AT A LOSS OVER MISTAKES IN LOSS TO PATRIOTS

By STEVE KING

Some thoughts from the Browns’ 27-13 loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday at Gillette Stadium:

*Right off the top of my head, what would have happened if the original Browns franchise had never moved to Baltimore and instead had stayed in Cleveland, and Patriots heads coach Bill Belichick, who got his 300th career victory, had remained its head coach? Just sayin’, and wonderin’.

*The Browns once again killed themselves with penalties. This is the least-disciplined Browns team I can remember. And if this doesn’t change – quickly and dramatically – then the Browns will struggle mightily to beat anyone, even in their three games against the Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals, who, along with the New York Jets, are – by far — the worst teams in the NFL. It is up to head coach Freddie Kitchens to fix this problem. He runs the team and is in charge of his assistants, who are supposed to be an extension of him. So get it fixed, Freddie – now! This is unacceptable.

*Along with the penalties, of course, were the turnovers. The game began as a comedy of errors with two costly fumbles and an interception. You can’t do things like that against any team, but especially one as good as the Patriots, the best team – by far — in the league.

*But even with all that, including falling behind 17-0 in a veritable blink of eye, the Browns impressively fought back to make a game of it. Then penalties reared its ugly head again and thwarted them.

*I like how Kitchens, following Nick Chubb’s two fumbles, keep feeding him the ball. Had he benched Chubb, then it might have dented his growing pains. He’s an impressive runner, but in being so young, the Browns just have to fight through his growing pains. He responded with a huge game.

*The Browns have a great defense, which deserved a better fate. The offense was the problem once more.

*Is the Browns’ season over with a 2-5 record? No, not quite yet, but it is close.