It’s one thing to lose.
It’s another thing to lose decisively.
But it’s yet another thing to get embarrassed, and that’s what happened to the Browns on Sunday in a 31-17 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium.
Forget the fact the Browns lost by “just” 14 points. It was much more on-sided than that. The Bengals made big play after big play and ran the ball at will against the Browns. So the Browns got embarrassed. Make no mistake about it.
Getting embarrassed is the second-worst thing that can happen to a team. The worst is to get embarrassed while also quitting, and the Browns are far from the latter. They fought hard and played hard, just like they have all season.
It’s just that they didn’t play very well. No, they played horribly. Even for a young, inexperienced, still winless (now 0-7) team that’s beat up at nearly every position, the level of performance the Browns put forth on Sunday was totally unacceptable.
“I’m not used to getting beat like this,” Browns head coach Hue Jackson said afterward.
Jackson sounded as angry as he’s ever sounded after a game – and also the most disgusted, frustrated and disappointed. This one really hurt, and it hurt him personally. As much as he said otherwise all last week, this game meant a lot to him because he was facing his former team in his former workplace. To get .. well, embarrassed in that situation is embarrassing to him.
The Browns will lose more games – a lot more games – this year, but Jackson is going to ask more of his players, coaches and himself to make sure that none of the losses are like this one.
The Bengals are a good team. But they’re not that good.
The Browns are bad, and they were particularly bad defensively on Sunday. They played much, much worse than they are. That had to be embarrassing to defensive coordinator Ray Horton, a former Bengals defensive back and assistant coach.
From top to bottom, the Browns have to be better – a whole lot better – next Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium when they face the New York Jets of head coach Todd Bowles, a former Browns assistant coach under Butch Davis. They might not win – they probably won’t win – but they have to be better. They can’t get much worse.
This was a season in which player development, not necessarily winning and losing, was the focus. But no one – and nothing – got developed on Sunday, which means the Browns didn’t get any better. So the afternoon was a wasted opportunity, and the Browns can’t waste a single moment if they ever want to get out of this season, what they need to get out of it.
