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BEREA, Ohio -- The mountain the Cleveland Browns are trying to climb just gets steeper and steeper. The Browns (3-11) were crushed by 17 points in Seattle last week and now they have to face the red-hot Kansas City Chiefs in Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday. The Chiefs have won eight straight games. The Browns are 3-16 over their last 19 games.
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Browns head coach Mike Pettine expects a strong effort from his team, but effort hasn't been the problem most of the season. The problem has been that they fade in the second half and can't recover. They have been outscored 201-121 in the second half this season.
"Every game we can make a cut-up tape of us executing plays at a high level and then we have some plays that unfortunately end up on the blooper reel," Pettine said. "There are just a handful of plays a game where the other team executes and we don't and we're allowing big plays. The effort, the energy is there but just the level of consistency that's required to win is not."
Johnny Manziel will be making a third consecutive start for the first time in his two-year career with the Browns. He put a touchdown on the board on the first possession of the game in Seattle but after that passed for only 101 yards and managed just two field goals.
Manziel's continued development will be a focus of the final two games, but he is likely playing for a lame-duck coaching staff. For what it's worth Manziel wants team owner Jimmy Haslam to retain Pettine and the rest of the staff.
"I want these guys to be here next year," Manziel said. "I want to have these receivers and the people that we have on this roster and the staff, so we can go through the spring and not have to learn what this call is and this play and be able to go through a spring and have some of the continuity. So it definitely would be a luxury for sure.''
Manziel is already working with his second offensive coordinator. Kyle Shanahan was the Browns offensive coordinator when Manziel was a rookie last season. John DeFilippo is a first-year offensive coordinator this season after years as a quarterback coach with various teams.
The lack of continuity has been a problem for the Browns throughout the many coaching changes they have gone through since returning to the NFL as an expansion team in 1999. Left tackle Joe Thomas, the third pick of the 2007 draft and the longest tenured Brown, is on his fifth head coach. He does not like the prospect of getting to know another coaching staff when the 2016 offseason program begins in April.
"I don't really want to think about or talk about it much, but I will say that anytime you make a change in an organization on the coaching staff or you make a change in the organization there's a one step back that you have to take and that's just a part of making a change," Thomas said.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid could talk to Haslam about stability. He is in his third year in Kansas City after 14 years coaching the Philadelphia Eagles. He has had a winning record each year with the Chiefs -- 11-5 in 2013, 9-7 last season and 9-5 with two games left in 2015.
SERIES HISTORY: 25th meeting. The series is tied 11-11-2. Ties are so infrequent that the Browns have to go back 26 years to Nov. 19, 1989, when they battled the Chiefs to a 10-10 draw after 15 minutes of scoreless overtime to find one.
GAME PLAN: The Chiefs are more balanced than any team the Browns have faced so far this season. The Chiefs have scored 18 rushing touchdowns and 16 through the air.
The Browns want to take away one aspect of what the Chiefs do, and with the Browns' injuries in their secondary their best chance is to minimize the Kansas City running attack by putting strong safety Donte Whitner in the box. The Browns have improved in recent weeks in terms of eliminating big plays by opposing running backs.
MATCHUPS TO WATCH:
--Browns QB Johnny Manziel vs. Chiefs CB Marcus Peters.
Peters is headed to the Pro Bowl largely on the strength of his seven interceptions this season. Manziel has enough confidence to throw across the field at times but he is asking for trouble if he does that Peters' direction.
--Browns LB Karlos Dansby vs. Chiefs TE Travis Kelce.
Dansby leads the Browns in tackles. He makes most of his stops against the run, but he is also has been very good in pass coverage this season. Kelce has 65 catches for 822 yards and four touchdowns. Dansby will have to stay tight on Kelce to limit his effectiveness.
