CHICAGO — The season long ago spiraled past a point of no return. What’s another loss on top of the other 10 the Browns endured previously?
Well, there’s something to be said about an “all-is-lost” feeling after a defeat. And that’s the kind of feeling that came out of the Browns’ 31-3 loss at the Chicago Bears.
By the way, three isn’t just the point total for the Browns in the game. It’s also the number of wins they have this season, as well as the number of games they have left to play.
It’s also the number of overreactions we’re going to dive into right now from the loss in Chicago.
Cleveland Browns have to make changes after this season
This has been long established loudly by fans and yappers on sports-talk radio. The question was always about how bad would it have to get for Browns owner Jimmy Haslam to change his preseason stance that it was going to be a “multi-year process” that included both general manager Andrew Berry and coach Kevin Stefanski. That point may have arrived, and it’s now just a matter of when the move will be made and what the exact move would be. Nothing figures to happen with just three games left in the season. But after that season finale at the Cincinnati Bengals? All options have to be on the table, if for no other reason that to assuage the fans who the Haslams want to buy tickets, both to the lakefront stadium in 2026 and to their new dome in 2029.
Offensive line, wide receivers limiting any kind of Shedeur Sanders evaluation
Shedeur Sanders had a bad day in Chicago. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Sanders certainly wouldn’t. The problem that will cloud not just the evaluation of his performance against the Bears, but also against the Buffalo Bills, Pittsburgh Steelers and Bengals, is the players around him. A thin offensive depth chart has been shaved as thin as possible because of the number of injuries, especially on the offensive line. Joel Bitonio is the only opening-day starter who played on the line against Chicago, and he was questionable coming into the game because of knee and back injuries. Garrett Dellinger finished the game at right guard, and he wasn’t even on the active roster two days earlier. Then there’s the wide receivers, who are all young and inexperienced except for Jerry Jeudy, the six-year pro who’s having the worst season of his career just a year removed from a Pro Bowl berth. All of it has only made a critical evaluation all the more difficult down the stretch.
Myles Garrett has saved the Browns from things being worse
You can quote the esteemed Chicagoland resident Clark W. Griswold right here with, “Worse? How can it get any worse?” The Browns could not have Myles Garrett on their defense, for one. There are hidden yards and hidden points in many games where Garrett has made a play that has led to the opponent being held to a field goal or not scoring at all. Garrett has 11.5 sacks this season on third downs, including 1.5 against the Bears. The full sack came on a third-and-goal from the Cleveland 7, a 9-yard loss that led to a missed Cairo Santos field goal. That miss helped the Browns be within 14-0 late in the first half, and they had multiple chances before the half ended to cut into that deficit. That they didn’t goes back to the complementary football talk that has happened since the beginning of the season.
