The Browns' loss to the Chargers on Sunday afternoon unfolded in a frustrating fashion that's been all-too-familiar over the past few months.
After falling behind by double digits, Cleveland rallied in the fourth quarter before stumbling down the stretch, seeing two last-minute drives come up short in Los Angeles. In the process, the Browns fell to 0-12 and came up on the wrong end of another game decided late for their fifth time in six weeks.
Browns coach Hue Jackson has described those kinds of situations as "melting" in pivotal moments, a dynamic that has plagued his young team as they continue searching for their first win of the season.
"I saw a team that continues to fight but just like them, you're tired of hearing about fighting," Jackson said in his post-game news conference.
"You want to win. You've got chances to and we've got to find a way to make those plays and do things that gives us an opportunity to finish a game and finish a game well."
The Browns had chances again at the StubHub Center this past weekend but were unable to capitalize on them. This time, it was Chargers defensive end Joey Bosa who dashed the team's hopes. Trailing 19-10 with under 5 minutes to play, rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer on third-and-goal was strip-sacked by Bosa on 3rd and goal.
Cleveland had similar misfortune two weeks ago against Jacksonville, when Kizer was strip-sacked twice in the final two minutes. The end result was another narrow and dispiriting defeat.
"We've had several games that have been like that but we don't do it. You never win until you win," Jackson said. "You can't be kind of up and down. Teams change, matchups change, and how you attack teams change but you have to be consistent in how you play. We've got a lot of young guys playing, a lot of young guys that are growing and we have to grow from that. But we have to grow a little bit faster so we can make those critical plays."
With four games left in the season, Jackson -- who has lauded his team's resiliency amid a 1-27 mark over the past two seasons — shrugged any solace that could be gleaned another close loss.
"This is about winning and losing," he said. "We didn't take this long down here to be close or looking for a moral victory. We wanted to win .. we felt like we had our chances and we didn't get done what we need to get done."
