The focus of brownsdailydose.com, from its outset on Aug. 6, 2015, has been to give you, our cherished readers, something different to think about.
We knew that if we didn’t, then we wouldn’t be in business very long.
And we’re still here.
So it does absolutely no good to spend a long time repeating what everyone else in the free world is writing and saying, and it is that the Browns’ 33-17 loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday at NRG Stadium was, to put it mildly, an unmitigated disaster.
A 16-point spread is a lot in the NFL, where parity reigns supreme, but it wasn’t even that close – nowhere close to it, in fact. It was a rout.
The score was tied 3-3 in the first quarter, but then the Texans sprinted away from the Browns, leading 24-3 at halftime and 33-3 after three quarters before Cleveland got two throw-away touchdowns in garbage time. The Browns looked very much like what they are — an 0-6 team that’s going nowhere fast.
Aside from a few good things from the defense and the fact that rookie Zane Gonzalez actually kicked a field goal after coming into the game with three straight misses, there was nothing positive — absolutely nothing – to take from what happened.
And the play of quarterback Kevin Hogan, who was making his first pro start, was unquestionably the worst part of it all. The Browns would have been better off putting Hulk Hogan under center.
Really, could it have been any worse?
I think not.
The Browns are stuck in neutral. They have been since they returned to the field in 1999.
And that is because they don’t have consistent play from their quarterback. To put it more specifically, they haven’t identified their quarterback. Period. End of statement.
It isn’t Hogan – Kevin, Hulk, Colonel, from “Hogan’s Heroes,” or any other guy with that last name. That’s even more obvious now.
If they have a quarterback – and I believe they do – it’s DeShone Kizer, though, as of this point, he is identified only as a guy who had thrown a lot of interceptions before getting benched at halftime a week ago, and clearly has a long way to go.
But he’s a rookie, so there are going to be issues in his game. And he was taken in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft with the idea that he could possibly be the team’s long-sought-after franchise quarterback.
Considering all that, then, and the fact that this season was never necessarily going to be about winning but rather developing talent and hopefully identifying the quarterback, Kizer should be re-installed as the starter and, barring some kind of significant injury, God forbid, remain there for the rest of the season.
I wrote that when Browns head coach Hue Jackson benched Kizer and named Hogan the starter for the Texans game, it was much more about Kizer and giving him a chance to stand on the sideline, catch his breath and watch the action from a different angle to learn how to get better, than it ever was about any belief that Hogan had a legitimate chance to be the guy. Based on what occurred Sunday, Jackson’s decision – a one-respite for Kizer, with no assurance that it was ever going to be any longer than that – was exactly the right thing to do.
But it has to end now. Jackson knows that. He has to know that. He’s the “quarterback whisperer,” remember?
By the end of the season, the Browns have to find out for sure if Kizer is the guy, or even simply if he can ever be the guy. With 10 games left, they should be able to do that, especially considering that he’s already had five starts.
Hopefully, he proves he’s the guy, for if that happens, the Browns can use all of those high draft picks next spring to fill some of the many holes, particularly on offense, that still remain.
But if not, then they will have to use one of the selections to take a quarterback.
Again.
Still.
Arrrggghhh!!!
As painful as that would be, nothing changes about the Browns until they get their quarterback.
That’s the bottom line. And it’s something the Browns have been unable to solve for nearly two decades.
On days like Sunday, we’re especially reminded about that.
