ORCHARD PARK, N.Y.: Robert Griffin III improved but not enough to prevent coach Hue Jackson from considering another change at starting quarterback and not enough for the Browns to avoid tying their franchise record for the most losses in a season.
By falling 33-13 to the Buffalo Bills on a cold, windy Sunday at New Era Field, the Browns became just the fourth team in NFL history to go 0-14. The only other time they lost 14 games came during the expansion season in 1999, when the team went 2-14.
“It stings,” inside linebacker Chris Kirksey said. “Anybody would be hurt from that — 14 games lost. It’s bad in all shapes and forms.”
Jackson is so hurt that he’ll contemplate benching Griffin for Saturday’s home finale against the San Diego Chargers (5-9) if he concludes rookie third-round draft pick Cody Kessler or veteran Josh McCown would give the team a better chance to win. After they host the Chargers, the Browns will visit the Pittsburgh Steelers (9-5) on Jan. 1 for the season finale.
“Everything is going to be on the table,” Jackson said when asked if he could make the seventh change at starting QB this season. “I’m going to look at everything. I just have to. I think I owe these guys the best opportunity to win in the locker room. With the effort they’re giving me, I have to give back to them as a leader. I have to make sure I’m putting the right people out there for them.”
Kessler is 0-8 as a starter this season, McCown is 0-3 and Griffin is 0-3.
“Everybody is in play,” Jackson said. “Absolutely.”
Griffin completed 17-of-28 passes for 196 yards without a touchdown or interception for a rating of 81.8. He ran eight times for 48 yards, including an 18-yard touchdown, and took five sacks.
The performance was an upgrade from the one he turned in Dec. 11 in a 23-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. In Griffin’s return from a fractured left shoulder that sidelined him for 11 games, he went 12-of-28 passing for 104 yards with an interception and a rating of 38.4, rushed seven times for 31 yards, including a 1-yard touchdown, and took three sacks.
“I just felt like I was in better rhythm and timing, was reading with my feet a lot better, getting the ball out when things weren’t there, and when they were there I felt like I did a good job hitting some things,” Griffin said. “... Some of the misses that I had the previous week really weren’t there. I still had a couple of misses, but it just felt better — the rhythm and the timing with my feet in the game.”
Jackson’s immediate review wasn’t as positive.
“I thought he played better than last week,” he said. “I think there are some things he did better and some things he has to continue to improve on. I need to watch the tape and see exactly where we are, but it felt a little bit better than last week. It’s not where we want to be, though, so we have work to do.”
Left tackle Joe Thomas said he didn’t want to speculate on which quarterback Jackson will start.
“He was maybe alluding to the fact that everybody is constantly being evaluated,” Thomas said. “We’re putting everything we’ve got on the table to try to get a win here next week and then the following week. So rather than speculating about what-ifs, I would just say that Hue is making the right decision, that everybody should be evaluated because we are trying to get a win. It’s not about playing for next year. It’s about doing what we can to get a win here in our last two games.”
The Browns have lost 17 consecutive games, 24 of 25 and 32 of 35. They haven’t won since Dec. 13, 2015.
The 3-32 stretch began with the Browns’ previous road game against the Bills, a 26-10 defeat on Nov. 30, 2014, which triggered a five-game losing streak to end the season after a 7-4 start.
“It gets harder and harder,” cornerback Joe Haden said. “There’s nobody else that can change it but us, and I have to play better myself.”
The Browns also set a team record with their 13th consecutive road loss. The previous record of 12 defeats in a row on the road was established in the 2011-12 seasons.
“This is my career, and this is my reputation,” said Jackson, who was hired by the Browns in January.
“I’m not going to back down from the challenge. This is a challenging situation. I get it. It’s not a lot of fun, but at the same time, I think you all understand where we are and what we’re doing and what we’re trying to accomplish.
“We’re going to work at it. This wasn’t my dream by any stretch of imagination, but I’m not running from this. The players mean too much to me, the people here mean too much to me, so I said a long time ago that we’re going to fix it. We have to. We have nowhere to go but up, but we have a lot of work to do.”
Avoiding the dreaded record of 0-16 — only the 2008 Detroit Lions have lost all 16 games — is paramount for Jackson and his players.
“As long as I got another day to live, another day to get better, another day to go out there and try to win, that’s all that matters to me,” Kirksey said. “... We’ve just got to do it.”
Wide receiver Andrew Hawkins added, “It’s important to put everything that we have into these last two games.”
The bigwigs in the Browns front office might claim there was progress this season because the NFL’s youngest team developed players it views as its foundation for the future.
But without a win, that’s an extremely tough sell.
“We are far away,” Haden said. “We haven’t won a game this season.”
The Browns briefly rallied against the Bills (7-7) but never seriously threatened.
After the Bills went ahead 17-3 at halftime, Griffin caught lightning in a bottle with a 33-yard pass to Hawkins on third-and-11 and his 18-yard touchdown run on third-and-6. The score cut the Browns’ deficit to 17-10 with 8:58 left in the third quarter.
“We needed a spark,” Griffin said. “Our team needed a little bit of a lift, and I provided that. I’m just trying to go out there and lead this team the best I can and try to give us the best chance to win. So if that means I have to run a little bit more, I’ll run a little more. If that means I need to throw a little more, I’ll throw a little more. Whatever was presented there in those moments, I tried to take advantage of them.”
But the Bills fired back right away by running through the defense like they did early and often.
Bills running back LeSean McCoy rushed for a 3-yard touchdown with 5:50 left in the third quarter and later added an 8-yard touchdown run with 12:38 left in the fourth quarter.
The Bills bullied the Browns with 280 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 40 carries (7.0 average). McCoy had 19 carries for 153 yards (8.1 average) and two touchdowns.
“It’s unacceptable,” Kirksey said. “We can’t play that way.”
Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor outplayed Griffin, too. Taylor completed 17-of-24 passing for 174 yards and a touchdown with a rating of 105.2. He ran for 49 yards on seven carries (7.0 average).
It’s not all the defense’s fault, though. The Browns have been outscored 170-62 in their last six games and haven’t led since they held a 7-6 halftime advantage over the Baltimore Ravens on Nov. 10.
So that’s why Jackson is toying with the idea of another QB change.
“We didn’t win the game, and that’s what it comes down to, so whatever coach decides, that’s his decision, and we’re all going to roll with it,” Griffin said. “... I definitely think I got a lot better coming into this week and playing better than last week, so I would expect nothing less [Saturday against the Chargers].
“Even if we have to turn it into a backyard brawl, backyard football, we’re going to find a way to get a win, and that’s what everybody in that locker room, that’s what their focus is. And I’m proud to be a part of this team.”
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.