Starters play, Browns lose preseason finale

The Cleveland Browns finish the preseason 0-4 after a 21-7 loss to the Chicago Bears Thursday night.

Wins and losses aren’t important in the preseason, but the Cleveland Browns have a lot to work on after finishing the preseason with an 0-4 record.

The Browns wrapped up preseason play Thursday night with a 21-7 loss against the Chicago Bears, a game in which the Browns starters played on both sides of the ball for most of the first quarter. Luckily, none of the starters were injured, which would have been a major catastrophe.

The first-team offense had a rough performance, with the first two drives ending in punts. The bright spot was a touchdown run by Isaiah Crowell touchdown run, but that came after the Bears muffed a punt and the Browns got the ball at the Bears’ 18-yard line.

Griffin completed four of his eight passes for 31 yards, but did not throw for a touchdown. The key for Griffin and the Browns during the regular season will be to get off to better starts, as this game featured another three-and-out on the opening drive. The following drive only lasted seven plays, gaining 28 yards before the muffed punt.

The most important takeaway from this game is that the first-team offense came away healthy. The whole group did not do much to impress throughout the preseason, so Hue Jackson has a lot to work on before the September 11 opener against the Philadelphia Eagles.

The defense played better in the loss, but the young group allowed a total of 318 yards on the night. That is for the entire game, but the first-team defense performed much better than last week in Tampa Bay, when the Buccaneers put up 27 points in the first half.

The Bears did primarily play backups on offense in the first half, so the positivity from this game may be less than reassuring of potential success this season.

The highlight on the defensive side of the ball was the play of Emmanuel Ogbah, Carl Nassib, Joe Schobert and Scooby Wright. Ogbah, Schobert and Wright each had a sack, while Nassib continued to impress up front. Wright is the only one still fighting for a roster spot, but his play in this game should see him be given a chance in 2016. Given the uncertainty surrounding the defense as a whole, it is nice to see the four rookies playing so well thus far. Rookie Derrick Kindred also finished up a successful preseason.

The Browns don’t play again until next Sunday, but the roster must be cut down to 53 men by this Sunday. The main group to look at will be the wide receivers once the cuts are announced. Rookie Corey Coleman is a lock for the final roster, but fellow rookies Ricardo Louis, Rashard Higgins and Jordan Payton are not guaranteed spots.

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Once the cuts are made the Browns can begin to focus on next Sunday’s opener, a game that will hopefully have a better outcome than any of the four preseason games.