Duke Johnson scored the only Cleveland touchdown late in the fourth quarter for the only offensive Browns highlight.
Nothing else of note happened on the offensive side of the football.
The now 0-4 Browns will host the surprising 2-2 New York Jets, who were said to be tanking in training camp to pick high in the draft, but instead are playing hard for head coach Todd Bowles.
Brownie Bits
1) There was one bright spot early in the game as Emanuel Ogbah rushed into the pocket, stripped Andy Dalton of the football and then fell on it, which started the drive in Bengals territory at their 30.
Ogbah had gotten off to a slow start this season and that was a good sign early in the game.
2) That good sign quickly turned bad as Hue Jackson called two handoffs to Isaiah Crowell, who gained five yards and lost those five yards back before the usual incomplete pass from DeShone Kizer to Kenny Britt.
Zane Gonzalez would miss his field goal from 48 yards out and the Browns would not threaten again until the touchdown in garbage time.
3) DeShone Kizer didn't look good.His passes were inaccurate and he wasn't exactly poised in the pocket.
Kizer threw for only 118 yards and didn't look comfortable under the Bengal rush including one time that he was destroyed by a rushing Nick Vigil, who wasn't touched at all by a Brown and unloaded full force on Kizer.
4) And our usual Kenny Britt complaint.
Britt slipped on his route on the possession after the fumble recovery, was called for a false start, dropped a few passes and most memorably, had a pass bounce off the meat of his hands and to the Bengals for an interception.
It can't be argued that Kenny Britt is a disappointment, but I'm not sure I have an answer for this.
5) Wide Receivers?
If Kenny Britt and all the issues with his hands, efforts etc still is in the lineup because the team rates him as the best they have-what does that say about the rest?
I know Corey Coleman is out, but he wasn't exactly Jerry Rice when he is in the lineup.
This is just so bad that I don't have any answers at all.
6) The running game ranges from zero commitment to zero production.
Isaiah Crowell finished with seven carries and fewer yards than Andy Dalton.
I'm not sure I have answers to this either.
Isaiah Crowell is either saving himself for free agency (I see no way that he re-signs) or is just shot as a back.
7) DeShone Kizer took shot after shot from an offensive line that appears after four games to have been highly overrated by many, including me.
JC Tretter was brought in to solidify center and his bad snap ended a possession and Kizer was hit so often that Kizer's benching in the fourth quarter seemed more based in Kizer's preservation than in poor play.
The line, at this time, seems to be that the parts are worth more than the sum...
8) Emmanuel Ogbah was about the only Brown to show up with his best game of the season.
Ogbah had the big play in the first quarter and finished with two other tackles for losses.
If Myles Garrett is what we think he is, I think Ogbah is going to be a force playing the Clyde Simmons to Garrett's Reggie White.
9) And there's Jabrill Peppers, who continues to be put into positions that he isn't capable of handling.
This game featured Peppers, who I rated before the draft as a jack of all trades and master of none, trying to cover A.J. Green one on one in the red zone.
Predictably, Green just ran away from Peppers and scored with ease.
I don't blame Peppers for this, mind you, he was put into a bad situation covering Green.
If he was capable of that, he'd be a cornerback not a safety.
10) Meanwhile, the Browns front office and their vaunted analytics are beginning to feel the heat for yet another trade down in the past draft.
DeShaunWatson was huge in destroying the Titans and has played well in his three starts and in Indianapolis, former Buckeye Malik Hooker, playing the same safety position as Jabrill Peppers, intercepted his third passes in as many games.
Being fair to Peppers- Hooker isn't going to pick those passes off playing in the positioning of Peppers 30 yards off the line of scrimmage either.
The trade netted the Browns Houston's first rounder-one that looks to be no higher than in the twenties.
It'll make the 2018 draft a little more fun, but it's not going to deliver an impact player.
11) I'll admit it, I loved the hire of Gregg Williams as defensive coordinator.
I loved the tough talk, promises of attacking play and having the track record to back it up.
Thus far, it's been a failure.
Maybe Myles Garrett's return will help, but one player is going to turn this all around?
I doubt it.
I've been critical of the deep stance of Jabrill Peppers, but perhaps Williams is so leery of his corners that he feels that no matter the cost in "playmaking" ability that he needs him there...
12) Williams-Part II
This is where I think there is something to the reports of the dissension between the coaches and the front office.
Assuming that Gregg Williams has such little faith in this teams corner's that he feels he has to play a safety so deep, the staff has to wonder just why Joe Haden was allowed to walk away for zero return.
This is the type of issue (potentially there has to be more than this regarding personnel) that divides coaches from personnel...
13) The Cleveland Browns have had zero leads in four games.
14) If the Browns cannot defeat the Jets this Sunday, the Browns appear to be headed towards being winless at the bye week again.
The Jets were thought of to be tanking for the first pick, yet they are 2-2 under Todd Bowles and are hustling, while the Browns are getting worse.
Following the Jets, the Browns are in Houston (Count on DeShaun Watson being ready for that one),
Tennessee at home (this might be better than earlier predictions if Marcus Mariota is out), Minnesota in London before the bye.
15) I'm as frustrated as one can be.
I'm at my end.
Blow it up?
And how would you do that? Who would have a real value other than Joe Thomas, Myles Garrett and maybe Duke Johnson or Emmanuel Ogbah?
Continue down this road?
With Hue Jackson, who hasn't dazzled with his coaching decisions or Sashi Brown, an inept numbers cruncher that has somehow bamboozled a truck stop owner with ideas from someone with an Ivy League degree?
Do you move both out the door and completely start over AGAIN?
Do you pick one or the other and which one do you pick considering the general failure of both?
Ask a fan base to start over again?
Or believe in whatever this is?
I'm at a loss and as visitors here know-that doesn't happen very often...
This will be a big week here of writing.
The standard weekly items and the New Jersey Devils preview are the features, but I might have some special items as well...
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