The Browns have closed the gap with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
That’s the main thing – not just the main thing from a positive standpoint, but the main thing overall – from Sunday’s 21-18 regular-season-opening loss to Pittsburgh at FirstEnergy Stadium.
Who knows how much, exactly, the Browns closed the gap on the AFC North’s best team year in and year out. That remains to be seen. But they definitely did to some degree.
Even in this season where the focus for the Browns is not really on winning, per se, no one wants to lose. The Browns don’t want to lose. Their fans don’t want to see them lose. Coming else doesn’t count. Nothing counts in all pro sports – not just the NFL — but a victory.
As Herm Edwards says, you play to win the game.
That’s all obvious.
And this loss stings even more because the Browns had chances to win. They had chances to gain what, as I discussed in my last post, would have been a signature victory and jump-started their complete rebuilding process.
That win might have come, too, had the Browns not started so slowly offensively and on special teams. They had all kinds of problems on the first possession of the game. That is exactly what you would have expected offensively considering they were playing a rookie quarterback in DeShone Kizer.
And when they tried to punt after going three plays-and-out and had it blocked and recovered in the end zone for a Pittsburgh touchdown, it’s also exactly what you’d expect from units under the guidance of special teams coordinator Chris Tabor. He has done a horrible job for a number of seasons, and this one looks like it will be another disaster.
But other than that – other than those two “expectations,” other than that series, which, according to head coach Hue Jackson, “was the difference in the game” – the young, inexperienced Browns did a lot of good things.
Without the benefit of a running game (where in the heck was that supposedly improved offensive line after the free-agent signings of JC Tretter and Kevin Zeitler and the return of Joel Bitonio?), Kizer hung in there under a fierce rush, looked poised for the most part and made some plays, including running for a touchdown. If he continues to grow, then he has a chance – a chance — to be the franchise quarterback for whom the Browns have searched so long.
The defense was, at times, nothing short of sensational, with guys flying around and making things happen. Coordinator Gregg Williams’ group is the real deal, as it had showed in the preseason. It will carry this club until the offense and special teams catch up and start holding up their end of the bargain.
The eye test is always the best test, and the Browns certainly passed it test on Sunday. They looked like a team worth watching.
But they didn’t get an A because their effort didn’t net a win.
We’ll see if they can take another step forward – perhaps an even bigger step should they get a victory — when they visit another longtime division bully in the Baltimore Ravens next Sunday.
