By STEVE KING
This has been the worst several days of the Browns season.
The absolute worst.
And it stinks.
Instead of the Browns beating the Pittsburgh Steelers — a team they should have beaten — and getting their season back on track, where it should be, they are just 4-4, in a bad way and at a crossroads, and their season is in serious question.
Ugh.
I hate it.
I absolutely hate it.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way at all.
But the Browns have no one to blame but themselves for this mess.
They have played poorly for a good portion of the season. Yes, in a season when they were supposed to play so well for so much of the season, they are nowhere close to that.
It is an embarrassment, a humiliation and an unmitigated disaster for everybody involved.
The Browns — that is, the Browns of the expansion era — have been down this road before — a number of times — and that is understandable because the talent, coaching and chemistry was never right.
But it is right this year, or at least it should be, and it still isn’t working.
That’s the frustrating part, the disappointing part and the gut-wrenching part, for both the coaches/players — one group — and the fans. They all want so desperately for it to happen.
This isn’t fun, and football — especially Browns football — is supposed to be fun.
So, then, what’s the solution?
It’s simple, and yet not so simple.
It is called winning, but it’s hard to win in the NFL when the parts aren’t all moving in unison, moving in concert with one another.
It starts Sunday with a trip to Cincinnati.
To win that game — and most of the others in the second half of the season — the Browns have to dig deeply to find out who they really are, which, I am convinced, isn’t this. They’re better than this — much better. But none of that counts. They have to show it for that opinion to be valid.
Here we go!
Hold on tightly, with both hands.
Below is the unofficial depth chart for the Browns’ Week 9 game Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m., and the game can be seen on CBS.
Offense
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WR | Jarvis Landry | Donovan Peoples-Jones | Anthony Schwartz | |
| LT | Jedrick Wills Jr. | James Hudson III | ||
| LG | Joel Bitonio | Hjalte Froholdt | ||
| C | JC Tretter | Michael Dunn | ||
| RG | Wyatt Teller | |||
| RT | Jack Conklin* | Blake Hance | ||
| TE | Austin Hooper | David Njoku | Harrison Bryant | |
| WR | Odell Beckham Jr. | Rashard Higgins | ||
| QB | Baker Mayfield | Case Keenum | ||
| RB | Nick Chubb | D’Ernest Johnson | Demetric Felton | John Kelly Jr. |
| FB | Johnny Stanton IV |
Defense
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|
| LDE | Myles Garrett | Takkarist McKinley | |
| LDT | Malik Jackson | Jordan Elliott | |
| RDT | Malik McDowell | Andrew Billings | Tommy Togiai |
| RDE | Jadeveon Clowney | Joe Jackson | Ifeadi Odenigbo |
| WILL | Mack Wilson Sr. | Tony Fields II | |
| MIKE | Anthony Walker Jr. | Elijah Lee | |
| SAM | Sione Takitaki | Malcolm Smith | |
| LCB | Denzel Ward | Troy Hill | A.J. Green |
| RCB | Greg Newsome II | Greedy Williams | Herb Miller |
| SS | Ronnie Harrison Jr. | Grant Delpit | |
| FS | John Johnson III | Richard LeCounte III |
Special Teams
| Position | 1st | 2nd |
|---|---|---|
| P | Jamie Gillan | |
| K | Chase McLaughlin | |
| H | Jamie Gillan | |
| KR | Demetric Felton | Anthony Schwartz |
| PR | Demetric Felton | Donovan Peoples-Jones |
| LS | Charley Hughlett |
