BALTIMORE, Md. - Hue Jackson vowed not to play musical chairs with his quarterbacks and play both Cody Kessler and Josh McCown in this game, but the melody began in the second half of Thursday night's 28-7 loss to the Ravens.
Jackson yanked rookie Kessler with 9:36 left in the third quarter and replaced him with McCown, who could barely function behind a porous line. It was the third quarterback Jackson used, including rookie Kevin Hogan, who took two first-quarter snaps.
"I made a switch at quarterback because I felt we needed a spark,'' Jackson said."I wasn't playing musical chairs.''
Jackson also made it clear that "Cody is still the quarterback'' and that he'll start him in the next game against the Steelers Nov. 20th at FirstEnergy Stadium.
The move, made with the Browns trailing 13-7, backfired. McCown turned the ball over three times and went three-and-out twice on his five possessions. He was picked off twice -- including on his third play and on two of his first three drives -- and was strip-sacked once.
He completed six of 13 attempts for 59 yards with two picks and no TDs for a 19.9 rating.
It was so bad that Kessler was actually throwing again on the sidelines at one point.
Meanwhile, a struggling Joe Flacco found his rhythm in the second half, throwing three touchdown passes. As a result, the Browns, who led 7-3 in the first half and 7-6 at the break, lost their 10th straight game to set a franchise record for most losses to start a season.
They also extended their franchise-record losing streak to 13 games, and have lost 20 out of 21 and 28 of their last 31.
Cody Kessler 'is still the QB' and 'I don't regret' yanking him, Hue Jackson says
McCown was picked off on his third play and twice on his first three drives. That gives him six interceptions in limited play this season. In between the picks, he went three-and-out and was sacked for a 9-yard loss to kill the drive. On his fourth possession, he was strip-sacked by Terrell Suggs and lost the fumble. Suggs beat Joe Thomas on the play.
McCown was first intercepted by cornerback Jerraud Powers with 8:45 left in the third quarter when Suggs hit his arm on third down. Joe Haden prevented any scoring by picking off Flacco in the end zone. But McCown went three-and-out on his second possession.
Next time up, McCown was sacked for an 11-yard loss, and then intercepted in the end zone by Pro Bowl safety Eric Weddle -- overthrowing a double-covered Terrelle Pryor.
Kessler was pulled after completing 11 of 18 attempts for 91 yards with one TD and no interceptions. He earned a 92.6 rating. The touchdown was a 25-yarder to rookie tight end Seth DeValve for a 7-3 lead with 6:30 left in the first half. But Jackson had grown weary of Kessler's inability to convert third downs and stretch the defense. In his past two games, Kessler has gone 2-of-15 on third down for 13.3 percent.
"This is what I wanted to do,'' said Jackson. "I felt good about the decision I made. I'm not going to back off of it. We lost the game. We turned the ball over. Maybe those things wouldn't have happened with him in there. But I made a decision and I'm not going to back up from that.''
During the short week, Jackson had challenged Kessler (0-7) to win, saying it's the quarterback's job to do so. He also called for him to "push the ball downfield more and score more points.''
But Jackson had also promised some surprises in the game, and he delivered. He used three quarterbacks, something that hadn't been done in an NFL game since 2011.
Perhaps he should've made it four and used Pryor in the fourth quarter. But somebody had to try to catch the ball.
Now what?
Kessler dropped to 0-7, but he'll start against the Steelers and Ben Roethlisberger after a 10-day break. Maybe by then, the Browns can figure out how to give their quarterbacks some time to throw.
But Jackson will stick with him as long as possible, because "I need to know'' if he's the long-term answer. The Browns have two picks in the first round of the draft and two in the second, and will likely have to draft a quarterback high.
Help might be on the way
Robert Griffin III, who's still on injured reserve with his fractured left shoulder, threw in pre-game warmups and looked sharp. He's due to undergo another scan in the next two weeks, and might be cleared to play again this season. Will he be ready for the Steelers?
"It's too early to say,'' said Jackson. "(I need to know if he's healthy) before we make those decisions. Again, Cody is going to be the quarterback next week, and this is no indication of what I think Josh McCown is.''
Griffin might not be cleared until the bye week Dec. 4th, and there would only be four games left after that. But the Browns might need to take a peek again this season.
Flacco 15-2 vs. Cleveland
Flacco looked horrible in the first half. He had 17 completions in 24 attempts, but for just 133 yards and one pick for a 66.8 rating. The Ravens trailed 7-6 at the break. But he heated up in the second half -- with TD passes to Darren Waller, Steve Smith and Breshad Perriman to produce the final margin. On two of those, he went after rookie Briean Boddy-Calhoun.
By the end, Flacco finished with almost 300 yards. He completed 30 of 41 attempts for 296 yards with three TDs and 2 INTs for a 97.2 rating.
Briean Boddy-Calhoun's pick
Boddy-Calhoun intercepted Flacco with 10 seconds left in the first quarter for the second pick of his young career. He was ruled down at the 1. The Browns went three-and-out, and the Ravens scored a field goal on the next drive to make it 3-0. Later, he was at least partially responsible for giving up the two TDs.
Jamie Collins makes plays
In his second game, Collins made the impact plays the Browns are expecting. He tackled Terrance West for a 1-yard loss on the first drive and then sacked Flacco on third down on the next drive. He had another tackle for loss in the second half. He blitzed a lot off the edge and disrupted Flacco's timing. He finished second to Chris Kirksey with nine tackles, and was a bright spots on defense.
Seth DeValve TD pass
The rookie tight end caught his first NFL touchdown, a 25-yarder from Kessler. It was his second career reception. DeValve missed four games with a knee injury.
Kevin Hogan time
Hogan, who rushed for 104 yards against the Bengals on Oct. 23, took two snaps in the first half. But the Browns lost a yard on those plays. Isaiah Crowell was dropped for a 2-yard loss and Hogan ran for a yard.
Danny Shelton rolls into Alex Lewis
Shelton tumbled into Ravens guard Alex Lewis' legs in the third quarter, and the Baltimore rookie left with an ankle injury. He had an aircast immediately placed on the ankle, but it wasn't broken. He didn't return.
False start
The Browns got off to a rocky start, burning two timeouts in the first five minutes. It was the first time since 2013 that a team has used two timeouts that early. The first was to avoid a penalty for 12 defenders on the field. The second was on a third-down play on Kessler's opening drive when the playclock was about to expire.
Next
The Steelers come to FirstEnergy Stadium on Nov. 20.