Five quick thoughts — I’ll have more next time, and throughout the rest of the week, really — about the Browns’ 23–22 loss in overtime to the host New Orleans Saints on Sunday:

1) — I keep hearing about how the Browns defense let down at the end once again, and continues to struggle to stop the run. Well, the defense let down at the end because it got tired after being out on the field so much. And why was that? Because the offense was so pathetic in the first half and couldn’t move the ball at all or take any time off the clock. Come on, how hard is that to understand? And did I mention about the offense’s inability to score touchdowns when it got into the red zone? Yes, the defense needs to do better against the run, but it sure isn’t the reason why the Browns lost that game to New Orleans.

2) — I’ve said it seemingly 100 times before, and I’ll say it again here, that when you can’t score points in the National Football League, you have no chance to win. This is a league that’s built on offense. The rule have bern skewed for almost 50 years to favor the offense because the fans say they want to see high-scoring games. The Browns keep falling into that category with their play — or the lack thereof — in the first half time and time and time again.

3) — And why in the world can’t this team start fast overall? It is ridiculous how slowly and ineffectively the Browns begin each game.

4) — Browns head coach Todd Monken did absolutely the right thing in going for the two-point conversion at the end. You play to win the game, not to tie the game. Yes, a tie is better than a loss, but a win is better than a tie, and so you try to win.

5) — And finally, has a Browns tight end — even an NFL tight end — ever had two consecutive games like the ones the Browns’ Harold Fannin Jr., the pride of Canton McKinley High School, has had these last two weeks? What a show he has put on!!

Steve King