CLEVELAND: The numbers and battered bodies told the story of the Browns offensive line in a 24-9 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium.
But the toll drew pointed criticism from two players afterward.
Steelers defenders delivered 14 hits on Browns quarterbacks and recorded eight sacks, including one strip sack that resulted in a defensive touchdown with 3:36 remaining. Browns starting quarterback Cody Kessler left the game with three seconds left in the third quarter with a concussion and his replacement, Josh McCown, took several vicious shots.
Left tackle Joe Thomas knew it wasn’t a good performance by the offensive line, but pointed to the free agency departures of center Alex Mack (Atlanta Falcons) and right tackle Mitchell Schwartz (Kansas City Chiefs).
“Well, we lost a couple really good players, I think the best at their position,” Thomas said. “But that was our strategy in the off-season. That’s what we decided to do. You’ve got to lie in the bed that you’ve made and I don’t make the decisions on who comes and goes.”
Wide receiver Terrelle Pryor’s frustration appeared to boil over and he wasn’t sure how to fix the situation. He hovered over Kessler as the medical staff attended to the downed quarterback.
“I don’t think somebody would take $10 million to sit back there and take those hits,” Pryor said. “C’mon, some of those hits Josh took? After one of those, I came over and his chinstrap was like this over his neck. He has a cut right here.
“It’s bullcrap. We can’t keep doing this and we can’t keep getting our guys hit. It’s as simple as that. I don’t care if you’ve got to hold these dudes. Hold them and take the damn penalty and stop getting our quarterbacks hit. I hate that. I don’t like it.
“We’ll have to talk to our management and that’s a question for them, but we can’t keep getting these guys hit. I’m tired of our guys getting hit. I’m nobody to complain because I don’t run it, but it’s personal to me because I care for those guys and I don’t like seeing them get hit like that. Point blank, period. Somebody’s got to say it.”
Thomas said fixing it is a matter of knowing blocking assignments and everyone else knowing where they’re supposed to be on any given play.
“For me, it’s all about trying to do my job to the best of my ability and do everything I can to help our team win,” he said. “And the guys that are making the personnel decisions, they’re the experts on that, so they’re the ones that have to make those decisions and look at those decisions when they’re made.”
Untimed downs
With the Browns offense struggling to score, the outcome may have been decided when the Steelers received two untimed downs at the end of the first half. Le’Veon Bell scored on a 1-yard run on the second and the Steelers tacked on a two-point conversion pass to tight end David Johnson for a 14-0 lead.
Browns cornerback Briean Boddy-Calhoun was called for defensive holding on a Ben Roethlisberger incompletion to Antonio Brown as time expired, giving the Steelers a first-and-goal at the Cleveland 1. Roethlisberger and Brown failed to hook up again, but cornerback Joe Haden was called for pass interference.
Browns coach Hue Jackson said he thought the Steelers should have been called for a delay of game before the play on which Boddy-Calhoun was called for holding, and was frustrated by how the half ended.
“Oh, yeah, it was frustrating,” he said. “Those are tough calls and one that was made that I thought was kind of ... It is what it is. We have to find a way to keep them out of there. That is what it comes down to.”
Linebacker Chris Kirksey said the Browns have to be able to shake off such penalties.
“It’s frustrating when you have plays [not] called your way and just got to keep playing, moving on. That’s part of the game — you’re not always going to get a good call,” Kirksey said.
“Whenever you have an offense that’s trying to score on you like that, we’ve got to look ourselves in the mirror and see what we’re doing wrong. It’s a respect thing.”
Kirksey wasn’t surprised the Steelers didn’t settle for a field goal. The Steelers converted two-point conversions against the Chiefs and Dolphins this season before going 0-for-4 last week against the Cowboys.
“They don’t even kick that many field goals, or extra points,” Kirksey said. “So I kind of figured they wouldn’t settle for a field goal. They were going to try to punch it in.”
Coach Mike Tomlin’s strategy didn’t sit well with Haden.
“They don’t really respect us as a defense,” Haden said. “ Some teams, you just go for the field goal, go for the guaranteed points, but we’ve got to stand up. They felt like they could go down and get a touchdown on us.”
Staying put?
Despite his disappointment and frustration over an 0-11 record, Pryor said he wants to re-sign with the Browns in free agency.
“I love playing for Hue. I love playing for [owner Jimmy] Haslam. He is a great owner,” Pryor said. “They have given us one of the best facilities. They want to win. I don’t believe in taking the easy road and going to teams just because they are great. I would rather start how we are and then build it into an empire.
“I believe in battling. I don’t believe in taking the easy way out. Whatever happens in free agency, I love being here. I respect the coaches, the owners and at the end of the day, it is up to them.”
Clean hit
Pryor wanted to make it clear that the hit he took from safety Mike Mitchell with 3:44 remaining was not a dirty play. Pryor said he got the wind knocked out of him.
“Yeah, it happens. I couldn’t breathe for a little bit,” he said. “A couple of seconds. All that trash talk, I thought maybe it was God telling me to calm down.”
No running game
The Browns rushed 13 times for 33 yards (2.5 average) on a cold, windy day that presumably would have called for a run-first game plan. That total tied for the second-lowest of the season (at Baltimore on Nov. 10); the only game lower was Oct. 9 against New England when they finished with 27 yards.
“One factor probably was the way that they were eating up clock,” Thomas said. “I’m sure when you’re calling the plays you’re realizing you’re not going to have as many possessions as you’d hope.
“If you want to keep running the ball, you’ve got to be efficient, which means it’s got to be a first down, a score or 4 yards. When you’re not efficient, it’s hard for a coordinator to want to call it again because then you’re sitting at second-and-10 or worse and you don’t want to be in third-and-long.”
Trubisky on radar
Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reported that Browns scouts and the front office are high on North Carolina quarterback Mitch Trubisky, a junior from Mentor, Ohio.
“They love him,” a top evaluator from another NFL club told La Canfora. “Trust me, they love him.”
Extra points
Tight end Gary Barnidge caught a 14-yard touchdown pass, his first of the season, after totaling nine in 2015. ... Kirksey came into the week leading the league in tackles and registered a game-high nine, giving him a career-high 101. ... Duke Johnson became the first Browns running back to record 40 or more receptions in back-to-back seasons since Jamel White in 2002-03. ... Kessler saw his streak of 121 consecutive passes without an interception, second-longest streak by a Browns rookie, snapped in the first quarter.