The Cleveland Browns made their annual trip to Pittsburgh on Sunday, and the results were depressingly unsurprising.
Only 248 yards of offense. Six sacks of rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel. Less than
four yards per running play. No sacks from the defense against a quarterback who entered the game last in the league when facing pressure. Dropped passes, penalties, Terrible Towels waving, Renegade blasting through the speakers.
Add it all up, and you get the Browns losing for the 22nd consecutive time in the regular season to the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road. It was also the 11th consecutive game overall where the Browns failed to score more than 17 points.
Things are always bad the day after a Browns loss, and they are especially magnified when the loss comes against the Steelers. This is the longest-running series in the AFC, allegedly one of the league’s better rivalries. But in truth, there has rarely been a time when both teams have been good at the same time.
So the situation is bleak, cheerless, dismal, dreary, gloomy – pick your word – for the Browns as they sit at 1-5 on the season.
It may only be a quantum of solace on another victory-less Monday, but at least the Browns are not alone on the NFL’s Island of Misery.
At least they are not the Baltimore Ravens, who fell to 1-5 on the season after losing to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday and scoring only 3 points in the process. A preseason Super Bowl contender when the season began, the Ravens are in a free fall after losing four consecutive games, and the home fans are now calling for head coach John Harbaugh’s head.
You can’t let the fans down if you are never a preseason Super Bowl contender, right?
As rough as the quarterback play has been in Cleveland, things are never as bad as they are with the New York Jets, who are 0-6 after Sunday’s loss to the Denver Broncos. Justin Fields, unquestionably the worst starting quarterback in the league, had -10 passing yards against the Broncos, had as many sacks (9) as completions for the second time in his career, and led an offensive attack that went 2-of-15 on third down and managed all of 82 yards of offense.
The Browns offense may be stuck in the mud, but at least they can get more than 82 yards in a game.
Looking west, the Arizona Cardinals took a lead into the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts. It was the fourth consecutive game in which the Cardinals either had the lead or were tied heading into the final quarter, and it also marked the fourth consecutive loss for the Cardinals.
You can’t blow a game in the fourth quarter if you never have the lead, right, Browns fans?
Finally, there are the Miami Dolphins, who are up next on Cleveland’s schedule. Following Sunday’s last-second loss to the Los Angeles Chargers that dropped the Dolphins to 1-5, Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa shared that his teammates have often been late or simply chose not to attend the always-popular players-only meetings.
While the value of players-only meetings is debatable, Miami players have also reportedly been late to meetings and practices throughout head coach Mike McDaniel’s tenure, which seems like a more pressing matter.
None of this is meant to excuse the product the Browns have put on the field this season. It has been a mess, especially on offense, and it doesn’t appear likely that the situation will improve anytime soon. Not even with the shadow of the most overhyped fifth-round draft pick in league history looming over Gabriel’s shoulder.
Rather, let’s see this as a small attempt to help ease the gloom of another failed trip to Pittsburgh by reminding Browns fans that they are not alone when it comes to following a flailing franchise.
Even if it feels that way more often than not.
