By Nate Ulrich
December 30, 2017
Cleveland Browns head coach Hue Jackson talks with owner Jimmy Haslam before the Jacksonville Jaguars game in Nov. 2017 in Cleveland at FirstEnrgy Stadium. The Browns lost 19-7. (Phil Masturzo/Akron Beacon Journal/Ohio.com)
Sometimes coach Hue Jackson invites a special guest to speak to the Browns before a game.
But with the team staring at the dreaded record of 0-16 heading into Sunday’s 1 p.m. season finale against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field, Jackson will be the one to deliver a speech about avoiding humiliating history.
And believe it or not, it isn’t expected to be a swan song for the embattled coach.
“I’m going to give that pep talk,” Jackson said. “I think I’m just the guy to do it. Obviously, the night before the game, I’m sure there will be a little bit more tension probably, per se, because of the next day, but I would hope that our guys still handle all of this the right way because you still have to be at your best. You have to go play your best. You can’t be too high or too low. You just have to go play.”
With 0-16 about to punch them in the mouths last season, the Browns ducked just in time, prevailing 20-17 over the San Diego Chargers in their second-to-last game Dec. 24 in Cleveland. However, there was no Christmas Eve miracle this past weekend against the Chicago Bears. The Browns lost 20-3 at Soldier Field, fell to 0-15 and have just one chance left to escape joining the 2008 Detroit Lions as the only NFL teams to finish a season 0-16. A New Year’s Eve miracle is now their only hope.
After firing head of football operations Sashi Brown, owner Jimmy Haslam announced Dec. 7 he would keep Jackson as the team’s coach for the 2018 season. Then Haslam doubled down the next day during the introductory news conference of General Manager John Dorsey by saying Jackson will “absolutely” return, even if the Browns go winless.
However, skepticism about Haslam’s pledge and speculation about Jackson being fired haven’t subsided locally or nationally. As always, it’s worth remembering anything can happen in the NFL. No one knows whether the arranged marriage between Jackson and Dorsey will quickly disintegrate or if a coaching vacancy in Cincinnati would lead Jackson back to his old stomping grounds.
Yet entering this weekend, Haslam’s plan to stick with Jackson hadn’t changed.
Despite Jackson’s record of 1-30, the worst start with a team in NFL coaching history, he has insisted he’s convinced Haslam will make good on his word. The players have said they have the same expectation. They’re in this mess together, with the very real possibility of posting a perfectly pitiful record hanging over their heads and a satirical parade organized by a faction of the fan base scheduled for Jan. 6 in Cleveland.
“We don’t want to be on that side of history, so guys are preparing to go out and win a game on Sunday,” cornerback Jason McCourty said. “There’s probably been a sense of desperation for a while now, but this is the most desperate. Obviously, there’s no more opportunities after Sunday, so if you don’t win Sunday, there’s no way around it.”
A loss in Pittsburgh, where the Browns haven’t won since Oct. 5, 2003, would be viewed as inevitable if the Steelers (12-3) were to play all of their starters. But with a first-round postseason bye locked up, they’ll likely rest quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who’s 21-2 as a starter against the Browns, running back Le’Veon Bell and other key players, including center Maurkice Pouncey and defensive end Cameron Heyward. Roethlisberger and Bell sat out Friday’s practice for noninjury related reasons. Wide receiver Antonio Brown has been ruled out with a calf injury. Pouncey is listed as questionable to play with a hip injury.
“I haven’t really looked at it that way as in, ‘Maybe we’ll have a chance now,’ ” rookie defensive end Myles Garrett said. “We have a chance every time we step on the field. We just have to execute all the way down the stretch.”
It’s easier to execute against backups, though. On the other hand, the Steelers rested Roethlisberger, Bell, Brown and Pouncey in the 2016 season finale, and backup quarterback Landry Jones led the Steelers to a 27-24 victory over the visiting Browns in overtime.
In other words, for the Browns to escape the embarrassment of 0-16, they still must do something they haven’t done all season — play a complete game.
“You want that feeling of winning and you want that chance, and you’re like, ‘What can we do to make it happen?’ ” left guard Joel Bitonio said. “It’s been tough. And then you go out to the town and you see the fans that are disappointed and you feel bad for them, and then your family is asking you about the games. That little portion after the game, my family is texting me, ‘Good game.’ And in reality, I’m like, ‘Screw this. We just lost again.’ ”
The Browns are 2-40 in their past 42 games and 4-48 in their past 52. They have lost their past 32 games on a Sunday, their last 20 on the road (excluding their trip to London) and their last 16 in the AFC North.
Needless to say, a rare victory would offer some much-needed relief.
“One is better than none, and to leave off on a win is better than leaving off on a loss,” Garrett said. “So we’re still going to go out there and do our best. Nobody’s checked out.”
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Browns blog at http://www.ohio.com/browns. Follow him on Twitter athttp://www.twitter.com/NateUlrichABJ and on Facebookhttp://www.facebook.com/abj.sports.
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