The Browns Lose On Account Of The Worst Pass Interference Call In NFL History

The best game of the year, hands down. A battle of two 1st place teams. 1,026 total yards. 41 points in the 4th quarter alone. Haymaker after haymaker. Missed extra points. A team trying not to score getting pushed into the end zone. That was a great football game. But at the end of the day, the Browns fall to 3-2. Teams that start out 4-1 make the playoffs 78% of the time, and teams that start out 3-2 make the playoffs just under 50% of the time. This one hurts. And there's plenty of blame to go around.

Blame, ranked by percentage of blame:

1. Refs (98%)

On 4th and 4 with 7 minutes left in the game and the Chargers needing to score to keep pace:

Most game-changing call in NFL history? Yes. The answer is yes. Not only was it not Pass Interference, it was Pass Interference on the other guy!! This game should be put under protest and investigation. Even the biggest Browns hater in the world, Colin Cowherd, agrees.

2. Defense (1%)

You can't give up 47 points and expect to win football games, especially when the refs are against you as well. No other way to put it. 

Did I mention the refs sucked?

3. Coaching (1%)

I have zero complaints about Kevin Stefanski. I've seen enough bad coaching in Cleveland to know that we're lucky to have this guy. However, I would have done two things differently. 

1.) On the drive where we could've iced the game after their kicker just missed a game-tying extra point: why throw on 2nd down? Our run game in dominant and the clock would've kept churning.

2.) After the incompletion, why not throw on 3rd and 10? First down means we win the game. We run it, punt it, and lose.

So the Browns are officially 3-2*. Refs move to 1-0 on the season. We are on to Arizona.