The 0-2 Browns lose again -- the same way, with nothing resembling offense in the second half.
Browns running back Jerome Harrison never came close to repeating his glorious effort from last season against the Chiefs, as he is belted to the ground on this fourth-quarter play by Kansas City's Derrick Johnson (56) and Brandon Carr (39).CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Why do the Browns keep doing this to themselves ... and their fans?
Not the losing, most of us are used to that.
But losing on interceptions at the worst possible time. Losing because a team ranked eighth in the league in rushing a year ago suddenly can't run when it means the most. Losing a game because when the gritty defense needed a huge play, they couldn't make it.
And penalties.
Suddenly, the Browns who have prided themselves on playing disciplined, smart football even when they lose have been beating themselves with some truly dumb penalties.
Kansas City 16, Browns 14. Two games, two defeats by the nearly the same score as they lost last week, 17-14 at Tampa.
Two weeks where the Browns were ahead, 14-10, at the half.
Two weeks where poor passes by Browns' quarterbacks set up game-changing touchdowns.
Worse, the Browns failed to score a point in the second half of either game. Even more dreadful, after the intermission, the Browns had four first downs at Tampa -- Sunday, it was three first downs at home.
Just what are the Browns doing at the half on offense? Certainly not making the right adjustments. For that, some of the heat must be given to coach Eric Mangini, and especially offensive coordinator Brian Daboll.
Sure, we can talk about Phil Dawson missing that 42-yard field goal near the end of the first half. In the last three seasons, Dawson is 17-of-20 from 40-to-49 yards. He missed one attempt from that range each year. He missed a huge one on Sunday.
Near the end of the game, the Browns lost a challenge on a fourth-down run by Kansas City's Thomas Jones. The play was ruled a first down, and it virtually ended the game. Television replays indicated Jones may have been inches short.
But most NFL games come down to what happens after halftime. Mangini offered no real answer to the questions about the offense shrinking in the second half.
Unlike a week ago when the Browns played Jake Delhomme on a bad ankle and seemed to forget about the run, they tried to unleash Jerome Harrison, who had 286 yards against the Chiefs a year ago. But Sunday, he managed only 33 yards in 16 carries. His longest run was eight yards. He lost a fumble that set up a Chiefs' field goal. He had five yards in five carries in the second half.
The season is only two games old, but Harrison seems to lack the spark and speed of a year ago. Peyton Hillis was more productive -- 35 yards on eight carries. He was handed the ball twice in the second half, gaining 11 yards.
But the real problem is nothing worked offensively in the second half.
Except for a destructive interception that became a touchdown, Seneca Wallace was productive in the first half. He threw a 65-yard touchdown passes to Joshua Cribbs. He was 11-of-21 passing for 187 yards. He seemed poised with a clear idea of what he wanted to do.
But in the second half, the running game was stuck. Wallace was 5-of-10 passing, but mostly short throws for a grand total of 42 yards. The Browns didn't have a first down in the fourth quarter, but gave the Chiefs a pair of first downs on penalties.
The Browns had three unnecessary roughness penalties, three offsides/false starts. All "self inflicted wounds," said Mangini.
So the Browns are 0-2 against two teams they expected to beat. They are 0-2 for a variety of reasons, but perhaps the biggest is a grand total of two first downs in two fourth quarters. They are 0-2 with their next seven games coming against teams with winning records.
None of this is about to change until the Browns learn to make adjustments and play some offense in the second half.