Browns make history -- wrong way
They did not win a division game for the first time since entering the NFL.
BEREA (AP) -- The Cleveland Browns finally made history. The wrong kind.
With a 27-17 loss in Baltimore on Sunday, the Browns dropped to 0-6 in the AFC North, the first time they have not won a division game since Paul Brown tugged on the brim of his fedora and led them into the NFL in 1950.
"It's disappointing," rookie linebacker Kamerion Wimbley said Monday. "Before the season we set higher standards than that."
No doubt. But this season -- Cleveland's 60th in pro football -- unraveled in a succession of major injuries, staph infections, youthful mistakes, lopsided losses and close ones, too. Of the Browns' 10 defeats, seven have been by 10 points or less.
In the past two years, Cleveland is just 1-11 inside their division under coach Romeo Crennel.
"This is a win-lose business," Crennel said. "I don't care how good you play, if you lose, everybody wonders why you lose and can't win, and that's the deal."
Losing span of 4 years
The Browns (4-10) have now lost at least 10 games in each of the past four seasons, six of the past eight and they are a woeful 40-86 since returning to the league as an expansion team in 1999.
On Monday, a disappointed Crennel bemoaned the Browns' inability to stop the Ravens when they needed to.
After rallying from a 17-3 deficit to tie it on quarterback Derek Anderson's second touchdown pass -- a 14-yard bullet to Braylon Edwards with 6:29 left in the third quarter -- the Browns gave up a backbreaking 77-yard TD pass by Kyle Boller to rookie Demetrius Williams less than two minutes later.
On the play, Williams was able to get behind cornerback Daven Holly and safety Sean Jones. Unforgivable, Crennel said.
"The receiver ran down the middle of the field and we basically stood there and let him run past us," Crennel said. "You would like to think that we should be further along than that at this point."
Wimbley, one of Cleveland's bright spots this season, was able to put pressure on Boller all game. He nearly got to Boller before the Ravens' QB unloaded his big pass, but Wimbley got chipped with a block just before making contact.
"Every time you look back, there were a couple of key plays in the game that determine if you win or lose," he said. "Those plays came up, they made they made them and we couldn't get it done."
Noncommittal on QB
Crennel remained noncommittal on a quarterback situation he described as "intriguing" a few weeks ago.
Charlie Frye, who missed his second straight game with a bruised right wrist, hasn't been able to throw a football without pain since hurting it on Dec. 3 against Kansas City.
Frye's health will likely determine if Anderson makes his third start on Sunday against Tampa Bay. With two games remaining, Crennel was asked if he might play Frye one week and Anderson the next.
"He (Frye) hasn't been healthy enough the past few weeks, so we'll see what he can do this week. We'll make determinations from there. There may be some merit to doing it that way (splitting time). We'll see."
In just his second pro start, Anderson played solidly against the Ravens' No. 1 ranked defense. Anderson finished 23-of-32 for 223 yards with two TDs and two interceptions against the team who drafted him and cut him last season.
Crennel said Anderson played "a decent game." He also was surprisingly critical of Anderson, saying the 23-year-old needs to take better care of the ball.
"He was trying to make some plays and as a result, we ended up having negative plays, giving up five sacks and two interceptions," he said.
Wide-open competition
Crennel again dodged the issue of possibly having a wide-open competition at quarterback in training camp next summer.
"I don't know how many times I have to say this to you, but I have to be worried about next week," he said. "I really can't worry about next year. This week is really what is on my mind."
He was then asked if he believed Anderson, who after coming in for Frye rallied the Browns to an overtime win against the Chiefs, could be a starter next year.
"In the second half of the Kansas City game, you would say, 'Yes,' Crennel said.
"But as we continue to play, there are some things that are beginning to happen that hey, we don't know, so we'll have to see."
Asked if he had one starting he could win with, Crennel gave a not-so-subtle endorsement of Frye.
"Sure," he said. "When Charlie was starting, I told you I thought we could win with Charlie. Charlie is still on this team."
Notes
Browns S Brian Russell, released from the hospital on Friday after spending eight days in the Cleveland Clinic with a staph infection, was back at the team's facility. He was not available for comment. ... RB Jason Wright (knee) and T Kelly Butler (foot) both underwent MRIs on Monday. ... LB Andra Davis said he didn't remember much of Sunday's game after sustaining a concussion. Davis said he pulled himself from the game because "I felt like I was hurting the team."
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