CLEVELAND: After the Browns redefined rock bottom in Sunday’s 35-10 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, they were left trying to convince themselves that they won’t live the worst nightmare of every NFL player and coach.
“We’re not going to go 0-16,” inside linebacker Chris Kirksey said. “That’s for a fact. We’re not doing that.
“We’re going to keep fighting. Nobody’s going to sit down and get punched in the face. That’s not us.”
The Browns, though, are flirting with becoming the fifth NFL team since 1944 to go winless. The 2008 Detroit Lions are the only team to finish a season winless since the league adopted a 16-game schedule.
“That’s motivation,” Kirksey said of avoiding such embarrassment. “I don’t know if I’m supposed to say this, but we’re not going winless. We’re not.”
What they’ve done this season has already been historic for all the wrong reasons.
They set a franchise record Sunday with their 12th consecutive loss dating back to 2015. The team had 11 losses in a row spanning two seasons in 1974-1975 and 2011-2012.
By falling to 0-9, the Browns also tied the team record for most consecutive losses in a single season.
They also suffered nine defeats in a row in 1975, when they started 0-9, and in 2004.
“I feel bad about it all,” coach Hue Jackson said. “I do because our fans, they are outstanding, and I can’t help but thank them for coming out and supporting a team that is not playing very well right now.”
Since their five-game losing streak to end 2014, the Browns are 3-27. They’ve lost 19 of the past 20 games, going winless since Dec. 13.
They’ll face the Baltimore Ravens (4-4) on the road Thursday night.
“You have to remain positive and try to get yourself ready for a game, and the best way to do that is to remain positive,” nine-time Pro Bowl left tackle Joe Thomas said. “But it definitely gets harder every time you lose.
“I think right now the motivation is to try to get a win. That’s going to be the motivation until we get a win.”
The loss to the Cowboys (7-1) was among the most humiliating defeats in recent history. The Browns became the first NFL team to allow at least 25 points in their first nine games since the 1964 Denver Broncos, according to STATS.
“It starts with me getting our players and everybody involved in this organization to do things right,” Jackson said. “We have to slow the run down, obviously, and we have to make sure that we control the other teams’ better players.
“The first place I am going to look to is us as coaches and as leaders. Then we have to continue to keep getting our players better, make sure we put them in the best situations.”
Defensive coordinator Ray Horton’s men were shredded by rookie quarterback Dak Prescott and gashed by rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott.
Prescott went 21-of-27 passing for 247 yards and three touchdowns without an interception, posting a rating of 141.8. Elliott rushed 18 times for 92 yards (5.1 average) and two TDs.
Browns defenders repeatedly left Prescott’s targets wide open, including on all three of his touchdown passes, and bounced off Elliott while attempting to tackle.
“It is not just about the defense,” Jackson said. “It is me. It starts with the coaching. It is a top-down deal.
“We are not playing well right now anyplace. It is not just defense. It is offensively and special teams. I am not just going to dump on one group. We have to play better as a team.”
Jackson is right.
The offense finished with 222 yards, including just 28 in the second half. The Cowboys had 423 yards, including 208 after leading 21-10 at halftime.
Back in the starting lineup after missing one game with a concussion, rookie quarterback Cody Kessler completed 19-of-27 passes for 203 yards and one touchdown without an interception, posting a rating of 104.4. He also took four sacks.
During the opening possession, Kessler rolled to his left on third-and-8 from the Cowboys’ 13-yard line and threw to wide receiver Andrew Hawkins in the back left corner of the end zone.
Hawkins failed to secure the low pass, and it fell incomplete. The Browns settled for Cody Parkey’s successful 31-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead with 12:40 left in the first quarter.
“I tried to put it low and away in case the guy followed [Hawkins], and it was just a little bit too low,” Kessler said. “Those are opportunities that you have to make.”
The Cowboys answered with Prescott’s 26-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jason Witten, whom linebacker and trade acquisition Jamie Collins left wide open.
Witten finished with eight catches for 134 yards and a touchdown.
The Browns blew a chance to trim their deficit to 7-6 when Parkey’s 41-yard field goal attempt hit the left upright and missed with 14:50 left in the second quarter.
An onslaught ensued.
The Browns trimmed their halftime deficit to 11 points when Kessler rolled to his right on second-and-10 and found wide receiver Terrelle Pryor in the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown pass with 23 seconds left in the second quarter.
But the Cowboys ensured they wouldn’t be threatened when they scored a TD on each of their first two possessions in the third quarter.
“Let’s not fool ourselves,” cornerback Tramon Williams said. “This is probably the youngest team in the league, so you’ve got to be patient with the process. That’s as simple as it is.”
The youth is a factor, but the Browns are just flat-out bad, too.
For example, Williams and cornerback Joe Haden have 17 years of combined NFL experience, yet Williams admitted their miscommunication left wide receiver Cole Beasley open in the end zone when he caught a 6-yard touchdown pass with 6:47 left in the first quarter.
Later, tight end Gavin Escobar was completely open in the end zone when he caught a 2-yard scoring strike with 1:41 left in the third quarter.
“There is nobody else that can do anything but the players on the field, so we just have to play better,” Haden said. “We have to make sure we make tackles. We have to keep the ball in front of us. We are just not playing very well right now at all, so we have to step it up.”
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Browns blog at www.ohio.com/browns. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NateUlrichABJ and on Facebook www.facebook.com/abj.sports.