Written by Thomas Moore

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Welcome to Cleveland, Jimmy Haslam.

If you didn’t know what you were buying before Sunday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts, you sure do now.

The Cleveland Browns lost a very winnable game against the Colts, coming up on the wrong end of a 17-13 decision. It was the team’s 11th consecutive road loss and drops the Browns to 1-6 on the season (0-4 on the road).

More importantly, the loss wiped out any goodwill the team had banked with a long-suffering fan base after last week’s win against Cincinnati.

“It would be a joy if we won a freaking game,” cornerback Sheldon Brown said. “I thought this was a game we could have won. I thought we were jelling. We made some plays. We fought back. But I think it’s important for this young group of guys to go into a hostile environment and be able to win.”

The Colts started out strong, building a 14-6 lead in just two offensive possessions.

Indianapolis took the opening kickoff and held the ball for 7 minutes and 37 seconds, driving 80 yards in 11 plays, scoring on a three-yard run by quarterback Andrew Luck. The touchdown run was helped tremendously when the referees decided it was not important to call a hold on the Colts’ center and a false start on their right tackle. Still, there’s nothing in the rules that say the Browns can’t still tackle someone on the play.

The Browns answered right back as Brandon Weeden hit Greg Little with 14-yard touchdown pass where Little made an excellent catch in the back of the end zone. That drive lasted 16 plays, covered 78 yards and took another 8:22 off the clock.

Oh, and Reggie Hodges dropped the snap on the extra-point attempt, leaving the Browns trailing by one.

Following another long drive by the Colts, 14 plays covering 76 yards, that ended with yet another Luck touchdown run, it looked like the Colts were going to have their way with the Browns defense as they had rolled up 156 yards of offense and 14 points.

But for the rest of the game, the defense limited the Colts to just three points and 160 yards of offensive spread across seven possessions.

After Luck’s second touchdown run (the first time a Colts quarterback has rushed for two touchdowns in one game since 1988), the team’s traded punts before the Browns took over with 1:42 left in the half and things got strange.

Even though they were starting on their own 11-yard line, the Browns had a chance to get some points before the end of the half (they do have Phil Dawson the team, after all). But possibly remembering how quickly the game the game against the Giants turned in the second quarter, the Browns didn’t really make much of an effort to do anything offensively, moving as far as their own 35-yard-line before deciding to try and run out the clock.

Colts’ coach Bruce Arians had other ideas, however, using his last timeout when the Browns were facing fourth-and-one. The only problem was, rather than call the timeout with 17 seconds left, Arians waited until there was one second left on the clock. As to what he thought that was going to accomplish is anyone’s guess.

Adding to the comedy of errors was the Browns took a knee with one second left, ending the half anyway. But the Colts were called for having 12 men on the field (coming out of a timeout no less) and then (and only then), did the Browns decide to try a Hail Mary pass, which fell incomplete.

Not exactly a George Halas vs. Don Shula battle of the wits at the end of the second half.

The other play from the first half that will have everyone talking way too much this week was when the Colts lined up in the second quarter on a fourth-and-one from their own 23. They clearly had no intention of running a play, but an uncalled illegal head bob by Luck got defensive tackle Billy Winn to jump into the neutral zone, giving the Colts a first down.

The Colts eventually punted on the drive so, ultimately, the penalty didn’t really matter, but it still sent people into a tizzy on Twitter. The coaches obviously did not tell Winn to commit a penalty, and players do make mistakes, but somehow this play turned into an indictment of the coaching staff.

The Browns took the opening kickoff of the second half and moved right down the field, covering 80 yards in just six plays, with Weeden hitting Josh Gordon with a laser of a pass for a 33-yard touchdown.

This was the third consecutive game that Gordon has caught a touchdown pass and he now has four touchdown receptions on the year. There is no doubt that he is the second-best supplemental draft pick in franchise history.

That would be it, though, for the Browns and scoring on the day as over their next four drives, they ran a total of 15 plays for 46 yards of offense.

The Browns still had a chance, as Brown strip sacked Luck and recovered the fumble at the 50-yard line. Three plays later, facing a third-and-one at the Colts’ 41, Weeden hit Gordon with the prettiest deep pass you’ll see, but Gordon couldn’t hold on to what would have been the go-ahead touchdown.

“He makes that catch nine times out of 10, so be it, it didn't happen on this day, but I stay positive with him,” Weeden said. “He’s made a lot of big plays. He’s coming into his own and he’s becoming a really good player.”

Facing fourth-and-one, the Browns decided to punt, much to the dismay of Haslam.

The defense held and the Browns took over on their own 31 with enough time (4:08) to pull out the game. Weeden hit Cooper for 14 yards and Ben Watson for 12 years to quickly get to the Colts’ 43-yard line.

Two incomplete passes sandwiched around a Montario Hardesty four-yard run set up a fourth-and-six. This time, the Browns went for it but Weeden’s pass to Cooper was incomplete and the ball game was effectively over.

Those two fourth-down decisions highlight the biggest short-coming of Shurmur as a head coach. He clearly has no confidence and is just too much a slave to what a coach is “supposed to do” in any given situation. If the chart says don’t go for two, he doesn’t go for two. If everyone else punts in a certain situation, he does as well. He just has no feel for game situations and is completely unwilling to ever take a chance.

"We felt like the best thing to do was punt, which was the right decision in my opinion,” Shurmur said. “I wouldn’t do those decisions any different.”

Why not go for it on fourth-and-one? The Browns are 1-6 and have reached a point in the season where they should really go into four-down territory any time they cross the opponent’s 40-yard line.

It doesn’t help that certain corners of the media second-guess literally every decision that Shurmur makes. If the Browns run the ball they should have passed; if they pass they should have run. If they rely too much on Dawson they are not thinking touchdowns. If they take chances down the field, they are trying to score “too early” (don’t ask, we don’t understand either).

But the NFL is a big-boy league and Shurmur needs to tune all of that out. If he thinks he has any chance to seeing a third season in Cleveland, he needs to start to start doing ... something. Maybe just needs to get out of the way. But at this point, whatever he is doing is clearly not working.

Weeden had another solid day, finishing 25-of-41 for 264 yards and the two touchdown passes. The offensive line also did not allow a sack for the third consecutive game.

“It stings right now,” Weeden said. “But you’re crazy if you don’t see the strides we’re making, you’re just out of your mind. There’s so many positives to take from this game. Don’t get me wrong, you’ve got to be hard on yourself to see where you messed up. But you’ve got to look at the positive plays and take those with you.”

The Browns were hurt by the fact that running back Trent Richardson struggled, leaving the game for good in the first half after carrying eight times for eight yards. Without Richardson, the Browns were only able to total 55 yards on the ground against a defense that came into the game ranked 29th in the NFL. When the longest run of the day – 13 yards – comes from your quarterback, you know things are not going well.

How much Richardson’s rib injury affected him is unknown, but he didn’t seem right when he was on the field.

“The injury was pretty bad, I guess it limited me a lot," Richardson said. “I sat down, so, you know, it just hurt me not being out there, hurt me inside not being out there. I didn’t want to come out. I said Pat knows what’s best. He made his decision, and I think he made a great decision.”

So the Browns now drop to 1-6 and return home to face San Diego and what is sure to be an unruly crowd just waiting for a reason to turn against the team.

Haslam couldn’t have liked what he saw at times on the field on Sunday, but he is not the kind of person who will make a decision on one fourth-down call, no matter how upset he may be.

Everyone knew Haslam’s welcome to Cleveland moment would come at some point.

We just didn’t think it would be in his very first game as owner.

(Photo by ClevelandBrowns.com)