Browns Vomit 13-Point, Embarrass Themselves Against Jets in Home Opener
In a matter of a 1:33, the Cleveland Browns went from a comfortable 30-17 lead with 1:55 left to go in the game to desperately trying to find a miracle in back to back weeks. After Browns running back Nick Chubb scored his third touchdown of the game, rookie kicker Cade York misses the extra point, the Browns defense promptly surrenders an uncontested 66-yard touchdown pass to Corey Moore, recovered an onside kick and drove down to score again with a touchdown pass to rookie wide receiver Garrett Wilson, giving the Jets a 31-30 lead with 22 seconds to go.
Jacoby Brissett, who played well for the most part, tried to get the Browns within field goal range a week after York hit a 58-yard field goal. After scrambling for a good amount of yardage, threw the interception that clinched the fate the Browns deserved for the comedy of errors that occurred.
Not since November 4th, 2001 have has any team imploded quite so spectacularly and it was the Browns once again. Against the Chicago Bears, they were able to blow a 21-7 lead with 3:34 left in the fourth quarter. There, they at least got the opportunity to go to overtime, but quarterback Tim Couch threw a pick six to safety Mike Brown on the first play of the extra frame, resulting in a 27-21 loss for the Browns.
The Browns got the performance they wanted from Brissett. He took what the defense gave him and made a few nice plays with his legs early, which set the Browns up with a few touchdowns. The Browns wore down the Jets defense, creating running room for Chubb and Kareem Hunt, which should've been enough to secure the game up two scores.
The Browns defense, which was expected to carry the team for the early part of the year found ways to continually let the team down. Blown coverages for the second week in a row led to easy scores. Even when the Browns were in position, Joe Flacco often carved up an ineffective secondary.
Special teams, a unit that has been a problem for the past two years under Mike Priefer's stewardship, was unable to recover an onside kick moments after blowing an extra point, the first missed kick of Cade York's young career.
The Browns can ill afford to give away games with backup quarterback Jacoby Brissett at the helm as Deshaun Watson continues to serve his 11-game suspension. It's particularly brutal because the offense was the best part of the performance in this game against the Jets and the units that were supposed to be improved, tasked with carrying more of the load as the Browns are compromised on offense, gave away the game.
After a week of answering questions about blown coverages against the Carolina Panthers in a game the Browns deserved to lose, they will once again be answering questions regarding a secondary and defensive coordinator in Joe Woods that went into the season believing they could be among the best in the league.
The Browns haven't reached 2-0 since 1993 and vomited up every bit of excitement the team had built up going into this season as well the week one win with this loss. Instead, they looked the part of another overhyped, underprepared mess that routinely finishes at the bottom of the standings.
