Cleveland Browns treading water in Week 3 power rankings
By Thomas Moore
The Cleveland Browns dropped to 0-2 on the season after losing to the Baltimore Ravens, but that wasn’t enough to drop them in the power rankings.
The Cleveland Browns dropped to 0-2 on the season with Sunday’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
It was not a surprise, really, as the Browns have struggled over the years with the Ravens, who are now 17-2 against the Browns under head coach John Harbaugh, and within the AFC North Division as a whole.
But the loss still set off the usual firestorm over the Browns, from the wide receivers (most notably Kenny Britt), to quarterback DeShone Kizer (the only player in NFL history to suffer from migraines) and head coach Hue Jackson (can the Browns just run the ball from first-and-goal at the three?).
Related: Time to slow down on DeShone Kizer’s migraine
The news only got worse on Monday when the Browns announced the second-year wide receiver Corey Coleman will miss time after having surgery on his broken right hand.
So what is an 0-2 team to do? Just keep on grinding, Jackson told clevelandbrowns.com:
"“I think we will grow from this. We will learn from it. We played two of the better teams in our division. There is still one more to play. We get that. We are 0-2, but the feel in the building, the feel with our football team is nothing like I felt a year ago. I think our guys are excited about getting back to work as fast as we can. We know we have a big game in Indy this week. We have some things to clean up – there is no question about that – and we will go from there.”"
The loss didn’t have much of an impact on the weekly power rankings as it has quickly become clear that while the Browns have problems, they are far from the worst team in the league.
"No. 29 (up 1): Ben Roethlisberger and Joe Flacco are a combined 37-4 against the Browns in their careers, so an 0-2 start against those veterans with a rookie quarterback at the helm isn’t that surprising. Cleveland’s next three games are against the Colts, Bengals and Jets, who are a combined 0-6, so wins or even a win streak could be right around the corner. (Pittsburgh No. 3, Baltimore No. 10, Cincinnati No. 28)"
"No. 28: DeShone Kizer will have growing pains like he did against the Ravens. It happens to rookie passers. This is a learning year. (Pittsburgh No. 2, Baltimore No. 14, Cincinnati No. 27)"
"No. 29: Corey Coleman’s broken hand is a tough blow. This is the second straight season he’ll miss time with a broken hand. Coleman has played well when he has been healthy, though his durability is becoming an issue. And Cleveland isn’t very deep at receiver (that Kenny Britt contract is looking really bad now). (Pittsburgh No. 1, Baltimore No. 16, Cincinnati No. 27)"
"No. 28: Browns games in Baltimore always carry a little weirdness, with DeShone Kizer’s momentary exit because of a migraine being the latest entry in that chapter. Last year, Cody Kessler was mysteriously benched by the Browns in Baltimore, when Cleveland was already in the throes of a lost season and should’ve been in evaluation mode. There was also Gary Barnidge’s Suzanne Somers impersonation in a wild overtime affair in 2015 and the Brandon Weeden laser-beam Hail Mary that Drew Pearson himself couldn’t have caught on Thursday Night Football in 2012. Back to Kizer: I happened to catch a regional broadcast making light of a Browns quarterback leaving the game with a headache. Maybe they’ve never experienced a migraine before. I mean, it’s not like a guy who was enshrined in the Hall of Fame last month once had to leave one of the biggest games in NFL history because of a migraine or anything. Wait …(Pittsburgh No. 5, Baltimore No. 11, Cincinnati No. 30)"
The Browns will look to turn things around on Sunday when they hit the road to face the Indianapolis Colts.
Next: Jordan Leslie returning to the active roster
Judging from the reaction after the loss to the Ravens, we can only imagine what next week will be like if the Browns return from Indianapolis after losing to a Colts team quarterbacked by Jacoby Brissett.