After that, it was an evenly fought game and then after that, the wheels didn't only wobble or need to be changed, they flew off into the lake as the Tennessee Titans scored four unanswered touchdowns in the final twenty minutes of the game to hand a stunned Browns team a 43-13 defeat in Cleveland and memories of the acronym in the title-SOB, Same Old Browns.
Baker Mayfield threw for 285 yards and a touchdown but was intercepted three times, all during that final stretch that allowed the Titans to deliver the final thrashing.
The Browns will travel to New York next Monday night to meet the 0-1 Jets, who blew a sixteen point lead at home to lose to Buffalo 17-16.
Brownie Bits
1) Where do I start?
Let's start with Baker Mayfield and his three late-game picks.
Although Mayfield was rushed all day and I'll address that shortly, all three picks were bad throws and were on Mayfield.
There were other problems as well, but the quarterback has to make the throws and in all three spots, it's on him.
2) Baker Mayfield did look very impressive on that first drive, where it seemed like all the hype was justified as the Browns marched down the field for their only first-half touchdown.
Mayfield's 35-yard dart to Rashard Higgins on a second and twenty-three set up the short-yardage score by Dontrell Hilliard.
Mayfield's day looks worse on the stat sheet than it actually was, but not a stellar effort either.
3) The offensive line had excuses for its inability to protect Baker Mayfield, but it wasn't playing that well before the ejection of Greg Robinson or ensuing injury to Kendall Lamm.
Chris Hubbard was bad at right tackle and left tackle, where Lamm's injury forced him to move and Justin McCray, while better than expected at right tackle, is still a natural guard forced to play tackle due to the emergency.
This line looks pretty sour after the first game and they could jell as the season goes on, but the tackles look to be a major problem.
4) Greg Robinson's ejection caused much of this chaos and even though his kick to Titans safety Kenny Vaccaro's face looked worse than it actually was (Vaccaro stated afterward that he didn't even feel the kick), you simply cannot do such ridiculous things in the game today.
Combine Robinson's kick with Myles Garrett getting a fifteen-yard penalty for slapping a Titan offensive lineman and you see a team that either entered the game out of control or lost it in adversity.
Garrett could have been ejected as well, had he simply balled his fist instead of delivering his slap open-handed.
Plus-Who in the hell punches helmets? Great way to break a hand and miss plenty of time!
5) The Browns did manage to get Odell Beckham into the gameplan early, but the lack of the work with the timing with Baker Mayfield was apparent.
One of Mayfield's interceptions, while a bad throw on Mayfield's part, might have been part of this issue as it was intended for Beckham.
6) You can see the potential though, simply by watching the first drive.
Nick Chubb running plays to keep defenses honest, precision passes to Beckham and all of his ability after the catch and then the big play to Rashard Higgins-you can see what could be for the Browns when everything is right.
Potential will eventually get you fired.
7) For all of the accolades that Freddie Kitchens received for his playcalling, I found it lacking a bit in this one.
Outside of the initial plays that are pre-planned before the game, I thought they were generally bland.
Too many X and long followed by a run up the middle for 2 yards.
It's a process for Kitchens too and hopefully, it's part of getting his bearings.
8) 18 penalities for 182 yards.
And none of them for pass interference, which can inflate penalty yardage.
Count two that were declined and you have twenty!
You have to think that won't be happening again, but that number screams Undisciplined.
9) Chris Hubbard is looking like a disaster after a rough first season.
Hubbard allowed the sack for a safety on Baker Mayfield, was called for holding twice and a false start.
For all of the John Dorsey hype for what he has done and I've liked most of his dealings, his offensive line work has left much to be desired, both in signings (Chris Hubbard) in the draft (Austin Corbett, who likely wouldn't even be on the team, had he not been the first pick of the second round) and in doing next to nothing to improve the offensive line in the off-season.
10) Just a thought, Could the Browns could have had Mike Vrabel as their head coach?
Vrabel, who grew up as a Browns fan, might have been the choice-IF Jimmy Haslam didn't force Dorsey to keep Hue Jackson in a decision that everyone outside of Haslam and maybe Jackson could see was going to be a disaster.
11) Finally, it's one game.
It's a big loss to the fans and I'd be lying to say I'm not very disappointed.
BUT it is one game.
BUT it makes the Jets on Monday night a very important game.
Lose that and you are 0-2 with the Rams at home and then at Baltimore, so a loss means that 0-4 is not improbable.
This one is just one game, the next one seems even bigger.
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