Cleveland Browns: What went right, what went wrong

The Cleveland Browns, after setting a franchise record for futility in 2016 by finishing 1-15, sunk lower in 2017 by becoming only the second team in NFL history to end a season 0-16.

It was not a season of bad bounces or bad breaks, bad calls by officials or a bad schedule that forced the Browns to experience burdensome travel. For the most part it was just bad football offensively and defensively from the beginning of the season to the end.

Impetuous owner Jimmy Haslam fired vice president of football operations Sashi Brown on Dec. 7, but decided to keep head coach Hue Jackson despite his 1-31 coaching record with the Browns.

Haslam hired John Dorsey as general manager the same day he fired Brown. Brown bequeathed Dorsey two first-round picks, three second-round picks in 2018 and more than $100 million in salary-cap room.

The plan beginning in January 2016 was to sacrifice immediate success in 2016 and 2017 to make a splash in 2018, but not to the extent of winning only one game in two years.

No quarterback on the Browns roster won a game in the NFL, which meant rookie DeShone Kizer had no fellow quarterback to lean on when things were tough.

Brown cut Joe Haden, the Browns best cornerback, just before the season started. All-Pro left tackle Joe Thomas, after playing 10,363 consecutive snaps, suffered a season ending injury (left triceps) in the seventh game.

One stat defines the 2017 season: The Browns were minus-28 in turnover differential.

WHAT WENT RIGHT: It seems like a decade ago that the Browns were 4-0 in the 2017 preseason. The biggest plus in the 16 games that followed was the vast improvement in run defense. The Browns went from giving up 4.6 yards a carry in 2016 to just 3.4 yards a carry in 2017. Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, in his first year with the Browns, switched to a 4-3 base defense and from the very beginning emphasized defending the run. Pass protection improved dramatically, too, despite losing Joe Thomas for more than half the season. The Browns signed center JC Tretter and right guard Kevin Zeitler in free agency. Plus, left guard Joel Bitonio, after finishing 2015 and 2016 on injured reserve, played all 16 games in 2017. After giving up 66 sacks last season, the Browns allowed 50 in 2017.

WHAT WENT WRONG: Brown drafted four wide receivers in 2016, so he felt no need to take one in the following draft. Wide receiver Corey Coleman broke his hand in the second game. No wide receiver on the roster became a "go-to guy" for rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer until Josh Gordon was allowed on Dec. 3 to play in his first game in nearly three years. The Browns had no leader in the secondary after cornerback Joe Haden was cut and none on offense after left tackle Joe Thomas was injured. That contributed to meltdowns in the fourth quarter. For example, the Browns led the Packers 21-7 to start the fourth quarter, but lost 27-21 in overtime.