Biggest Takeaways from Cleveland Browns' Week 13 Loss

The Cleveland Browns' 37-3 loss to the visiting Cincinnati Bengals in Week 13 may have been the most demoralizing defeat of the season. The loss sent the Browns to a dismal 2-10 on the season. Cleveland is now in possession of not just the worst record in the league but also the No. 1 pick in the 2016 NFL draft.

So what led to such a poor performance on Sunday? Here are the biggest takeaways from the Browns' Week 13 loss.

Thin Receiving Corps

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The Browns headed into Sunday's game terribly short-handed at wide receiver. Andrew Hawkins and Taylor Gabriel were out, still in the league's concussion protocol, according to Scott Petrak of the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram. 

Dwayne Bowe was again a healthy scratch, as was Terrelle Pryor, whom the Browns had just re-signed earlier in the week.

That left the team with Brian Hartline, Marlon Moore, Travis Benjamin and former practice squad member Darius Jennings as the only active receivers for the game.

Benjamin then exited the game in the first quarter with a shoulder injury and did not return. When addressing reporters, head coach Mike Pettine called him day-to-day on Monday. Hartline suffered a thigh bruise later in the game that he was forced to play through given the thinness at the position, per Cleveland.com's Mary Kay Cabot.

Tight end Gary Barnidge also had his leg rolled up on and played through an ankle injury.

On a day when the Browns desperately needed to air it out, given their inability to run the ball plus the points the Bengals quickly racked up, these injuries made a bad day significantly worse.

That many injuries would have decimated any team's passing offense, and for the Browns—who live and die by theirs—it was a fatal blow.

A Short Leash for Austin Davis?

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Browns quarterback Austin Davis made his first start for the Browns on Sunday and had a serviceable yet frustrating day. He completed 25 of his 38 pass attempts for 230 yards.

But he also threw zero touchdowns, had one interception, fumbled the ball away once and was sacked three times. The Browns never sniffed the red zone and reached far enough into Bengals territory to attempt a field goal a mere two times, with one made and one missed.

It appears Davis' time as the Browns' starter could be a one-and-done affair.

Though Pettine said that they would not decide on the starter for the rest of the season until Tuesday, according to TheOBR.com's Fred Greetham, his other comments seem to point towards Johnny Manziel taking over for the final four games.

Pettine told reporters on Monday that he "hopes" that Manziel "has gotten [the] point" after his two-game benching. He also said that he believes that four games are "enough" to evaluate Manziel "for the future." It seems like the Davis era could come to an end as quickly as it started.

After all, in Manziel's last appearance against the Pittsburgh Steelers, he threw for over 370 yards. While that netted the Browns a mere nine points, that's still more than Davis did (with limited resources) on Sunday.

Shredded by Play Action

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Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton and offensive coordinator Hue Jackson had the perfect game plan to take down Cleveland's defense, and they executed it perfectly on Sunday.

Dalton attempted only 19 passes in the game, but he completed 14 of them for 220 yards and two touchdowns, with one sack taken. Receiver A.J. Green had 128 yards and a score on his five catches, while Marvin Jones had 55 yards and a touchdown on his five receptions. 

At the same time, the Bengals ran the ball 33 times for 144 yards. Because the Bengals could run so well, they used it to set up their big-gaining passing game by utilizing play-action passing.

On the season, Dalton has thrown 22.8 percent of his passes via play action, according to Pro Football Focus. But on Sunday, he did so on 45.5 percent of his throws.

With Cleveland's defense repeatedly expecting runs on these plays, the coverage was often one-on-one—matchups that Dalton could easily exploit given the talents of Green and Jones. Cleveland never adjusted, leading to big passing play after big passing play.

The Bengals correctly identified the Browns' biggest weaknesses, and that's why they managed to score 37 points to Cleveland's three.

Weird 4th-Down Calls

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The Browns chose to go for it on fourth down twice on Sunday. That's not unusual given that they were playing from behind quickly in the contest.

But what is strange is when they chose to do so: in the first half. The attempts, both failures, came in the second quarter—first on a 4th-and-11 in Cincinnati territory that resulted in a Davis sack and then later on on a 4th-and-1.

One of those turnovers on downs led to a Bengals touchdown. The other led to a Cincinnati field goal. As such, the Browns went into halftime staring down a 20-3 deficit. And they never went for it on fourth down again.

There are times and places for such gambles, but typically not in the first half of a game and definitely not with 11 yards to go on the first play of the second quarter.

These head-scratching moves hurt the Browns dearly given the points that the Bengals earned off the failures.

Low Morale

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The morale following Sunday's loss was low for the Browns, and it has carried over into the first part of the week.

It began with receiver Brian Hartline refusing to speak with reporters after the game, saying that he was staying mum in order to keep his job. He followed that up on Monday by saying that it was "one of the most desolate games" the Browns have played "in recent memory."

Cornerback Tramon Williams, typically one of the more professional leaders on the roster, said on Sunday that "It was bad. I kept saying to the guys, 'Man, we're bad. We're bad right now.'" Pettine added on Monday that it's "hard to be" unified at this point and he couldn't say "we're all on board 100 percent."

There have been numerous low points for the Browns this year. How could there not be given that this is a two-win team? But morale is at an all-time low based on Hartline, Pettine and Williams' comments.