of the last 10-15 years of NFL football.

It’s in the DNA to run the ball in Cleveland, and currently the Browns have an offensive coordinator who doesn’t like to run the ball.

Apparently, Stefanski’s success of running the football and using the play action pass didn’t figure into the decision in choosing the offensive coordinator because their ideas on offense seem to be at odds with each other.

To us, the first step to making this football team respectable when it has the football is to go back to the identity of the franchise and what the head coach clearly likes to do, and that is establish a solid running attack.

Back to Sunday’s loss. After that opening run by Ford, the Browns got no points because D’Onta Foreman fumbled on the one-yard line, presumably his last carry as a member of the brown and orange.

Cleveland’s biggest weapon of late, WR Jerry Jeudy was made useless by the switch in quarterbacks from Winston to Thompson-Robinson, who mostly dinked and dunked with short passes to Ford and David Njoku.

The turnover issues didn’t end with Winston’s benching as DTR threw two, and his career ratio now stands at one touchdown and nine picks in 180 attempts. We think we can all see he is not a legitimate starter in the NFL.

Congratulations to Myles Garrett on getting his 100th sack of his illustrious career. The front office has work to do in rebuilding this roster quick so Garrett will want to remain a Brown.

And of course, Dustin Hopkins missed an extra point, his only kick of the day. His confidence is clearly shaken, and he should not be kicking any more this year.

Not that these last two games really matter. It will be interesting to see at what point Stefanski pulls the plug on the DTR experience and goes to Bailey Zappe.

Merry Christmas! The Browns don’t play until Sunday!

Mistakes, Turnovers, And Other Assorted Errors Lead To Yet Another Loss

When you lose the turnover margin 6-0 in an NFL game, we would guess the odds are monumental against winning the game, so perhaps the best thing we can say about the Cleveland Browns is they only lost 21-7 to the defending Super Bowl champs despite that turnover margin.

The game started well with the defense forcing a three and out, but unbelievably, James Proche fumbled the punt and Kansas City recovered and quickly scored a touchdown.

It was the first of several special teams’ errors, mostly penalties, although Proche also caught a punt inside the five-yard line, and fair caught a few more because we assume he was cautious about fumbling another one.

Jameis Winston was benched after throwing three interceptions for the second game in the last three games and has now thrown eight the last three contests. Who starts next week? Our guess would be Dorian Thompson-Robinson, although on a postgame show, both Josh Cribbs (can he come back and return kicks) and Eric Metcalf both thought Winston still is the best option.

Before the game, it was reported that the team could bring back Deshaun Watson next year. We understand Watson is still under contract, but why would anyone in the organization leak that news, especially now? If asked about him, just say “no comment”.

Whether or not the Browns stay with Winston, there is simply no way you can bring Watson into training camp next summer, salary cap hit or not. Seeing his name infuriates most fans, so what is the point of having discussions about him?

Back to the game, another downer was the injury to Nick Chubb, lost for the season with a broken foot. Chubb did lose a rare fumble, but also had 41 yards on nine carries, and seems to be getting some of his explosiveness back. The last two games he has 20 carries for 89 yards, more like traditional Chubb numbers.

The Browns need to bring him back next year.

Also, kudos to Jerry Jeudy who caught 11 passes for 108 yards, his third 100+ game in the last five and we went over the 1000-yard mark on receptions, the first time he accomplished this.

We were concerned about him early in the year, but he has found a rhythm with Winston, so at least there is that.

As happens on losing teams, players seem to play their way off the roster. Last week, we mentioned Kadarious Toney and Dustin Hopkins. This week, we became tired of Germain Ifedi, who can’t seem to get lined up correctly (and picked a dumb unsportsmanlike conduct penalty last week).

Geron Christian started last season for the Browns at left tackle and did a decent job, and he’s with the team. Why not start him for the rest of the year?

We already discussed Proche, but let us add Elijah Moore, who kind of has no role with the team. Moore was supposed to be kind of an all-purpose player who can make big plays, but he’s averaging 8.7 yards per reception on his 55 catches.

Let’s just say, we’d like to see more of Michael Woods II and Jamari Thrash going forward.

Three games left in this dreadful season. Who takes the snaps next week at Cincinnati? The guess would be Thompson-Robinson, but who knows, perhaps it’s Bailey Zappe.

It feels like the season can’t be over soon enough.

Unsportsmanlike Conduct After A Fair Catch. That Sums It Up

Well, you have to hand it to the Cleveland Browns. You never know what you are going to see when you watch them and Sunday’s 27-14 loss to the Steelers in Pittsburgh reminded everyone of that.

