Browns edged in Indy-Colts win 31-28

The Cleveland Browns were a road favorite (1 point) for the first time in what seemed like forever against the Indianapolis Colts, but they were unable to live up to the "hype" as the Colts built a 28-7 lead in the first half and held on for a 31-28 win.

DeShone Kizer threw for two scores and ran for another, but Kizer was intercepted three times in the defeat.
The now 0-3 Browns return home for next week's games against the 0-3 Bengals, who took the Packers to overtime before losing on Sunday.


Brownie Bits

1) Number one above all the wide receivers either lack concentration or just aren't very good.
Kenny Britt made an excellent catch for a score ( one that might have been overruled, if the Colts had challenged), but had a drop and after three games-Britt seems to have very little chemistry with DeShone Kizer.

2) As for the rest, Rashard Higgins returned to Earth after a big game in Baltimore with two catches (for 10 yds) two drops and two offensive pass interference calls and Ricardo Louis,...
I compare Louis to "Stone Hands" Featherstone in the film "Necessary Roughness"- all the size and speed for an elite receiver to use-everything, but the ability to catch the football...

3) Jordan Leslie was brought up from the practice squad, made a terrific leaping one-handed catch and was never thrown to again...

4) The secondary was just terrible.
T.Y.Hilton lit up Jamar Taylor in the first half for over 140 yards and a touchdown that Taylor seemed to give up on.
I like Taylor, but he's better suited to be the second corner than a number one cover player, which makes the decision to waive Joe Haden even more curious.

5) I know this will sound worse than I intend it and three games worth of data are far too early to grade, but Jabrill Peppers was terrible today.
Peppers took an awful angle on the Hilton touchdown and allowed Hilton to cruise by him, when he should be offering help to Taylor, was called for another pass interference call on Hilton (he was beaten badly again when he should be giving back support to the corners, was missing tackles and has been a complete non-factor on returns, notably late in the game when he actually did have a punt that he could have returned (Being fair, punters are punting away from him to avoid returns) to try to make something happen and called a fair catch.
Maybe it's the skeptic in me, but watching this game, Peppers almost seemed petulant with his body language and might be having the reality of Browns football sink in.

6) Peppers was drafted as a "playmaker" with great "ball skills", but assuming he has those skills, those are being ruined 30 yards off the ball!
Gregg Williams says Peppers is back to provide support for the deep ball and being the last line of defense, but Peppers game against Indianapolis really makes me wonder just what the idea behind this is.
If the player is struggling to play in that role, as Peppers did against the Colts, What's the good in continuing this??

7) DeShone Kizer did some nice things and some bad things as young quarterbacks will do.
I can live with that this year, but the thing that I want to see progress in is getting rid of the football.
The faster Kizer does that, the less stress on an offensive line, that seems to be somewhat overrated from preseason projections at worst and needs time to jell at best.

8) Duke Johnson had a nice game with seven catches and a score.
Johnson is the one player that the Browns can rely on and Hue Jackson might want to have some old Rams films on hand.
The Rams offense that we so fondly remember funneled everything through Marshall Faulk, the Browns with a distinct lack of playmakers on offense might want to try some of those principles with Duke Johnson...

9) Ten penalties for well over hundred yards. The jumping offsides on fourth and two was a personal favorite,
Exactly what bad teams do-pile mistakes up and put themselves in difficult situations for their talent to overcome.
Elementary,yes-but accurate.

10) Myles Garrett did some pregame drills on the field, so I'm going to guess that the number one draft pick will make his debut next week against the Bengals.
I'm looking forward to seeing how that affects a defense that struggled so badly in the first half against Jacoby Brissett, who had the same amount of career starts as DeShone Kizer.

11) The next two weeks are the Browns best chance to win in a while, but the Bengals pushed Green Bay to overtime on the road and the Jets defeated Miami when they are supposedly in lose out mode.
I think the Browns should at least get a split of those games with both of those in Cleveland,but if they lose both,the Browns might have lost their best chance in a while to earn some wins...