Column: Another Browns’ season-opening loss, another butcher knife to the heart

The “rolling ball of butcher knives” is still rolling.

The man who uttered those words, Butch Davis, remains the last Browns coach to win a season opener, and that came in 2004. The franchise has hired eight more to lead the team since Davis stepped down with five games to go that season.

On Sunday in T Bank Stadium, it didn’t matter that the Browns seem to have a competent new coach in Kevin Stefanski, a new offense supposed to maximize the talents of quarterback Baker Mayfield, or two of the best running backs in the league in Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt.

One-and-done Freddie Kitchens might as well have been on the Browns sideline wearing an inappropriate T-shirt.

The result was another butcher knife to the heart, this one a 38-6 rout delivered by reigning league MVP Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens.

As the Browns slipped to 1-20-1 in season openers since 1999, they extended their record string of consecutive seasons with a loss in the opener to 15. The next two closest teams on that list are Washington and the Philadelphia Eagles with nine.

Befitting many performances that came before, the Browns’ ineptitude in their debut was almost laughable.

Mistakes on special teams that have been the Browns’ calling card for years continued. Jamie Gillan fumbled a fake punt, setting up the Ravens at the Browns 26. Kicker Austin Seibert hit an upright on a failed extra point and missed a 41-yard field goal try. Safety Andrew Sendejo drew a 15-yard face mask penalty on a Ravens’ third-quarter punt return.

Mayfield, who totaled 21 interceptions in 16 games as he regressed in 2019, threw a first-half interception on a ball tipped by defensive tackle Calais Campbell and nearly had another in the first 30 minutes. As he did a year ago, Mayfield went through a stretch where he repeatedly forced the ball to Odell Beckham Jr.

Chubb and Hunt combined for a silent 132 yards. Part of that was the fact the Browns trailed 24-6 at halftime, but the two were surely a huge part of the defensive game plan after Ravens coach John Harbaugh took a jab at the Browns last week for overinflating the duo’s stature. Chubb also lost a fumble; he had only three fumbles lost in 16 games in 2019.

The only thing missing was a rash of penalty flags that stood out in the Browns’ 30-point embarrassment a year ago at the hands of the Tennessee Titans. Against the Ravens, the Browns committed eight for 80 yards, and Stefanski was not pleased with three face mask penalties for 15 yards each.

The game was a matchup of Heisman Trophy winners in Mayfield and Jackson and, like the final score, Jackson won in a rout. Jackson, the last player selected in the first round in 2018 because he was supposed to be more of a runner than a passer, looked to have taken another leap in the latter. Mayfield regressed during the game just as he did last season. He opened by completing seven of his first 11 passes, then went 14 of 28 the rest of the way. He finished with a passer rating of 65.0; he had five games lower than that in 2019.

Considering the outcome, it seemed almost incomprehensible that the Browns won 40-25 at Baltimore last Sept. 29.

For just one week, the two teams’ paths couldn’t look more divergent. After finishing 14-2 last season, the Ravens appear to be rocketing toward similar or greater heights. The Browns have a new coach, two new coordinators (with only Mike Priefer on special teams a holdover), and new offensive and defensive schemes, so it seemed logical they would need time to learn and grow together.

As they prepared, the Browns refused to use the virtual offseason and cancellation of preseason games due to the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse. At least for one day, it seemed clear that COVID-19’s ramifications set them up for a slow start.

They believed stressing attention to detail, minimizing turnovers, running the ball and accountability above all. It all went for naught basically in the first 30 minutes against one of the best teams in the NFL.The thud heard ‘round Northeast Ohio has shaken this ground before. In a year that brings one knockout punch after another, another butcher knife to the heart only seemed fitting.

Marla Ridenour is a sports columnist for the Akron Beacon Journal.