Cleveland Browns' Uncharacteristically Poor Play Fuels Loss to Texans

Every team has a few clunkers during a season. The Cleveland Browns had hoped their one poor performance, a Week 7 loss in Jacksonville, was out of their system. Unfortunately, that was not the case, as the Browns did not look like the team that bullied their way to first place in the AFC North.

The success they have experienced this season is based on simplicity and discipline. They run the football well, don’t turn the ball over and never beat themselves. It is a tried and true formula that has worked in the NFL for decades.

The Browns did none of those things well on Sunday.

With sole possession of first place and an amped up FirstEnergy Stadium, the Browns left fecal matter all over the field. Maybe the pressure was too much. Maybe the extra time to prepare had the Browns overly confident. Whatever it was it ended with the Browns no longer in first place and now in a three-way tie for last in the AFC North.

The NFL is a funny place.

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#Browns qb Brian Hoyer: we let an opportunity slip through our hands

— Channel 3 Sports (@WKYCSports) November 16, 2014"

What isn’t funny is how the Browns executed on Sunday in their 23-7 loss to the Houston Texans. They had given the ball away just eight times in nine games and did it twice on Sunday. Rookie running back Isaiah Crowell fumbled a ball inside the red zone, and that ended a streak of 99 trips there without a turnover.

This was perhaps the biggest blunder of the game. Had the Browns scored, they would have taken a 14-7 lead before halftime. Instead, the Texans marched 78 yards for a touchdown and had the seven-point advantage at the break.

Quarterback Brian Hoyer was also off-target all game long. On a last-gasp drive late in the fourth quarter he had a deflected ball intercepted. Coming into the game he had just four total interceptions on the year. He threw into double and triple coverage time and time again and missed open receivers as well.

Even kicker Billy Cundiff joined in the calamity. He missed a 38-yard field goal in the first quarter. Let me rephrase that. He missed a field goal so badly it nearly landed in Lake Erie. He had missed just one field goal in his last six games.

Even offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan let this one get away from him. The Browns, who came into this game with the third-most rushing attempts in the NFL, ran the ball just 24 times but threw it 50. They were never able to establish any type of offensive rhythm. Their success this season had been built on the run setting up the pass and not the other way around.

The Browns also came out very flat. We have seen this quite a few times this year, but it looked as though the Browns had turned a corner in their win over Cincinnati. Apparently that was not the case.

“We didn’t come out with the same spunk,” cornerback Joe Haden told the media after the game. “We can’t come out like that. We can’t come out flat. Were not a good enough team to not come out with that energy we need.”

The Browns lacked discipline. The normally cool-headed team that plays efficient football was flagged eight times for 67 yards and had a few others declined. It was not pretty to watch.

The strength of this Browns team all season has been that when the game was on the line they played their best football. When they were down huge at halftime in Tennessee they rallied for the largest road comeback in NFL history. When they needed big plays late to seal their win over New Orleans they made them.

Even when they were struggling to put away teams like Oakland and Tampa Bay at home they always found a way to get it done. That did not happen on Sunday. Every time opportunity knocked at their door they were either too late to answer or stubbed their toe on the coffee table before they could get there.

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#Browns HC Mike Pettine: We did have some opportunities but came up small in the bigger moments.

— Nate Ulrich (@NateUlrichABJ) November 16, 2014"

The loss to the Texans was bigger than just dropping a home game and falling to 6-4, however. In the grand scheme of things this could really come back to bite the Browns. When it comes time to tally up the win totals they could find themselves on the outside of the playoffs looking in because of this loss.

The Texans are an AFC opponent, and a loss to them drops the Browns to 4-4 in their conference. The second tiebreaker for the wild-card spot in the playoffs is conference record. This was certainly an opportunity missed.

So while this was not the end of the season, it was a detour in the road to where the Browns want to go. Expectations have changed, and now the Browns are eyeing the postseason with realistic hope. There are only so many games in a season and even less on your home field.

“I think we still control our own destiny,” wide receiver Andrew Hawkins told the media after the loss. “We still have six games left, and we still have two division games left. That will be big. But anytime you lose you miss an opportunity. You have 16 opportunities, and if you win you took advantage, and if you lost you missed an opportunity.”

That seems like a very simplistic way of looking at things, but it is true. It’s just like the Browns formula for success: simple yet true. They need to get back to basics next week in Atlanta if they truly want to make a run at the playoffs.

All quotes and observations were gathered firsthand unless otherwise noted.