Punt returner Kadarius Toney was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct after making a fair catch. That’s right, it wasn’t after a long return or after he made a great move to make a would-be tackler miss, he merely caught a punt and for whatever reason, decided to jaw at an opposing player.

Why he had the opportunity to muff a punt later in the 4th quarter is simply beyond us, not more on that later.

Add in two more missed field goals by Dustin Hopkins, the second occurring with a 13-7 Pittsburgh lead (meaning the game would be tied if both were made), and it will lead to more questions for the organization today.

He has now missed five of his last eight field goal attempts. In the NFL, that’s unacceptable.

During Sunday’s loss and the Monday night loss to Denver, the announcers spoke about how hard the Browns played, despite their poor record, a tribute perhaps to Kevin Stefanski.

However, is the front office failing this team right now? There hasn’t been a lot of accountability for players who are not performing from the front office.

There has been no report of kicker tryouts during the week despite Hopkins’ terrible season in which he has missed a career high nine field goals, five of those inside the 50-yard-line.

As for Toney, he should be released immediately.

But Cleveland being Cleveland, most of the conversation revolves around the quarterback.

Because Jameis Winston has a reputation for throwing interceptions (he has a 3.3% pick rate this year), there were many after the game blaming the loss on his turnovers.

His first pick was on a screen pass that the defender read and stepped in front of Nick Chubb. The second was him trying to get the Browns back in the contest. CBS’ Tony Romo criticized the throw (ironic because Romo forced throws), but the Browns were down 13 with just over three minutes to go.

If Winston was dinking and dunking, yes, the Browns might have scored a touchdown, but they likely would have had no time to score another.

We alluded to Winston’s interception rate earlier; did you know Joe Flacco’s rate a year ago was 3.9%? Flacco didn’t have the turnover reputation that Winston has from his days in Tampa Bay, so it wasn’t highlighted.

While we understand people who don’t want to go with Winston to start the 2025 season, we say find a better alternative. Because that won’t be easy, because of availability.

We hear a lot of rumblings about Justin Fields being available again, but frankly, we do not see that as an improvement.

Seeing what Winston could be with a viable running game would be of interest here. The Browns are the worst in the league at running the ball, and we know how important the play-action pass is to Stefanski’s offense.

We get the interceptions are an issue for Winston, but he does move the football, and that gives you a chance to win.

And we will stick to our guns about Dorian Thompson-Robinson. If you want to see him, play him in the last two games. That should cure your curiosity.

A Winston Air Show Gets Grounded Late Monday

The Cleveland Browns put up a lot of points Monday night, but they gave up a lot as well, and yes, they also gave Denver two touchdowns in a 41-32 loss in Colorado to drop their record to a still disappointing 3-9.

Many folks painted the game as the full Jameis Winston experience because he threw two interceptions that resulted in Bronco touchdowns. We get it, his history shows he throws picks.

You know who didn’t throw passes to the other team? Deshaun Watson. He also never threw for 300 yards in a game (heck, not even 200 this year), he couldn’t pick up first downs, he couldn’t keep the offense on the field, and he made the wide receiver positions into glorified blockers.

We would rather have a QB that threatens the defense. Winston does that. Six different Browns’ receivers caught passes that gained 13 yards or more. Jerry Jeudy looked like a terrible deal for Cleveland until Winston was at the helm. Monday night, he caught 9 passes for 235 yards and Elijah Moore had a 100 yard game at well.

Yes, the interceptions are an issue. So is having to put the ball in the air 58 times because the Browns simply don’t have a running game right now. They did run it 23 times but gained just 77 yards.

It’s not just Nick Chubb coming off an injury either. We are 12 games into the season and Cleveland’s leading rusher is Jerome Ford with a paltry 339 yards. Ford has the longest run this year (36 yards) and the second longest run is by backup QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson with a 34-yard scamper.

The third longest? D’Onta Foreman, who can’t even get on the field anymore with a 25-yard carry.

Whether or not the Browns stay with Winston in 2025 or not, what the last five games has shown is that Watson was the problem, something that many people (including us) thought after the first couple of games this season, and some of those folks had their doubts before that.

You have to think if Winston had replaced Watson earlier, the Browns may not be 3-9 right now, and throw in the incredible decision to have Thompson-Robinson be the backup against Cincinnati, the game Watson got hurt, and could the team have a 5-7 record right now?

We don’t think that would be a reach.

And while Winston does throw picks (his interception % is 7th in the league, FYI Jordan Love of Green Bay is 3rd), he also 10th in the NFL in average yards per pass attempt, which is an important statistic.

