Sloppy Cleveland Browns Show More of Same Futility in Week 1 Loss to Jets

It had been since 2004 that the Cleveland Browns won their regular-season opener. And the Browns will have to wait until at least 2016 to break the streak. They took on the New York Jets on Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and fell 31-10, and the loss reflected more upon the Browns' sloppy play than anything the Jets particularly did to dominate them.

The problems started early, when Browns starting quarterback Josh McCown led the team on a 17-play, 10-minute drive that ended with a QB fumble just before reaching the Jets end zone, resulting in a touchback.

Not only was it followed up by a 15-yard personal-foul penalty committed by center Alex Mack, but it also led to McCown's day being over, as he suffered a concussion on the goal-line hit, per Browns reporter Kevin Jones.

That led to backup Johnny Manziel heading into the game on the Browns' next drive. His first regular-season action of the year started well, with the 22-year-old connecting on a 54-yard touchdown to receiver Taylor Gabriel. But what followed—two penalties on two extra-point attempts that led to kicker Travis Coons having to kick a 48-yard try—reflected the rest of the Browns' day.

They went on to turn the ball over five times: first, a fumble by safety Tashaun Gipson after he had picked off Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, plus two Manziel fumbles on back-to-back drives, a Manziel interception and a late-game turnover on downs after a drop by receiver Taylor Gabriel. The Jets managed to score three touchdowns on Cleveland turnovers.

But the mistakes didn't end there. The Browns also committed a total of 12 penalties, costing them 109 yards, with the vast majority coming on offense. These included a chop block committed by running back Isaiah Crowell that negated a 22-yard Manziel run and a holding penalty on Mack that called back another 20-yard dash by the quarterback.

CLE Turnovers	5
CLE Penalties	12
CLE Penalty Yards	109
CLE Rush Yards	104
NYJ Turnovers	1
NYJ Penalties	4
NYJ Penalty Yards	30
NYJ Rush Yards	154

These penalties—such as guard Joel Bitonio's holding call, Manziel's delay of game, tackle Mitchell Schwartz's false start and others—didn't just mar multiple Cleveland drives; they put the offense in and-long situations it couldn't dig itself out of. Bitonio's first-half penalty wiped out Gabriel's 3rd-and-6 conversion, turning it into a 3rd-and-16 and then a Browns punt, as one example.

And it wasn't just Cleveland's offensive missteps that sunk its day. The defense, which the team gave much roster attention to this offseason in hopes of making improvements—particularly in the pass rush and against the run—looked no better than it did last year. The Browns had zero sacks of Fitzpatrick and just one hit. 

Rich Schultz/Getty Images

While Cleveland's run defense looked like it had improved in the first half, with the Jets only earning 42 yards on their 12 rushing attempts, it ultimately ended the game allowing 154 rushing yards on a combined 36 Jets carries. That's more than its league-worst average rushing yards per game allowed in 2014.

Jets backs Chris Ivory and Bilal Powell combined for 32 carries and 153 of those yards, with Ivory leading the way with 91 yards as well as two rushing scores. In contrast, the Browns' leading rushers for Sunday were Manziel and McCown, with the latter totaling 35 yards and the former 23, though he only appeared in Cleveland's first series.

It doesn't matter that the Jets only outgained the Browns 333 yards to 321 or that the Browns led in time of possession, with 31:40 to 28:80. There's zero chance of winning a game while committing that many penalties and turning the ball over that often, especially if the opponent doesn't do the same thing.

The Jets had only one turnover—the interception pulled down by Gipson that, again, Gipson himself turned over—and committed just four penalties for 30 yards.

The little things going wrong doesn't just kill a drive here or there. It can cost a team an entire game. That's exactly what happened to the Browns on Sunday against the Jets. Things were supposed to be different for Cleveland this year, but Week 1 only looked like more of the same old, same old.