The Cleveland Browns continue to be their own worst enemy through five weeks of the regular season, which is reflected in their usual spot in the weekly power rankings.
And then there were three.
Five weeks into the 2017 NFL season and there are just three teams who have yet to celebrate a victory Monday – the San Francisco 49ers, the New York Giants and, of course, the Cleveland Browns.
Cleveland just finished a three-game stretch of “winnable” games with three more in the loss column, although two of the three games were decided by three points, so that’s nice. Although the defense did get ripped for 31 points in two of the games, which is not so good.
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Head coach Hue Jackson has also decided that being 0-5 for the second consecutive year is not enough of a problem, so he may be on the verge of creating a quarterback controversy after benching rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer at halftime of Sunday’s loss to the New York Jets.
Jackson will wait until Wednesday to announce if he will continue to let Kizer learn on the field, or if he will sit the quarterback he picked to open the season as the starter in favor of second-year man Kevin Hogan.
Hogan may not possess Kizer’s “big arm,” but he does have an internal clock that is set to “get rid of the ball,” an asset that Kizer currently does not have. Hogan also has an advantage in that he is in his second year of Jackson’s offense and can process everything that goes into being an NFL quarterback a little bit quicker than a rookie.
It may not seem like a big deal, but the jump between a quarterback’s rookie year and his second season can be a difference-maker, as left tackle Joe Thomas explained on clevelandbrowns.com:
"“Yeah, I think second and then even third years to me is the year where quarterbacks especially make a really big jump. For those guys to be able to go through a full year of watching games, watching practice, the review side of things and then going out and either playing in a game or playing in a practice and putting all of those different concepts under their belt I think makes them a much improved player in their second and third year.”"
We’re going to have to wait another day to learn what Jackson has in mind with his quarterbacks, so in the meantime lets take a look at where the Browns reside in the weekly power rankings.
"No. 32 (no change): Less than 0.1 percent chance. It took the Browns five games just to take a lead in a game. Technically, they have some chance of making the playoffs, but according to FPI, that chance is below 0.1 percent. At least the Indians are still looking good. (Pittsburgh No. 10, Baltimore No. 18, Cincinnati No. 21)"
"No. 32 (no change): They benched rookie quarterback DeShone KIzer against the Jets and this thing is really coming unraveled. Are changes coming after the season in the front office and coaching staff? (Pittsburgh No. 15, Cincinnati No. 20, Baltimore No. 23)"
"No. 32 (no change): Since there aren’t too many positives in Cleveland, what about mentioning that first-round pick David Njoku had a nice game Sunday? The tight end’s one-handed catch for a touchdown was fantastic. He should be a nice piece of their core. And clearly, Myles Garrett’s debut was a big hit. (Pittsburgh No. 10, Baltimore No. 21, Cincinnati No. 23)"
"No. 32 (no change): Maybe it’s time to sit down DeShone Kizer. Another rough outing for the rookie versus the Jets was followed by a not-any-smoother postgame press conference. Kevin Hogan kept the Browns afloat Sunday with a few on-point throws and a nice assist from Duke Johnson on a screen pass gone wild. Hogan has earned the right to play more. He might have even delivered a win, had that goal-to-go sequence gone differently in the final quarter. On another note: Kasen Williams and David Njoku made some redonkulous catches Sunday. Holy cow. (Pittsburgh No. 14, Baltimore No. 21, Cincinnati No. 23)"
Even for a season where no one that was paying attention expected the Browns to do anything, the first five weeks have been tough to take at times. And now with Jackson deciding to throw some gasoline on the quarterback fire, things are about to get even more exhausting.
Next: Browns: Defensive takeaways from loss to the Jets
Which, when you think about it, makes it just another typical fall on the north coast of America.