The leader in this category is Detroit’s Jared Goff, and others in the top ten are Russell Wilson, Lamar Jackson, but Winston ranks ahead of Justin Herbert, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, and C.J. Stroud.

Those guys are pretty good.

Besides the turnovers, the defense was problematic as well, allowing 28 points and 400 yards of offense to a team led by a rookie quarterback. It was the third time Jim Schwartz’ group has allowed at least 400 yards, all of them in the last eight games.

In the season’s first four contests, the most yards allowed was 340 by the Giants of all teams.

The loss of Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and Za’Darius Smith have hurt, but outside of Denzel Ward, who is having a tremendous season, the secondary has been shaky as well.

What is frustrating is there are periods when they absolutely shut teams down, and other possessions it is just big play after big play.

Oh, and Dustin Hopkins missed another field goal, his seventh miss of the year. He ranks second last in field goal percentage after being 11th a year ago.

The Browns should probably add kicker to the list of needs in 2025.

We would keep Jameis Winston as the starter going forward and if people really want to see Thompson-Robinson, start him in the last two games, at home vs. Miami and on the road against the Ravens.

Our guess is you will see he is nothing more than a backup.

Browns Turned Back The Clock To 2023 Thursday Night

The Cleveland Browns turned back the clock to 2023 for at least one night in their 24-19 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in a winter wonderland on Thursday night.

Kevin Stefanski’s crew seemed to be embarrassed by a real or perceived lack of effort in the loss to the Saints in which Taysom Hill ran, threw, and caught all over the Cleveland defense, leading New Orleans to three fourth quarter touchdowns.

There were no major glitches in the operation, showing the Browns can win football games if they eliminated silly mistakes.

Myles Garrett spoke to the team before the game and then went out and backed it up on the field with his second three sack game in the last three, and one of the sacks caused a fumble which Cleveland recovered.

Jameis Winston gave the Browns solid quarterbacking play completing 18 of 27 passes for 217 yards. It was the kind of performance that Cleveland has received since Stefanski became the head coach, except for when P.J. Walker was at the helm.

Oh, and that other guy. Deshaun Watson.

It was Winston’s fourth straight game with more than 200 yards passing and we mention this because in the seven games Watson started, he never reached that figure.

We wondered after the game, playing the great “what if” game, what would have happened if the Browns replaced Watson at QB after the third game of the season, a loss to the equally woeful Giants, when Cleveland gained just 212 yards in total offense.

Or the following week after a loss to Las Vegas, or the following week after a terrible non-competitive loss to the Commanders.

Would they have two or maybe three more wins right now? Heck, we believe if Winston would have been the back up against Cincinnati instead of the bizarre decision to have it be Dorian Thompson-Robinson, they may have defeated the Bengals.

And despite an analysis of the game which asked why Cleveland threw the ball so much in the snowy conditions, it was about a fifty-fifty split, with 27 running plays, although one of them was a scramble by Winston (which resulted in a TD).

Nick Chubb’s numbers were up to his stats in 2020-2022, but he carried 20 times for 59 yards and two touchdowns, his most carries of the season. He still hasn’t busted one for 25-30 yards, but the flashes are there.

One group of people who probably weren’t happy with the win were the people expecting a coaching change perhaps after a loss to the Steelers, and definitely after the season.

Several national football writers have said that is not imminent, but although we would not fire Kevin Stefanski, who by the way, seems to have the Browns competitive within the division, but we would not run it back with the same group in 2025.

We would definitely consider a new offensive coordinator and offensive line coach. And you have to question why the organization has ignored looking for a replacement/back up for Chubb, and why they can’t find a pass rusher opposite Garrett.

The remaining schedule is tough, without a doubt, but there are winnable games remaining, and the Browns need to continue to show the effort and mistake free football they played with Thursday night.

Browns Don’t Need A Total Rebuild

With the Browns sitting at 1-6 this season, the draftniks are out in full force. In their estimation, the best thing Cleveland can do is basically trade every player who has some value in order to get more picks next spring.

And that includes a great player like Myles Garrett, and very good ones such as TE David Njoku, and perhaps LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. They forget several things.

First, it’s very possible if the Browns make the correct moves, they could be making a playoff push in a couple of years, and perhaps even next season.

The second thing is overcoming a losing culture. Many of these players have experienced a pair of playoff runs. We know it doesn’t look like it, but there is a knowledge of success for a lot of these guys, and the last thing you want to do is start showing everyone in the organization is it is okay to lose.

Because of this, it is also important for the front office and the coaching staff to show everyone that winning is the utmost goal.

