Everyone here at Steel City Underground is well aware that our rival reports – especially on the Cleveland Browns – are not the highest-read articles, ever. In fact, I would go so far as to guess that if one hundred people read a single article this season that I’ve written about the Browns, it’d be a fluke. Why write them, you might ask. One, I enjoy covering the teams that the Pittsburgh Steelers face twice per season because any given week those teams – the Browns, Cincinnati Bengals, and Baltimore Ravens – could spoil that week in the NFL for the team we are rooting for in black and gold. Two, it’s good to keep an eye on your enemy (keep them close, you know) because, let’s face it, when are the Los Angeles Rams going to be an enemy to the Steelers like the Bengals have become?

All season there has been a ton of speculation about what is really going on in Cleveland. Has Hue Jackson gone stone cold mad? What really went on with Sashi Brown? Is there some purpose to having a continual losing streak? I went so far early in the season to suggest that the Browns had potentially thrown the 2016 season and looked to be on track to do so again in 2017. I took heat for being presumptuous, but the pill that is the Browns has become even more bitter to taste, let alone swallow, after their overtime loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.

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Browns fans are well aware that the head coach has made some odd decisions this season.  Forcing rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer into the spotlight the way Jackson did isn’t the worst idea he’s had, and that’s saying a lot. Owner Jimmy Haslam has stood firm in his support of Jackson even as the team has floundered in 13 straight games this season and had an opportunity to beat the Packers on Sunday. One call, a play that Jackson wanted ran, sealed the loss in overtime for the Browns…and is anyone sure why he was adamant that it must have been poor execution by the kid he has kept on a yo-yo string all season?

The Browns won the coin toss in overtime and got the ball. On a third-and-two play, Jackson called for a bunch formation on the left side of the line, leaving Josh Gordon in a one-on-one situation with Damarious Randall on the outside. As the ball was snapped, Randall was very tight on Gordon. So tight, in fact, that Browns players wanted a flag for holding on Randall. Kizer shirked off the pressure to move back to the left from his rollout and that was when Rashard Higgins broke free in the center of the field deep. Kizer opted for the open receiver, but linebacker Clay Matthews was able to make up ground and hit Kizer’s passing arm; the ball sailing like a wounded duck into an easily intercepted gift to Josh Jones that set up the winning touchdown to keep the Browns winless.

First NFL interception for @JoshJones11_ comes in a BIG moment! #GBvsCLE #GoPackGo https://t.co/1l9aonBOnZ

— Green Bay Packers (@packers) December 10, 2017

When Jackson was asked about the play, he said, “I wanted to give our best player a chance to win on a one-on-one matchup.” Obviously, Jackson was referencing Gordon who has done very little for this Cleveland team this season and would not be at the top of my list of best players on that roster, especially since his first touchdown catch since 2013 came on Sunday.

Then Jackson threw Kizer under the bus. “Obviously, I think he saw (Higgins) in the middle of the field running, and you are running to your left and that is just hard to do, to throw the ball back across your body.” Jackson felt Kizer should have thrown the ball away or taken the sack and he’d have sent the Browns defense onto the field.

Kizer, who had his own thoughts, said he felt that if Matthews had not hit his arm, the pass would have been completed and Higgins would have scored. “You feel that if they make that play, you are going to come off and you are going to be rewarded for all the work that you put in…specifically in that play, you reverse the field and you are making things happen.” The rookie had completed 20-of-28 passes for 214 and three touchdowns before that play occurred.

DeShone Kizer has tied the Browns record for most TD passes in a game by a rookie

— Dan Murphy (@DMurph_BrownsPR) December 10, 2017

Who’s right? Who’s wrong? Right now in Cleveland, everything feels wrong.

There has been a perception around the league, including from NBC’s Pro Football Talk, that new general manager John Dorsey is ready to sit at the table with Haslam and convince him that Jackson needs to be sent packing in favor of a coach of his choosing. After the loss to Green Bay, Dorsey may have more ammunition, but Haslam has never been a guy that highly favors change. Three more games, three more weeks and Cleveland fans may finally be free from Jackson – the guy who has been questioned for his coaching methods, play calling, maneuvering of personnel on and off the field and his handling of Kizer – and see light at the end of the tunnel.

Dorsey, who sat with Haslam and Chief Strategy Officer Paul DePodesta in the owners’ suite during the game, was present in the locker room following the loss and was seen seated and speaking to Kizer. Dorsey was key to the release of Kenny Britt and apparently, Jackson feels he can work better with the new GM than he did Sashi Brown. “I came to this organization to turn it around … [not be] the losingest coach in the National Football League,” Jackson said. It’s unknown if Dorsey feels the same way about Jackson, yet. In fact, the pair have quietly been working together for now.

Cleveland has nowhere to go from here but forward. They nearly pulled one off only to give it away with the Packers. Moving forward, they’d do well to give the ball to Isaiah Crowell who rushed for 121 yards on 19 carries and added ten more yards via reception. Crowell has had his down moments as well this season, but the Browns need playmakers. Period.

#FeedTheCrow https://t.co/3OpCG2FBsG

— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) December 10, 2017

This weekend, the Browns face a Baltimore Ravens team who nearly handed the (recently-crowned AFC North Champion) Pittsburgh Steelers a loss on Sunday night. The Ravens look like a renewed team after early-season struggles.