Some thoughts about the Browns’ 27=10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium:
*This season can’t end quickly enough. It’s a nightmare, “Groundhog Day” style, in that nothing changes from week to week. It’s the lump of coal under your Christmas trees.
*The original Browns used to be so good at home, even in seasons when they struggle overall. This expansion-era group is worse at home than it is on the road. It is a true home-field disadvantage. That has to change before this team can move forward.
*What is new General Manager John Dorsey thinking? It can’t be good after this stinker.
*Browns owner Jimmy Haslam says head coach Hue Jackson will return next season. But can he? Will he? Again, the Browns have to make this clear. It’s hovering over this team like a dark cloud.
*The Browns lost to the Green Bay Packers a week ago because of gaffes on special teams. Did you see how much Baltimore’s punting played a part in the victory? It made everyone forget how average quarterback Joe Flacco and the offense was. That’s what the Browns need from their special teams.
*Quarterback DeShone Kizer took major steps backward, especially with his inaccuracy and turnovers – yet again. He’ll be better next season. But how much? It may not make a difference in that the Browns will use the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft to take a quarterback, and that man will have to play.
*There will be much made leading up to next Sunday’s game against Chicago about what would have happened had the Browns drafted Bears quarterback and Mentor native Mitchell Trubisky. But did you see how ineffective he looked on Saturday in an ugly, boring loss to the Detroit Lions? He’s not done much of anything this year, either.
*By the way, watching Browns-Bears will be like eating moldy fruitcake. It could ruin your Christmas Eve.
*The Cleveland defense, when healthy (and with the way the secondary was banged up, it wasn’t healthy on Sunday), is good enough to win. But the offense is horrific. A team can’t have an offense that bad – that points-starved – in today’s NFL and expect to have a legitimate chance to win.
