CLEVELAND -- New scoreboards and trading away the last administration's draft picks and laying the latest new foundation are nice, but if the Cleveland Browns really wanted one tangible thing out of this 2013 season, it had to be getting out of the AFC North basement.
It had to be. Right?
That would be the very definition of progress all these coaches and honchos have been talking about for so long (1999-2013). Sunday brought the chance for a giant leap in the right direction -- above the basement -- against the franchise's oldest rival and the one the fan base wants to beat the most, and the Browns handled a playoff elimination game against the Steelers the way the Browns have handled most Steelers games since, well, 1999.
By laying a giant, frozen egg.
And falling into last place in the division.
The Steelers, once 0-4, pushed the Browns around, had their way and knocked out the quarterback, too. Jason Campbell took a shot to the head from William Gay and suffered a concussion in the third quarter. The ensuing fumble turned into a Steeler recovery and return to the Browns four-yard line, and on the next play Ben Roethlisberger threw a touchdown pass to Emmanuel Sanders to make it 20-3.
Truth is, it was already long over at 13-3. Both teams entered the game at 4-6, but this was a total mismatch.
The Browns have had two constants. One has been top-to-bottom change, right on cue every 24 or 36 months -- and most quarterbacks haven't lasted even that long. The other has been getting bullied by the Steelers, who are now 25-5 in the series since 1999. Roethlisberger is 16-1 against the Browns.
Sixteen and one.
The Browns are on their 20th quarterback of this new era, and with Campbell's injury they had to go back to Brandon Weeden in this one. Weeden doesn't exactly exude confidence at this point, and fair or not he heard boos before he ever took a snap in the second quarter, the first time Campbell had to leave the game.
Weeden heard a lot of boos -- there were at least 5,000 people left in the stadium -- when Gay returned an interception 21 yards for a touchdown and a 27-3 lead with 4:27 to go. The best throw by a guy in a brown jersey all day came out of the Dawg Pound in the third quarter, a can of beer that might has well have been a white flag.
The only good thing that happened for the Browns Sunday is that the Colts got run off the field in Arizona, dropping to 7-4. The Browns hold the Colts first-round pick next May, and about all teams in the basement can sell to their fanbases is picks for the future. For the Browns, this offseason and this draft are especially important because they have to get a quarterback. And if they have to trade their first round pick and the one they got from the Colts to do it, then that's what they'll have to do.
Because they've been without one for too long. Because they've been in the basement for too long.
The Browns were second in the division in 2002 and 2007, third in 2001, 2005 and 2009. In every other year, they've been last. And with Sunday's home flop, they're back there.
Forget that there are so many mediocre teams in the AFC that a record of 5-6 has the Steelers very much in the playoff race and would have been the same for the Browns. The Browns aren't ready for that, and over their last seven quarters it's shown.
Sunday could have marked three home division victories, something that's never happened in this new era. It could have ended the Steelers postseason hopes. It could have marked real change, a different spot in the standings and a whole new outlook. The Browns own the Steelers third-round pick in next year's draft, too, and that now has a chance to be a lot closer to the 80th pick than the 65th. That's really nitpicking, but all the little things and all the big things went against the Browns Sunday.
Now, it's on to Jacksonville -- and probably with Weeden as the starting quarterback.
It was bitter cold Sunday for a bitter loss, and the Steelers turned a 3-3 game into 13-3 late in the first half on a bomb to Antonio Brown, a quick Browns fumble on the ensuing possession and a field goal with seven seconds left. It was all too familiar.
This one was summed up later, not in another towel-waving celebration by Steelers fans in the crowd or by the defensive touchdowns. The Steelers left their offense on the field on fourth down with just under seven minutes left, but Roethlisberger backed up in shotgun and made a left-footed quick kick that Sanders downed at the Browns one yard line.
It was, again, an all too familiar spot for the Browns. Back up against their end zone. A long, long way from anywhere they'd like to be.