There is no problem with GM Andrew Berry going out and getting draft picks for veterans who are on one-year deals and are unlikely to return in 2025. We are talking about players like Za’Darius Smith, Maurice Hurst, Rodney McLeod, etc.

We have already seen Amari Cooper, another player in that category moved for basically a third-round pick.

Avoiding a losing culture is a reason we are very curious about the movement to elevate Dorian Thompson-Robinson to starting quarterback.

We don’t know how the next couple of weeks play out, but if Jameis Winston shows he can move the Browns’ offense better than Deshaun Watson, it would be tough for the front office to trade Winston or bench him.

That would tell the entire locker room that the organization has no interest in winning games. Granted, it would be the long shot of long shots for Cleveland to climb back in the playoff race, but players don’t care about next season, and they certainly don’t care about draft picks.

Yes, we understand the negative salary cap situation the Browns are in. However, the cap will probably go up next season, which should help a little bit. And hopefully, the Browns can draft their next QB in April, and that player would be on a rookie contract.

Trading some of the veterans would allow young players to get some experience and perhaps allow them to flash. We are thinking of guys like DE Isaiah McGuire, DT Mike Hall Jr., CB Cam Mitchell, and even WR Cedric Tillman.

Perhaps with some playing time, they can claim starting positions entering the off-season.

As for Thompson-Robinson, even if Winston buoys the offense and makes it productive again, you can always play the second-year passer in the last two regular season games to see how he performs.

There is no question this has been a very disappointing season, but we aren’t even a year removed from an 11-6 record. There is talent on the roster, a lot of talent. Blowing up the roster wouldn’t be prudent. This hasn’t been a five-to-ten-year span without winning.

It’s been bad, but let’s not advocate for making things worse.

Another Loss And A New QB For Browns

The Cleveland Browns’ season just keeps going downhill faster and faster. Last Sunday’s loss started with the Bengals taking the opening kickoff back for a touchdown, and although the defense played pretty well, the Browns fell to 1-6 with a 21-14 loss to Cincinnati.

The other significant event in the game was QB Deshaun Watson apparently tearing his achilles tendon on a non-contact injury in the second quarter thus ending his season. Watson has now been with Cleveland three years and has yet to play in more than seven games in a season.

Inexplicably, that did not give veteran Jameis Winston a shot at playing QB. Winston was demoted to the #3 quarterback, available only if the first two passers were injured. Dorian Thompson-Robinson was designated as the backup and was lackluster at best, completing 11 of 24 throws for a paltry 82 yards.

After the game, we saw a number of media people touting Thompson-Robinson (DTR) as the starter next week, with the opinion that the Browns need to see what they have in him.

We don’t get it. First, he was a fifth-round draft pick, so he was far from highly regarded coming into the NFL. Second, what has he shown when he has been on the field to make anyone think he can be a viable NFL quarterback?

We know he didn’t prepare as a starter last week, but when he comes into the game, he looks like a gimmicky, run first QB. He’s doesn’t seem real accurate, and so far, six of his 136 NFL throws have been picked off.

As a comparison, Watson has had three interceptions in 216 passes this season.

Wouldn’t it be better to see if Winston can have a comeback to his career like Geno Smith, Baker Mayfield, Jared Goff, or Sam Darnold? And if the losing continues, they can always play DTR in the last couple of games.

Look, more than likely, the Browns are going to draft a QB with their first round pick next spring. Perhaps Winston can be your bridge quarterback to open next season if Watson isn’t ready or another move is made with him.

Anyway, back to the game. There were more mistakes. Motion penalties, illegal shifts, lining up offsides. We know the coaches don’t coach this, but there has to be consequences to habitual offenders. Perhaps the loss of some playing time would allow the message for these players to soak in.

The Browns couldn’t run the ball either, gaining just 77 yards on the ground with 44 of those yards on runs by Thompson-Robinson. The only good thing was seeing Nick Chubb back on the field, getting 22 yards on 11 carries. His longest run was five yards, but still it was great to see him back on the field after his terrible knee injury last year.

The defense played well mostly, although one of the Bengals’ touchdowns was a pass to Ja’Marr Chase with big play magnet Greg Newsome II in coverage. The defensive back just can’t avoid giving up a big play pretty much every week.

We would guess more players who were brought in for this season, veterans on one-year deals will be (and should be if possible) moved for draft picks before the trade deadline. We have no problem with that.

However, we don’t want to hear the word tanking. It breeds a losing environment that is tough to get rid of. Browns fans more than anyone else should understand that.

What needs to be done is getting a victory and getting back to the philosophy that worked for the most part over the last four seasons.

It won’t be easy for sure