Are the Browns running out of steam?
No, not the team, obviously, because the winless (0-8) Browns have never had any steam this season.
More specifically, are the Browns players – all those young, inexperienced players – running out of steam, causing the club to do the same in a colossal second-half collapse in a demoralizing 31-28 loss to the New York Jets on Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium?
The Browns were ahead 20-7 at halftime and seemed to be in control. But the Jets (3-5), no juggernauts themselves as they entered the game in last place in the AFC East, scored 24 unanswered points to go ahead 31-20 until Cleveland scored a touchdown with 12 seconds left to make the final more respectable.
That the Browns have more than once struggled in the second half after encouraging starts, is not because of lack of coaching and the team not being able to react to their opponents’ halftime adjustments. On the contrary, for despite their record, the Browns have a veteran – and outstanding – coaching staff.
Could it be instead that the players, many of whom were in college at this time last year, have never been through a football marathon like this in their lives and have thus run out of gas? They’ve gone through training camp, four preseason games and eight regular-season contests without any appreciable break. That their bye isn’t until after four more games doesn’t offer any help. In fact, the problem – if this is indeed the problem causing these late nosedives – will only be exacerbated.
The good news is that the Browns on Sunday improved a whole lot over their miserable performance in a 31-17 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals a week ago. That – making gradual improvement from week to week – is what this season is mostly all about.
The bad news? It’s that the Browns need a win – any kind of win over any kind of team at any time, the sooner, the better – in the worst way, and there are no Jets-like clubs among the eight opponents left on their schedule. That list includes the Bengals, Buffalo Bills, San Diego Chargers, New York Giants (next Sunday at Cleveland), Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers (twice).
