BROWNS MESS JUST KEEPS GETTING MESSIER

By STEVE KING

Where do I begin?

For that matter, where does anyone begin when talking about the Browns?

They are a complete mess right now in so many ways.

The Browns dropped their third game in a row – and to 2-5-1 – in blowout fashion, 33-18, to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday at Heinz Field. It was much worse than that, for it was 33-12 until the Browns scored a touchdown in the closing seconds. After taking a 6-0 first-quarter lead, they were outscored by a whopping 33-6 before that mop-up time score.

Sunday’s final is, ironically, nearly the same score (33-13) by which the Browns registered their only win over the Steelers at Heinz Field – almost 15 years ago to the day, on Oct. 5, 2003.

Butch Davis was the head coach of the Browns then. And George W. Bush was the president.

That’s a long time ago – seven Browns head coaches, and three presidents, ago, the first two of whom were in office for two terms.

But back to the present.

It seems like it’s been since 2003 since the Browns have won a road game. Actually, it’s been “only” since Oct. 11, 2015, when they beat the Baltimore Ravens 33-30 in overtime. In case you’re counting – and I hope you’re not, because it’s as painful as getting two root canals one after the other — that’s 25 defeats in a row.

All the losing has been made worse by the dysfunctional tug-of-war that’s being played out between Browns head coach Hue Jackson and offensive coordinator Todd Haley. The scope of damage it’s doing to the offense – and the club’s franchise quarterback, Baker Mayfield – is anyone’s guess, but their bickering can’t be good in any way, shape or form. That the offense was pathetic – again – on Sunday for most of the game is hardly a surprise. Consider that the Browns’ only two blowout losses of the season have occurred in their last three games, which should tell you everything you need to know in that regard.

The special teams continue to be horrible, which begs for special teams coordinator Amos Jones to, in the very least, be re-assigned.

The NFL trading deadline is Tuesday, and General Manager John Dorsey will do everything he can to try to swing deals to help the Browns for the future. He has to do so, since any prospects for this season are obviously out the window.

But as bad as all this offer stuff is – and it’s pretty bad – it pales in comparison to the Jackson-Haley situation. That’s the Browns’ main issue. Indeed, forget for the time being what’s going on out on the field, because the team is coming apart at the seams from the inside out, beginning at the top.

If you’re Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam, what in the world do you do? What can you do? And if you’re going to do anything, when do you do it?

So many important questions, and no good answers to them at this point.

We all knew this was going to happen – at least all of you frequent visitors to brownsdailydose.com know it since I’ve been writing for months about this type of thing happening if the Browns didn’t get off to a fast start and the losses began piling up, with no end in sight, in what is a tough, tough schedule.

But again, that’s not the focus, thst we saw it coming. Rather, it is, again, what can be done about it?

In the very least – there’s that phrase again – the Haslams, if they haven’t done so already, and if they have, then they need to do it again, absolutely must get together with Jackson and Haley and, in no uncertain terms, order them to get along or get out. They’re being paid a lot of money, so if ether of them have any sense, they’ll get along, at least for the time being.

Oh, and did we mention that the Browns now return home to play, in back-to-back weeks, the Kansas City Chiefs and Atlanta Falcons?

That’s another problem for another time later this week.