There have been a few constants for the Cleveland Browns in the years since they returned to the NFL in 1999.
One, obviously, has been the continual losing. Another has been the defense’s inability to stop the run. It has been so long since the defense stopped a runner in a big spot that if you told us it last occurred when Robert L. Jackson and Dick Ambrose stopped Mark Van Eeghen in the 1981 playoff game against Oakland, we would probably believe you.
Going hand in hand with the inability to stop the run is a growing list of players and coaches talking about how the Browns are finally going to eliminate the big plays and stop making every opposing running back look like a Hall of Famer – and this time they mean it.