Dom Amore, Hartford Courant
Cleveland and Detroit are this close on a map, and even closer when it comes to bad football. So it wouldn’t be shocking to see the Browns follow in the staggering footsteps of the 2008 Lions and become the second NFL team to go 0-16. That said the Browns are still capable of pulling off a stunner, the way they did against the Giants last season. Miami could stay winless for awhile, depending on the health of Chad Pennington, seeing as the Dolphins’ next five opponents are a combined 12-3. But the team most likely to keep the bubbly on ice the longest is Kansas City, whose next five games are Giants, Dallas, at Washington, San Diego and at Jacksonville. If you can’t convert third downs, you can’t win. The Chiefs are seven for 36 in that department, including 0 for 11 on Sunday.
Ken Murray, Baltimore Sun
Based on what I saw Sunday in Baltimore, the Browns will be the last NFL team to win a game this season -- by a landslide. They don’t even play a winnable game until Week 11, when they travel to Detroit.
And they have only two other games they can be competitive in (unless Cincinnati goes in the tank again). On back-to-back Sundays in December, the Browns play at Kansas City and home against Oakland. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re playing to avoid 0-16 infamy at that point.
The NFL is full of awful teams: the Browns, Rams, Raiders, Chiefs, Bucs, Redskins, Lions, Panthers. But the Browns have the worst combination of coaching, defense and quarterback of any team. They also have the worst uniforms. This team is more likely to stage a mutiny against Eric Mangini than it is to win a game this year.
Ethan J. Skolnick, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
There’s an awful lot of awful in the NFL this season, but the Browns slouch below the rest. The Dolphins, Titans and Panthers are struggling, but at least they showed in 2008 that they can win. The Chiefs, Rams and Bucs are talent-starved, but at least it’s not already apparent that the players despise their new coaches. The Browns? Another story. Can’t fight karma. After earning the Mangenius label early with the Jets, Eric Mangini has been angering people ever since. The Browns foolishly hired him, and his draft-day blundering, torturous bus trips, needless secrecy and senseless fines seem to have already alienated fans, players and agents. The Browns have been outscored 95-29 and this season, not even the Bengals (Sunday’s opponent) can save them.
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