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| Photo Credit:Cleveland Plain Dealer |
DeShone Kizer ran for the Browns only touchdown while throwing for 268 yards without an interception, Isaiah Crowell ran for 95 yards on the ground, while rookie kicker Zane Gonzalez kicked three field goals in four attempts for the Cleveland scores.
Cleveland drops to 0-11 with the defeat and will make their only West Coast visit of the season next week in Los Angeles against the Chargers, who have won their last two to improve to 5-6, but more importantly remember being the only team to lose to the Browns last season and the only team to lose in the Hue Jackson/Sashi Brown era.
Brownie Bits
1) Most mentioned play-the personal foul on Jabrill Peppers for a head-first hit and led to the clinching Bengals touchdown.
Peppers did lead with the crown of his helmet and in today's game, that is going to be called almost every time, but the contact wasn't dead on the helmet (he may have made minor contact) and was mostly on the shoulder pad.
I've critical of Peppers play, but he was at least trying to make a play, even if the execution was a bit off.
2) Zane Gonzalez was three for four on field goals, but the miss was wide left, which I read somewhere was in the same area that all of his misses on the season.
Gonzalez is going to be challenged next season-no matter who is in charge.
3) Corey Coleman had a great catch early in the game for a 44 yard gain that had he been hit in stride might have been six points, but he dropped a Kizer pass right in his hands in the end zone and the Browns settled for another Gonzalez field goal.
The drop was inexcusable and I don't recall ever seeing Coleman on the field after that.
4) Another key drop was corner Briean Boddy-Calhoun, who dropped a would-be interception also on a drive that would result in a Bengals touchdown.
The old joke is that defensive backs are receivers with bad hands, but this one would have killed a drive and given the Browns a chance late in the game.
5) I thought DeShone Kizer played pretty well.
The Browns settled more for field goals than I would have preferred, but his receivers still weren't tremendously helpful to him.
Still not ready to abandon the hope for a first pick quarterback, but I do see the occasional improvement from the Notre Dame rookie.
6) Another favorite was a taunting call on Bryce Treggs on a Browns completion that he didn't catch!
How dumb can a marginal player be???
7) Cleveland dodged a dagger when DeShone Kizer was able to return in the second quarter after being checked for a concussion.
In Kizer's absence, Cody Kessler entered the game for a three and out.
Kevin Hogan may not be anything to get excited about, but the Browns do seem to have a better chance to make things happen with Hogan in the second spot than Kessler.
8) I mentioned a drop of Briean Boddy-Calhoun earlier on a pick attempt, but he wasn't the only one.
Jabrill Peppers dropped once and Joe Schobert dropped one in the end zone that would have killed a drive.
Good teams make plays, bad teams say "almost"
9) We've given the run defense credit over the course of the season, but they took a step back as against the weakest running team in the league, the Browns allowed rookie Joe Mixon to run for 114 yards.
It never fails to occur-one step forward and then right back to the starting point.
10) The Browns are now 4-44 in their last 48 games-a number never matched in league history.
11) We wrap with the cozy hug before the game with backup A.J. McCarron, who you'll remember the Browns own ineptness kept them from making an awful trade of a second and third round pick for.
Hue Jackson wasn't a surprise, players and coaches that know each other do this all the time, but the surprise was Jimmy Haslem, who to my knowledge didn't know McCarron previously, acting like they were long time pals.
I don't think I've ever seen an owner do that before...
Remaining games in the race to a victory
At L.A Chargers 5-6
Green Bay 5-6
Baltimore 5-5 (Plays tonight)
At Chicago 3-8
At Pittsburgh 9-2
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