A PUTRID PERFORMANCE WYNN, BROWNS TAKE A POUNDING
Jacksonville Jaguars 48, Browns 0
At Jacksonville
December 03, 2000 By Tony Grossi
Plain Dealer Reporter
A worse performance by a professional football team would be hard to find. The Browns simply looked to be from another league yesterday in losing to the Jacksonville Jaguars, 48-0.
Using rookie Spergon Wynn at quarterback almost the entire game - even after he barely escaped a serious knee injury in the second quarter - the Browns achieved two first downs on offense.
One came on a 17-yard run by Travis Prentice on their second play of the game.
One came on a Jacksonville penalty in the third quarter.
They totaled minus-9 yards net passing, subtracting yardage lost on six sacks.
They did not cross midfield. After their first possession, they did not advance past their own 35-yard line. Chris Gardocki punted a franchise-record 12 times.
"I feel bad for Chris Palmer, to be honest with you," said Jacksonville coach Tom Coughlin, who leaned on Palmer as his offensive coordinator in 1997 and '98.
Jaguars running back Fred Taylor rushed for 181 yards and three touchdowns on 30 carries. Quarterback Mark Brunell scored on an 8-yard run almost by accident after he turned the wrong way to hand off.
The game clock couldn't run out fast enough. Coughlin tried not to score by giving the ball four straight times to third-string rookie running back Shyrone Stith with five minutes left. He scored anyway.
The Jaguars, virtually eliminated from the playoffs with a 6-7 record, rolled up 449 yards in scoring the most points in their six seasons.
All of this came on the blistered heels of a 44-7 Browns' loss in Baltimore in which they scored first. They have been outscored, 92-0, since then.
The Browns are 3-11 with home games left against Philadelphia and Tennessee.
"I don't think it can get any lower. ... I guess it can, if we lose by 100 points," said linebacker Jamir Miller.
"Despite injuries and everything else, there's no reason for back-to-back games like this. The losses are wearing on us," said linebacker Wali Rainer.
"We can't score any points," said cornerback Corey Fuller. "We are not playing like we're being coached. We were more disciplined as an expansion team in our first year than we are in our second year.
"I don't have an answer. I'm running out of answers. We haven't had an off week. We went through the hardest two-a-day practice in the NFL, and we've played 14 straight games. You think it hasn't caught up with us?"
Wynn was shell-shocked in his first NFL start.
Early in the game, he displayed Tim Couch-like courage and naivet by meeting a defender head-on at the end of a scramble. Wynn lowered his shoulder into 204-pound Jacksonville safety Rayna Stewart and bounced off for a 26-yard gain. It was nullified by offsetting penalties, but Wynn gained some measure of respect.
"I wanted to show that I wasn't going to back down from anybody," Wynn said.
Later in the first half, Wynn got buried in a Jaguars pass rush. Right end Tony Brackens, who destroyed left tackle Roman Oben all game, caved in on Wynn and brought linebacker Brant Boyer with him.
Wynn's left leg got caught underneath Brackens and twisted in an ugly angle. Brackens was the Jacksonville player who injured Couch's ankle last December and ended his rookie season in the 15th game.
Wynn was helped off the field. When the Browns announced in the press box that Wynn's return was questionable, it sounded overly optimistic. Yet he returned to start the second half and played deep into the fourth quarter until rookie Kevin Thompson was inserted.
"I thought it would be a good experience for him being roughed up there a little bit in the first quarter. I think he hung in there and tried to fight," Palmer said.
The best you can say is Wynn survived his first start. He was 5-of-16 for 17 yards, sacked five times and lost a fumble.
"I didn't expect this," Wynn said. "They were doing some things we hadn't seen on film. It's like a war out there. You can't call timeout every time they do something you don't expect. I didn't help my team."
Players frowned and were angered by the obvious question: Did playing Wynn give the Browns the best chance to win?
They defended Palmer and talked about looking in the mirror to question whether each gave his best effort.
"I don't think Chris has lost this team," Miller said. "That's not true. He just has to stay true to his guns. Those that are going to play, will play. Those who don't, won't be back next year."
Palmer's face reddened when he was asked if he felt he has lost the team.
"They're professionals," he said. "Their job is to play football, my job is to coach football. They've done it for a long time. I've done it for a long time.
"You have to be realistic that there are some problems that we have. We have to address those.
"When you don't have anything to address them because you've had injuries or you haven't had enough drafts or haven't been able to go through free agency and address all your needs, there's no sense in pointing fingers at the players or personnel department or anybody else."
