Some final thoughts on the Cleveland Browns opening-day loss to the Miami Dolphins, the ninth consecutive season-opening loss for the Browns and the 14th since the team returned in 1999.

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before …

Running back Trent Richardson ran the ball just 13 times against Miami – and just five times in the second half as the Browns repeatedly neglected Richardson so they could have Brandon Weeden throw the ball more.

“It was just the course of the game,” Browns coach Rob Chudzinski said on Monday. “Trent is a critical part of our offense. We want to give him the ball as much as we can. I thought in the first half we had a pretty good mix going there into the third quarter. We had a lot of two-minute situations yesterday, at the end of the half and then obviously as we got into the fourth quarter there. The real key is on third downs; we have to convert on third downs. We’ll get plenty of opportunities to get the ball to Trent as well.”

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In the numbing sameness that serves as Cleveland Browns openers, or the Cleveland Browns generally, the only good news was reserved for the delusional. The rest of the AFC North also lost the first week and thus, technically, the Browns lost no ground except, I suppose, in the wild card race. So there's that.

The popular spin following Sunday's route at the hands of a very, very average Miami Dolphins team was that the defense played well until it was worn down by the amount of time it had to spend on the field on an otherwise beautiful, low humidity first day of the season. Don't buy it.

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From the 500 section of the north side of the stadium, it was a beautiful view Sunday.  The sky was clear, the water was blue, and the wind was dotting the lake with whitecaps which would occasionally burst open on the breakwater.  A few boats idled about, and in the distance solitary planes would slide by.  It was serene, peaceful.

Much in contrast to my seat about 100 feet away, since from there I could see the field.

Perhaps due to tailgating hard in preparation for what I knew was inevitably coming, I was angry before I even entered the stadium.  I knew what I was about to see.  And my anger didn't abate once the game began.  I became The Guy That Everyone Hates - you know, the guy that sits there all pissy making disparaging comments and spewing "See?" and "I told you so" after each of his negative predictions comes true.  I'm fairly certain that everyone in my section wanted to kill me.  I hate that guy too, but even as I was doing it, I couldn't stop it.  I came in expecting more of the same fucking garbage that I'd been forced to behold for the last decade and a half, and there they were, giving it to me, shoving it down my throat.  It made me FURIOUS.  I honestly cannot remember being so angry at a sporting event.

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The Browns struggled mightily in their 17-16 Week 1 loss to the Eagles…no, wait, that was last season. Let me try again. The Browns blew their opening day game to the Cincinnati Bengals by a score of 27-17 after a miscommunication left star receiver A.J. Green wide open…nope, that’s not it either, that was two seasons ago. I got it now. The Browns got a nice defensive performance, but the offense led by Jake Delhomme struggled on their way to a 17-14 defeat to the Bucca…crap, that’s not it either.

Unfortunately, the Browns 23-10 Week 1 loss to the Miami Dolphins looked the same as any other Browns Week 1 debacle since the team returned in 1999. The roster and coaching staff may be different, but it’s the same old story on the lakefront. Here are the takeaways from the game.

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