Cleveland Browns Prove They Aren’t Ready for Primetime in Loss at Jacksonville

By Ed Morgans @writered21 on October 19, 2014

Off a huge win over their rivals the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Cleveland Browns warranted at least a bit of consideration as a potential AFC Wild Card, if not a player in an AFC North that didn’t seem as tough as many would have thought before this NFL season started. But the Browns are forever the Browns, and they blew all those thoughts out of the water Sunday in a 24-6 loss at previously winless Jacksonville.

The Browns had been a feel-good story after their 25-point comeback to win at Tennessee, then the demolition they put on Pittsburgh a week ago. That left very few believing they would fall to the Jaguars, who play decent football at times but had shown no ability to do enough to win a game any time soon. But Cleveland (3-3) made it easy for the Jaguars (1-6), committing three turnovers and eight penalties. The Browns may be much improved, but they aren’t yet good enough to make those kind of mistakes and beat even the worst team in the NFL, let alone good divisional rivals like the Baltimore Ravens and the Cincinnati Bengals.

Offensively, nothing worked for the Browns. Brian Hoyer, who had rendered Johnny Manziel into Johnny Backup, saw his fairy-tale season crash down to Earth today, going just 16-for-41 for 215 yards with an interception and no touchdowns. The running game wasn’t any better, gaining just 69 yards on 30 attempts. Ben Tate got a majority of the carries, but aside from an 18-yard run, he managed just 18 yards on his other 15 carries combined. Cleveland’s defense gave up 336 yards and 20 first downs to a Jacksonville team that had been offensively anemic for much of the season. Denard Robinson, the former Michigan quarterback turned Jaguars running back, rushed for 127 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries.

It was fair to expect Cleveland to win this game. The Browns had earned that respect with their play early this season. But losing at Jacksonville is an unforgivable sin if a team is going to be considered any kind of playoff contender. While the Bengals lost to Indianapolis today, Baltimore looked dominating for a second straight week in defeating Atlanta. Pittsburgh plays Monday night at home to Houston, knowing it can gain a valuable game on the Browns with a win.

It takes a lot of proof to take the Browns seriously as a good team. Many experts fell victim to this latest Browns’ charade, thinking maybe this was the year Cleveland turned things around. Today’s loss, however, proves that like in most seasons, the Browns are what they are and things haven’t really changed.

Ed Morgans is an ACC Basketball writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @writered21 and add him to your network on Google.