cleveland browns Close calls are nothing new

Associated Press

BEREA

As the Jacksonville Jaguars lined up for Sunday’s final play, a snap from Cleveland’s 1-yard line that would determine the game’s outcome, Browns coach Pat Shurmur didn’t ask for any divine intervention.

He did that earlier.

“I do the Hail Mary’s before the game and hope they last throughout,” he joked.

On Sunday, they held up.

The Browns, who have had a flair for the dramatic in recent years, held on for a 14-10 win that took some heat off their first-year coach. If Jacksonville had scored, and that may have happened if the Jaguars had given the ball to bowling ball-back Maurice Jones-Drew, Shurmur knows how he and thousands of Cleveland fans would be feeling.

“Like last Monday,” he said.

One week after a 13-12 loss to St. Louis that wobbled their confidence and bruised their collective psyche, the Browns (4-6) were able to hang on.

It wasn’t easy.

It wasn’t pretty.

And, it wasn’t without controversy. But it was a win, a much-needed win — and in a bottom-line business that’s all that matters.

For all their detailed planning, the endless hours of breaking down game film and dissecting of opponents that NFL coaches do on a weekly basis, invariably a game comes down to one play: Win or lose. Heads or tails. Odds or evens. Yes or no. Fired or new contract.

“That’s the reality,” Shurmur said. “How many games come down to the last drive? How many come down to the last play? You watch the clips every week. My goodness. It comes down to the last drive and it’s 4th-and-6 and you either get it or you don’t. That’s just the reality of it.”

The Browns have had more than their share of nail-biters.

According to STATS LLC, Cleveland has been in 49 games decided by four points or less since 2002. The Browns’ record is 22-27 in those games, which includes a playoff loss to Pittsburgh. Also, they have been in 87 games decided by eight points or less — third-most in the league — and the Browns have gone 39-48, which helps explain their playoff drought over the past decade.

Already this season, the Browns have been in four games decided by four points or less.

“I like suspense,” right tackle Tony Pashos said. “But man, this is a little too much.”

It may not change anytime soon for the Browns, who starting this week in Cincinnati will enter the toughest part of their schedule. Over the next six weeks, Cleveland will play five games against the three teams ahead of them in the AFC North.