McCoy, Browns have a lot of room for improvement

Associated Press

BEREA

There were 21 incompletions, some of them Colt McCoy’s fault. There was the first pass he caught after it was swatted in his face, and the final one that slipped out of his hand and was intercepted. There was also the one he threw in a panic toward center Alex Mack.

McCoy made mistakes, lots of them in Cleveland’s season opener. Only one thing, though, ticked him off.

“Losing,” he said.

He’s not used to it.

The Browns’ second-year quarterback ended his stellar career at Texas as the winningest quarterback in college history. The kid groomed to be a quarterback from almost the time he could walk, the one who has a book out called “Growing Up Colt,” is a Longhorns legend.

He’s 2-7 as an NFL starter.

On Sunday, McCoy lost his sixth straight start as the Browns were beaten 27-17 by the Cincinnati Bengals, who caught Cleveland’s defense napping with a quick-snap touchdown in the fourth quarter.

The loss was shocking and disturbing for the Browns, who were hoping to begin first-year coach Pat Shurmur’s era on a positive note. Instead, it was mostly sour. The Browns committed 11 penalties, didn’t execute with the lead and failed to put away a Bengals team forced to start a rookie quarterback and then switch to his backup.

“Across the board, we’ve obviously got a lot of room for improvement,” McCoy said. “We learned a lot from that first game.”

McCoy’s first outing of 2011 was uneven — at best. He completed just 19 of 40 passes for 213 yards, hardly the kind of numbers he or the Browns envisioned posting in their new West Coast offense Shurmur imported from St. Louis. McCoy wasn’t as accurate as needed, and he didn’t get much help as Cleveland’s receivers failed to get open.

McCoy accepted his share of the blame, and there was plenty to go around.

“I’ve got to make better throws, obviously,” he said. “I can play better. I think if you asked the receivers, each one of them will tell you they can play a lot better. There’s a lot of room for improvement.”

Clinging to a 17-13 lead in the fourth quarter, the Browns had the ball with 10:40 left and a chance to put the Bengals in a deeper hole. But after gaining 33 yards on four plays, Cleveland lost 10 yards on three snaps, a sequence made worse when Richmond McGee followed with a 28-yard punt.

Moments later, the Bengals outfoxed the Browns with their hurry-up score. Still, Cleveland had time and got the ball back.

McCoy couldn’t move it.

The Browns were forced to punt, turned it over on downs and their last hopes for a comeback ended when the ball slid out of McCoy’s grip like a bar of soap and was picked off.

McCoy was brutal down the stretch. He went 4 of 12 for 22 yards and the interception on Cleveland’s last three possessions.

“I can be a lot more efficient,” McCoy said.