CLEVELAND — It all started to come unraveled Saturday morning.
That’s when news broke of a positive COVID-19 test for Browns linebacker B.J. Goodson, leaving many unanswered questions for Sundays game with the Jets. Soon after, with contact tracing complete, it was determined five other players--receivers Jarvis Landry, Rashard Higgins, Donovan Peoples-Jones, and KhaDarel Hodge, along with linebacker Jacob Phillips--were all identified as high-risk contacts, leaving them unavailable for Sundays pivotal game.
The team flight to New Jersey was delayed four hours, finally leaving Cleveland around 7 p.m. Saturday evening. The Browns would also be forced to play without rookie left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. who, despite being activated Saturday off the COVID-19 reserve list, was scratched due to illness. That obviously leaves his availability for next weeks finale against the Steelers up in the air.
So, the Browns' mission to make the playoffs included rooting for the Steelers to beat the Colts, and go beat the 1-13 NY Jets without four starting wide receivers, two starting linebackers, and two starting offensive lineman. Any hope the NFL would swoop in and save the day by postponing the game was futile.
Time is running out on this miserable 2020 season, and makeup dates are not an option. The league was clear when the season began games would not be postponed for competitive imbalance issues; only for player safety concerns. Once it was deemed the Browns had enough available players cleared from contact tracing to play the game, the show mercilessly forged on.
Imagine this scene: It’s early gameday morning. Browns players have assembled in the parking lot of the team hotel, but not to catch a bus for MetLife Stadium, at least not yet. Instead, they’re participating in an impromptu walk-through just to make sure everyone knows where they’re supposed to be, kind of like the Denver Broncos playing a game last month without a single quarterback on the roster.
Can’t you just see Roger Goodell, hair neatly combed over, sly, crooked smile, quick wink and a finger point? "Go get 'em, Browns! End that 18-year playoff drought! The show must go on!!"
To be clear, though, the Browns have no one to blame but themselves, and they know it. Head coach Kevin Stefanski couldn’t have been more clear in his postgame comments; same with Baker Mayfield.
Neither made a single excuse. Both took full responsibility for the crippling loss, arguably the most painful regular season defeat in the last two decades.
Win and you’re in. The Jets were 1-13. Their motivation of pride paled in comparison to the Browns' prize, but the spark just wasn’t there.
I’ve used this column throughout the regular season to praise the Browns for finding ways to win games by whatever means necessary: Holding on to once huge leads that nearly evaporated, big takeaways late in games, even last-minute, heart-pounding drives. But I’ve also used this space to continually question why a team with the best tandem of running backs in the NFL is so hellbent on throwing the football.
I haven’t understood it all year, even when the pass-happy imbalance resulted in wins. I understand Mayfield has blossomed into a better steward of the football, but this is still a team built to run the ball. It was an ominous sign of things to come that the Browns opened the game with three straight passes (two of them incomplete), resulting in a quick three-and-out.
Playing without their top four receivers, the Browns opened up with three straight passes. Granted, one was to a tight end and the other two were intended for running backs, but three straight passes?
Turns out, that was the game plan: The Browns ran just nine running plays in the first half for a grand total of four yards. Backups on the line or not, the Jets were 1-13. There was no sense of urgency, no sense of taking the fight to New York. Nine rushes, four yards.
For the game, the Browns ran the ball just 18 times for 45 yards. Compare that to the 53 passes Baker Mayfield threw: 53 throws,18 runs. That’s a problem, and Stefanski recognized as much after the loss.
"We got beat today," he said. "Credit to the Jets, they beat us. I got outcoached, we got outplayed, we did the things you can’t do. We were minus-two in the turnover battle – you can’t do that. Penalties, drops, not good. That is going to get you beat, and it did, so credit to the Jets."
And if the credit goes to the Jets, Baker Mayfield took all of the blame for the loss.
"It is pretty much 2020 all in 24 hours," he told reporters after the game. "There is no excuse. I failed this team. I put three balls on the ground – two of them they recovered and the other on the fourth down. I just need to hold onto the damn ball, plain and simple. I have to hold onto the damn ball. I failed this team."
The way it turns out, the Browns still control their own destiny: Beat the Steelers next Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium. and they are into the playoffs, perhaps with a rematch the next week in Pittsburgh.
To think two weeks ago, the Browns chances of a playoff berth stood at a cool 98%, but it is still there for the taking. Mike Tomlin may decide to rest some of his starters with Pittsburgh's playoff seed clinched, and hopefully the Browns will get their receivers back.
The game will be played in 2021. That’s a win right there.