My thoughts on all the noteworthy things – and there are many – about the Browns’ 12-9 loss in overtime to the Tennessee Titans on Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium:
*That was a game the Browns could have won, and should have won, but, despite their toughness, perseverance and giving it everything they had, they didn’t win because of poor quarterback play with too many interceptions, and too many penalties, especially on special teams, which have struggled like this throughout the tenure of coordinator Chris Tabor.
*Disappointing? Well, yeah, certainly, very much so. This team needs a win like a starving man needs food. If it didn’t come with this one, then when will it come this year? Or will it come this season? Will the Browns go oh-for-2017?
*Browns head coach Hue Jackson made absolutely the right call in pulling Kizer. He’s right in saying that turnovers are killers, and Kizer is throwing too many of them, nixing potential scoring drives. Jackson said he has 52 other players on the roster to answer to in terms of trying to win games, so as such, he can’t worry about Kizer’s confidence. This is tough love. This is big-boy football. Jackson loves Kizer and desperately wants him to succeed. And with where Kizer was taken in the 2017 NFL Draft, the coach will give him every chance to make it in this league. But he can’t just let Kizer stand in there and make the same mistakes over and over without pulling him to make a point. And yes, as Jackson said, it’s possible that it may be a revolving door at quarterback until Jackson finds one of the three quarterbacks (also Cody Kessler and Kevin Hogan) who will get it right. What else can Jackson do? I would make Kizer the starter for next Sunday morning’s game against the Minnesota Vikings in London, but I have no idea what Jackson will do.
*And for the record, while I don’t condone Kizer being out way too late Friday night/Saturday morning and it is certainly not a good look, I have a whole lot less problem with that than I do with him throwing interceptions. Kizer is a good young man. But he is a young man. He wants to go out and enjoy himself. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t mean as much as what people are making of it. He’ll learn from it and move on.
*Jackson is also right when he says the Browns have little chance to win unless they can figure out a way to score more points. The NFL is an offensive league. When you can’t get touchdowns, you can’t win. The Browns kicked three field goals on Sunday. That’s it. That’s ridiculous.
*And then there’s Joe Thomas. His streak had to end sometime. But now it’s clear how valuable he is – and just how good he still is. The Browns really struggled without him. Yes, it could get worse on offense, and it has. So get healthy quickly, Joe – please.
