Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, yet expecting different results.  I don’t know how many aspects of Cleveland Browns football that could apply to, but the easiest thesis to write on the Cleveland Browns is that they’ve never gotten it right at quarterback, and for that reason alone, nothing else could have ever gone right.  Look, that’s obviously a way to over-simplify 15 years of dysfunction, but it’s a good place to start, and one cannot possibly overstate how imperative it is to have a functional quarterback, in order to have a successful franchise.  People that don’t follow closely enough call it an obsession with finding a quarterback, but the rest of us understand; finding that cog is the beginning the middle, and the end in the NFL.

The Browns have had 15 draft days, and have come away with zero successful franchise quarterbacks, despite having the first overall pick twice, and few drafts without an opportunity to make a selection in the Top 10.  Those high picks have been made available to them, because they fail to win enough ball games to drop down much further; it’s a matter of cause and effect.  Because they do not have a quarterback, the effect of 11 and 12 loss seasons put them into advantageous draft positions.  While they haven’t exactly whiffed on every top pick they’ve made in the last 15 years, they haven’t even stumbled backwards into anyone above average to play the position, on draft day, and that might just violate some laws of probability.

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Well, at least there was no fourth-quarter meltdown this week.

While that may a nebulous sign of progress, it is just about all the Cleveland Browns have to hang their hats on following a dispirited 24-13 loss to the New York Jets on Sunday.

The defeat was the fifth consecutive on the road for the Browns and the sixth in a row overall.

The loss also puts the Browns at 1-6 on the road with just next week’s season-ending game in Pittsburgh left on the schedule. Lose that game and the Browns finish with one road win for the third consecutive year.

But we are getting ahead of ourselves.

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The temptation, of course, is to slap a new headline on last week's story and call it a day. That's basically what the Cleveland Browns did on Sunday, losing in inglorious fashion once again, this time to the Chicago Bears, 38-31.

There wasn't anything particularly new to report, the details of this particular loss irrelevant. Suffice it to say that the Browns blew a lead as the defense collapsed. Gee, when have I written that before? Oh year, nearly every freakin' week.

So if the manner in which the team lose is irrelevant was there anything of relevance to ponder? Yes. If you're looking for meaning in a cold city with a cold stadium and an even colder season then it is that this team continues to lose, that it continues to lose with such regularity in fact that it is threatening to undermine whatever fan base remains.

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The Cleveland Browns hit the road on Sunday to take on the New York Jets for the first of two season-ending road games.

The Browns enter the game having lost five in a row overall and five consecutive on the road. In the Jets, they will be facing a team that is a respectable 5-2 at home.

In addition to the usual issues the Browns have to deal with on a weekly basis on offense, they will be without tight end Jordan Cameron, and possibly wide receiver Davone Bess and cornerback Joe Haden.

It should be another fun Sunday afternoon in the swamps of Jersey.

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