Why have the Browns struggled so much in the expansion era?
Why have they posted just two winning records and had but one playoff appearance in the 16 seasons since they took the field again in 1999?
The inability to find a franchise quarterback and a quality head coach are, of course, the principal, and specific, reasons for this. Quarterback and head coach are the two most important spots on any team.
But more generally, there is also the problem that the Browns have never learned how to win. They have never mastered the art of what it takes to nail down a close game in the fourth quarter.
The picture postcard for that is what happened 13 years ago today, on Sept. 8, 2002 at Cleveland Browns Stadium.
In a veritable blink of an eye, the Browns turned a seemingly certain victory into a definite defeat in falling 40-39 to the Kansas City Chiefs in the regular-season opener.
Bizarre? Oh, yes. In fact, you had to see it to believe it.
With his team trailing 39-37 and having the ball at its 47 with time for just one more play, Chiefs quarterback Trent Green went back to throw a Hail Mary pass. He appeared to be sacked, causing linebacker Dwayne Rudd, thinking the game was over, to take off his helmet in celebration.
But what Rudd did not see was that at the last second, Green lateraled the ball to tackle John Tait, who rambled to the Cleveland 25 as the clock ran out.
Game over, right? Browns win, right?
No. And no.
Rudd was given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for his premature celebration. The ball was marked off half the distance to the goal, to the 13.
Because a game can’t end on a defensive penalty, the Chiefs were allowed to run one untimed play. They called on veteran Morten Andersen to kick a 30-yard field goal, which he did with ease to provide Kansas City with a hard-to-fathom 40-39 triumph that left a full-house of Browns fans, 72,938 strong, watching in stunned amazement.
Trailing 7-6 after one quarter, the Browns rallied to lead 20-14 at halftime, 27-17 at the end of three quarters and 30-17 four minutes into the fourth quarter.
Kelly Holcomb, subbing for an injured Tim Couch, threw three touchdown passes to wide receivers, a 43-yarder to Dennis Northcutt, a four-yarder to Andre Davis and a 44-yarder to Quincy Morgan. A fourth scoring pass – a 33-yarder to Morgan – was thrown by fellow wideout Kevin Johnson.
The Chiefs came back to lead 37-36 on Priest Holmes’ seven-yard TD run with three minutes remaining.
The Browns answered with a drive to set up Phil Dawson to kick a 30-yard field goal with 29 seconds remaining to give them a 39-37 edge.
But instead of it being the game-winner, the kick just prolonged the agony, thanks to Rudd.
The original Browns franchise used to find ways to win games like that. Even when things went very wrong, they were able to survive.
That’s what teams with winning attitudes do.
These expansion-era Browns don’t have that. They don’t have anything close to that.
Instead, they find ways to lose, and that scratch-your-head setback to the Chiefs is clear evidence of that. Nothing has changed since then. In fact, if anything, things have gotten worse, as evidenced by Cleveland’s seven consecutive losing seasons.
And until that mindset changes, the results on the scoreboard won’t change.
