MIAMI GARDENS, Fla.: Browns coach Hue Jackson nearly masterminded a coup.
With nine starters injured and sitting out, the Browns pieced together an attack featuring rookie Cody Kessler and wide receiver Terrelle Pryor at quarterback and had a chance to defeat the Miami Dolphins in their home opener Sunday at the renovated Hard Rock Stadium.
But new Browns kicker Cody Parkey missed a would-be game-winning field goal from 46 yards as time expired in regulation. The Browns were then defeated 30-24 in overtime when running back Jay Ajayi bolted around the left side for an 11-yard touchdown with 8:26 left.
“I think we’re getting better, but the better part for me and for [the players] is it needs to lead to wins,” Jackson said. “That’s what we all want. That’s why we do this. There are no feel-good stories. And ‘all you guys fought a good fight’ — I’m not into that. I’m into winning and losing, and right now, we’re losing.”
The Browns are now 0-3 for the seventh time in the expansion era. None of those previous six teams won more than five games.
Parkey signed with the Browns on Saturday because kicker Patrick Murray suffered a left knee injury in Friday’s walk-through practice and was placed on injured reserve. Parkey made field goals of 46, 48 and 38 yards, but he also missed attempts from 41, 42 and 46 yards.
“I just looked up and it was going left on me just like the other two [misses],” Parkey said of his failed try at the end of regulation. “It was weird. Obviously that’s going to eat at me.”
Jackson repeatedly took responsibility for the loss and refused to use Parkey as a scapegoat.
“Everybody will say it came down to the field goals, but I’m not going to put that kind of pressure on [Parkey]. Cody just got off a plane with us, and I don’t know him as well as I know this chair right here,” Jackson said. “Like I told him, and I told all our guys, I love them to death, and we’ve just got to keep fighting. We’ve got to find a way to get over the hump, and we will.”
Kessler and Pryor almost spearheaded a victory.
In his regular-season NFL debut, Kessler completed 21-of-33 passes for 244 yards and finished with a passer rating of 85.9. He became the 26th quarterback — and the eighth rookie QB — to start for the Browns since 1999 because Robert Griffin III suffered a fractured coracoid bone in his left shoulder in Week 1 and Josh McCown suffered a fractured left collarbone in Week 2.
“We made a great effort to come back [after falling behind 24-13 with 14:17 left in the fourth quarter] and give ourselves a chance there at the end,” Kessler said. “It’s tough. It hurts to lose. I hate losing.”
Pryor, who switched from quarterback to receiver last year, completed 3-of-5 passes for 35 yards with a passer rating of 81.2, compiled eight catches for 144 yards and ran four times for 21 yards and a touchdown. The Browns practiced rotating Kessler and Pryor throughout last week, and Pryor took 14 snaps as a Wildcat quarterback.
“I was a little tired. I should’ve put my hand up,” Pryor said. “There’s a lot of plays I wish I could have back and let Higgy [rookie receiver Rashard Higgins] get in there. But they’ve got to pull me off this dang field because I love the game, man. There’s nothing I’d rather do.”
Pryor scored the offense’s only touchdown on a 3-yard run. Then Kessler connected with tight end Gary Barnidge in the back right corner of the end zone on a fade route for a two-point conversion, trimming the Dolphins’ advantage to 24-21 with 10:12 left in the fourth quarter.
“People overlook us and talk bad about us, but I feel like our team is one of the best teams in the NFL,” Pryor said. “We’ve just got to figure out how to win. We could easily be 2-1.”
Parkey’s successful 38-yard field goal tied the score 24-24 with 3:14 remaining in regulation.
Parkey was summoned for the potential game-winning kick after Browns outside linebacker Corey Lemonier strip-sacked Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill and recovered at Miami’s 27-yard line with 20 seconds left.
“It set up to win the game,” Lemonier said. “We were close.”
After Parkey missed the kick, the Browns won the coin toss and elected to kick off to begin overtime. If the Dolphins would have scored a touchdown on the opening possession of OT, they would have won, but Jackson had faith the defense could get a stop or at least hold its opponent to a field goal.
“I thought our defense was playing hot,” Jackson said. “We had the strip-sack there. I thought it was the right strategy.”
The gamble paid off because the Dolphins (1-2) stalled at their 44 after one first down and punted to the Browns’ 9. The Browns needed just a field goal to win, but the offense couldn’t get going when it mattered most.
On third-and-1, Kessler and Pryor hooked up for 9 yards to give the Browns a first down at their 27, but then they went backward. Kessler took his third sack with defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh bringing him down for a 7-yard loss. Then right tackle Austin Pasztor drew his third holding penalty of the game (he had two false starts as well), and the Browns couldn’t keep the possession alive after facing second-and-27 at their 10.
“Penalties really did us in today,” said Jackson, whose team was flagged 13 times for 91 yards.
Dolphins receiver Jarvis Landry returned Britton Colquitt’s punt 13 yards to the Browns’ 44.
On second-and-9, Landry used a double move to beat Browns cornerback Jamar Taylor, a former Dolphins player who had his first career interception early in the first quarter. Landry was wide open when he hauled in a 32-yard pass from Tannehill. Ajayi ran for the game-winning touchdown on the next play.
Jackson, meanwhile, said his players weren’t to blame.
“This is on me,” he said, “and I take full responsibility for it all.”
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.