NFL: Here We Go Browns? Writer Contemplates Failing Franchise

By: Kenny Kirchner – Staff Writer

Is it even worth to watch the Cleveland Browns anymore? Being that I’m from Cleveland, I should probably say yes, but how can I?

They haven’t won a single game this season and doesn’t look like they ever will with a record of 0-7. In fact, under head coach Hue Jackson, the team’s record is 1-22.

Now I’ll admit, I haven’t watched every game of the season, but I did decide to watch last week’s loss against the Titans, 12-9. I thought they had it, I really did!

I turned on the game and the score was 3-0 Titans and was surprised Tennessee hadn’t scored a touchdown yet. The kickers ended up with all the offense. Not one touchdown came out of last week’s game. (It’s sometimes a treat to see a touchdown when you’re a Browns fan.)

After the Browns stopped running back Derrick Henry from getting into the endzone in the third quarter, my hopes went up that they would come back from their meager 6-3 deficit.

With interceptions from both quarterbacks (DeShone Kizer and Cody Kessler) throughout the game, the Browns managed to tie up the score 9-9 at the end of the fourth quarter.

Ok, so the Browns are headed to overtime. I thought, “Well, maybe if they win the coin toss and get the ball first they could do it.” Sure thing, the Browns won the coin toss, but didn’t do it.

The Browns couldn’t manage to pick up any points in that first drive. A couple of drives later, in a scrappy overtime, Titans kicker Ryan Succop knocked in the game-winning 47-yard field goal.

It hurt seeing my home team come so close to their first win of the season, but that’s how it’s felt the whole season.
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There can’t be a curse on the Browns, right? Sure, there was ‘The Drive’, ‘The Fumble’ and ‘The Move’, but what nomenclature can one give to the funk the Browns are currently in?

‘The Quest for a Decent Quarterback’? That doesn’t flow like the others. But Cleveland has had 28 starting quarterbacks since 1999, and that is often the metric by which their failure is characterized.

How about ‘The Haslam Ownership’? That might work. I mean Jimmy Haslam was a minority owner of the Steelers before the Browns, so could he be tormenting Cleveland under his ownership? Probably not, but some might think that.  

What about this: ‘The Browns’.

Sure, that’s pretty blunt and I’m not even confident that’d be a good name for the era. Though, let’s be realistic, the Browns are just really bad.  It could be the ownership or many other things, but the Browns are just a bad NFL franchise.  

It’s amazing to know that Patriots’ head coach Bill Belichick coached the Browns early in his career. I wonder if we would have been jamming out to Queen in February if he stayed in The Rock and Roll Capital of the World.

Looking into next week’s game, it’s the Browns turn to play in London. They face the Minnesota Vikings, a team with a record of 5-2, at 9:30 a.m. on the NFL Network.

Will Cleveland finally get their first win? It would be fitting for them to do so outside the country in which they’ve played so horrendously for the last 18 seasons. I’m not entirely sure, but remember, many loyal, dedicated Cleveland Browns fans like me around the nation that hope so.

Photo Taken from waitingfornextyear.com