CLEVELAND: It seemed like another stroke of bad luck for a team that rolls snake eyes every week that the Browns hosted the New England Patriots as quarterback Tom Brady returned from suspension.
But perhaps not.
After seeing four quarterbacks, including three starters, suffer injuries in the first five games, it looks like the Browns are headed for the “Season From Hell II.” Three different players have started at center. The secondary is struggling. Opposing tight ends are running amok.
Sunday might have been the perfect time for the young Browns to see the Patriots, the model franchise in the NFL, and Brady, who should be regarded as the greatest to ever play his position.
The Browns were the only winless team in the league even before their 33-13 loss to the Patriots at FirstEnergy Stadium. The emotional battering they have to be taking every time another quarterback goes down, this time rookie Cody Kessler and No. 4 Charlie Whitehurst, could be debilitating. There’s a question of how long “In Hue We Trust” will last.
But now the Browns have a vivid picture of where they want to go.
It could take years, but seeing the gold standard set by the Patriots with their own eyes may do more to inspire the Browns to keep fighting to get there than anything coach Hue Jackson or his staff members might say.
Jackson knew it, too.
“I’m very envious of that team and their organization. Someday we are going to have that here,” Jackson said. “That is the plan. They have a big-time quarterback. They play good together, and they know how to play. That is what we are chasing.
“We have a ways to go. I get that, but to be able to play against an organization and a team that demonstrates what you want to be someday, it was right there for us all to see.”
That sounded like a pointed message not only to his team, but to Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam.
He wanted the Haslams to see what a team that is 4-2 in the Super Bowl since 2001 looks like. How Belichick led the Patriots to a 3-1 record with untested quarterbacks Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett while Brady served his Deflategate suspension. How the Patriots keep the dynasty alive by stocking up and hitting on quarterbacks — Brissett was a third-rounder in 2016 out of N.C. State, Garoppolo a second-rounder from Eastern Illinois in 2014. How they turn those unwanted by others, including former Browns defensive end Jabaal Sheard, into major contributors.
How the Patriots out-think, out-prepare and out-coach the rest of the league on a weekly basis.
The offensive line’s failure to keep a quarterback upright is scuttling the Browns’ chances to do any of that. Jackson acknowledged that right now they “are not close” to the Patriots’ standard, but said his team is improving. Yet as the losses mount, it may become harder to keep the Browns engaged.
They are still playing with heart, although that is obscured by the lack of talent and depth.
They are saying the right things. They sound like they genuinely want to be part of the pursuit of the Patriots’ standard.
Wide receiver Andrew Hawkins admitted he looked at the Patriots’ lineup and saw some players that individually weren’t superior to others the Browns have faced this year.
“But they’re giving you everything and they’re working together. I think that’s what makes them so special,” Hawkins said. “The best teams, the best programs win Super Bowls.”
Left guard Joel Bitonio has faith that Jackson and his coaching staff can instill that.
“[The Patriots] have won Super Bowls, they’re a playoff team every year. That’s something the Cleveland Browns want to be and Hue’s really stressing that,” Bitonio said. “It’s something we’re going to look back on hopefully in a year or two and be like, ‘Man, that’s who we wanted to be and that’s what we’re getting to.’ It might take some time. Right now we have the right coaching staff and the right people in place to work to get better and we’re going to do everything in our power to try to get to that level.”
Outwardly the Browns’ situation looks as hopeless as Sunday’s score. But internally the Browns got a glimpse of the inner workings of a real team that can inspire them.
Hopefully they see the day as a gift, not another disaster in a season that thus far knows no limits on pain.
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her blog at www.ohio.com/marla. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.