Written by Thomas Moore

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It was second verse, same as the first for the Cleveland Browns on Sunday in Baltimore.

An ineffective offense that could not find the end zone, a defense that played good enough to keep the Browns in the game but not good enough to win, and just enough mistakes all added up to a 14-6 loss to the Ravens.

It was the 11th consecutive time the Browns have lost to Baltimore and leaves the Browns at 0-2 on the season.

But it was more than just another loss. An off-season that was full of hope for an improved product on the field, especially on offense, has evaporated like a puddle after a rainstorm on a hot summer day. The season already feels lost, in large part because despite new players and the promise of a new philosophy on offense and defense, it looks and feels like the same old Browns.

All after just two games.

The offense struggled all day and managed just two Billy Cundiff field goals. The Browns have now had 24 offensive drives this season and managed to score just one touchdown, which seems impossible, but there you are.

Or how about this stat? On the Browns first offensive play, Brandon Weeden hit tight end Jordan Cameron for a 53-yard gain. The Browns ran 61 plays after that and gained just 206 more yards – or 3.4 yards per play.

We got another one for you – the Browns were just four-of-15 on third down and are now just five-of-29 on the season when trying to convert on third down.

“We just have to keep grinding,” Browns coach Rob Chudzinski said after the game. "We have to keep working on it. The plays are there, the things are there. We’re just off a little bit.”

Yep, just keep on grinding, coach.

Quarterback Brandon Weeden was marginally better this week, completed 21-of-33 passes for 227 yards while avoiding throwing an interception. So that’s at least a start.

But Weeden was sacked five more times by the Ravens and had to leave the game in the fourth quarter with a thumb injury sustained when he hit someone’s helmet on while attempting a pass.

“I hit it on a helmet on one of the last plays of the drive,” Weeden said. “I found I couldn’t grip the ball, so I knew I had to come out. It really hurts. The X-rays were negative, so that’s a good thing. It only happened an hour ago, so it’s hard to figure out anything. We’ll know more tomorrow.”

The one bright spot of Weeden’s injury was that Browns fans got a look at Jason Campbell – and realized (or should realize) why Campbell is the back-up.

In the five plays Campbell was on the field, he threw incomplete three times to Davone Bess, incomplete once to Greg Little, and threw an ugly underhand pass to Cameron for six yards on fourth-and-10.

For all those Browns fans already dialing up whatever passes for sports talk in this town, save your time. Campbell is not the answer at quarterback.

The running game provided no relief, as the Browns managed just 64 yards on the day. Trent Richardson had another mediocre game, finishing with 58 yards on 18 carries – an average of just 3.2 yards per rush.

The Browns can’t run the ball well enough to take the pressure off of Weeden, and when they do pass Weeden isn’t accurate enough and the receivers are not talented enough to make a difference.

On defense, the Browns were actually doing pretty well in shutting out the Ravens into the third quarter. But once Baltimore got going, there was little the Browns could do to stop them.

Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco was 10-of-12 in the second half as the Browns defense faded for the second week in a row. The Browns also had trouble again on third down, allowing the Ravens to convert eight-of-16 – the second week in a row the Browns have let the opposition convert 50 percent of its third downs.

“We held them to zero points in the first half, and we’ve got to channel that energy we had and keep consistent through the game,” Browns linebacker Paul Kruger said. “I felt like they got some momentum going their first drive, and that’s going to happen from time to time, but we’ve got to come back and be ready to fight again and again.”

There were a couple of bright spots for the defense.

Barkevious Mingo played for the first time this season and made in impact on his first NFL play, sacking Flacco for a nine-yard loss. Apparently the coaches forgot to tell Mingo that because he is not starting he is a bust.

The run defense had another nice game, holding the Ravens to just 99 yards on the ground and a 2.8 yard per carry average.

Finally, we like the fact that the Browns are finally showing some fire on defense. After so many years of seeing them be pushed around, it is nice to see the Browns hit back – especially against a team like the Ravens.

While we don’t need to see any more 15-yard penalties like the one Phil Taylor received on the second play of the game for hitting Ray Rice in the head after a play, it’s nice to see the Browns standing their ground. And it is worth mentioning that it appeared that Rice spit in Taylor’s face, which lead Taylor to hit him. How the refs missed that remains a mystery.

But despite their best efforts, the Browns are 0-2 on the season. And while they are not the only 0-2 team in the NFL – the list includes such notables as Washington, the New York Giants, and the loser of Monday nights’ game between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati – this 0-2 feels a lot worse. As in, battling for the No. 1 overall draft pick worse.

It was unrealistic to expect the Browns to compete for a playoff spot this year, but it should not be too much to ask that they look like a competent football team, especially on offense.

We understand that it takes time, but Norv Turner was supposed to put in an actual NFL offense, but so far all we’ve seen is the same offense that we’ve been watching for the past four years.

The players and coaches may change, but the product on the field sure looks the same. And that is not a good thing.

The season is only two games old.

So why does it feel like it has been a lot longer than that?

(Photo by The Associated Press)