CLEVELAND: It’s difficult to decipher whether the Browns were crushed more thoroughly by the burden of being winless or the pass rush of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
They were pressing. They were pummeled. They were left with a record of 0-11 after Sunday’s 24-9 defeat in cold, windy conditions at FirstEnergy Stadium.
Mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, they must prevail in one of their final five games to avoid becoming just the second team in NFL history to finish 0-16.
“They are trying to win, and sometimes you start thinking you need to do more,” Browns coach Hue Jackson said. “I just think you have to do your job to the best of your ability and do that. Let’s not let all the other stuff seep in and start getting in. I think it is a little bit, so we have to go fight that.
“When you get in these situations where things have not gone well and you feel like, ‘Man, I can go make this play and I want to help my team win,’ you start doing more, you start trying to be more, do more than what you need to.”
This wasn’t the most embarrassing defeat for the Browns, but the Steelers (5-5) manhandled them more than anyone else. The Steelers entered the weekend ranked last in the league with 13 sacks but compiled eight, plus 14 quarterback hits, and knocked out rookie quarterback Cody Kessler with his second concussion of the season late in the third quarter.
Veteran Josh McCown filled in for Kessler and was lucky to stay healthy after absorbing some big shots. McCown will probably start Sunday at home against the New York Giants (7-3).
Wide receiver Terrelle Pryor ripped his teammates — the offensive line and running backs — for their failures in pass protection.
“I’m tired of our quarterbacks getting hit,” Pryor said. “... It is dangerous. They’re getting hit every play. ... Whoever’s giving up the blocks, they need to stop that s***.”
Steelers inside linebackers Ryan Shazier and Lawrence Timmons repeatedly overpowered running backs Duke Johnson and Isaiah Crowell when they tried to pass block them. Shazier had a sack and two QB hits. Timmons had a sack and three QB hits.
“When you’ve got five offensive linemen, you try to block their five best rushers,” left tackle Joe Thomas said. “But with two inside guys that are really good like that, you’re always going to have sort of a mismatch a little bit when you have a running back blocking one of those guys.”
On the final timed down of the third quarter, Shazier pulled Kessler down a split second after he threw a pass as Timmons launched and appeared to deliver a shoulder to the QB’s helmet. Timmons told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette he didn’t connect with Kessler. It’s possible Timmons’ shoulder missed Kessler and the third-round draft pick suffered the concussion when the back of his helmet hit the ground.
Timmons was flagged for unnecessary roughness, and Kessler finished 7-of-14 passing for 128 yards with an interception, taking four sacks and posting a rating of 52.1.
McCown capped the drive by throwing a 14-yard touchdown pass to tight end Gary Barnidge, cutting the Browns’ deficit to 17-9 with 9:45 left in the fourth quarter. Cody Parkey missed the extra-point kick after making a 24-yard field goal in the third quarter.
But the Browns were buried four series later when Shazier strip-sacked McCown and nose tackle Justin Hargrave recovered the fumble in the end zone for a touchdown with 3:36 remaining.
“I thought I had some more space to get a good throw away, but Shazier made the play,” said McCown, who completed 14-of-27 passes for 118 yards and a touchdown, took four sacks and posted a rating of 75.8. “They got the sack and the fumble.
McCown said he believes the Browns pressed.
“Certainly there is a degree of that because you want to kill this freaking hump,” he said. “My goodness. You are sitting there now at 0-11, and it’s hard not to [press] because you feel like maybe the next play is going to make a difference. That is what we have to be careful [about]. You have to be careful as players not to go overboard.”
The Browns have lost their past 14 games dating back to last season. They have dropped 21 of the past 22 games and 29 of the past 32. They haven’t won since Dec. 13.
To make matters worse, the Steelers snapped their four-game losing streak, improved to 29-6 against the Browns since 1999 and have won 23 of the past 26 meetings between the AFC North foes. The Browns had no answer for running back Le’Veon Bell, who compiled 28 carries for 146 yards (5.2 average) and a touchdown, plus eight catches for 55 yards.
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger went 23-of-36 passing for 167 yards and had rating of 74.7, improving to 20-2 against the Browns as a starter. Derek Anderson leads all Browns expansion-era QBs with 10 victories in Cleveland, the same number of wins Roethlisberger now has in FirstEnergy Stadium.
The pressure to end their skid is immense for the Browns, and they clearly lack the talent to win most weeks unless they play close to a perfect game.
“We’re anxious. We’re trying to figure out when that win is going to come,” inside linebacker Chris Kirksey said. “I honestly think that this was one of our best practice weeks all season. I think anybody would be at that point where they’re like, ‘Let’s stress a win. Let’s get a win. Let’s get a win.’ So this is just natural, but I think guys are still staying the course and just continuing to fight.”
Jackson admitted it’s been “extremely difficult” to keep his players from letting their record disrupt them mentally.
“I don’t want this group to go backward any more than what we already have,” Jackson said. “I have to regroup with the guys and regroup with our coaches, and we have to keep pressing forward. We are not going to let the record and where we are dictate how we are feeling about this because the guys have done great. I will definitely plead to them, and I am sure they will respond.”
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.