And so it continues

So you say you're dying to hear my thoughts on yesterday's Browns game? Here they are: It sucked.

What? You were hoping for more? All right, here's more: It really sucked.

Fine, I'll give you some thoughts, in no particular order.

• Losing to division rivals is always unpleasant, especially in this division. We have a special brand of hatred for each of our AFC North foes. Our hatred for the Bengals is probably an 8 or a 9 on a scale of 1 to 10 — which makes them by far the least hated of the three, but it still hurts a little every time we lose to them. Still, would you rather they win the division, or Pittsburgh or Baltimore? By that logic, it's not so bad.

• Shaun Rogers' penalty at the end of the first half was typical of this Browns season. He tackled Cincinnati quarterback Carson Palmer from behind, by the shoulders, which is now called a horse-collar tackle and has been a personal foul in the NFL since 2005. This happened with no time left on the clock, and gave the Bengals enough yardage to kick a field goal. It didn't really affect the outcome of the game, but imagine if the Browns had managed to score another touchdown in the fourth quarter and lost 16-14. That field goal would have been huge.

• The Bengals out-gained the Browns, 306 yards to 169. The defensive effort was not bad at all, but once again, the offense was hideous. Brady Quinn, coming off his best game as a pro in last week's loss to Detroit, went 15-for-34 for 100 yards. Quinn did make a nice catch on a Josh Cribbs pass from the wildcat formation, and he also scored the Browns' only touchdown with his legs, but this was not a strong effort. And it was the seventh time the Browns have been held under 10 points this year.

• Speaking of the Browns' defense, they held Palmer to 110 yards passing on 13-of-24. But they did allow more than 200 yards on the ground, including Larry Johnson's first 100-yard effort since last year, when he was with the Chiefs. Still, the defense was good enough to win, had the offense done anything.

• The Browns are one of three 1-10 teams in the league, which of course is significant because they have a shot at the first pick in next year's draft. The Browns' remaining schedule includes two games they could conceivably win, against Kansas City and Oakland, who are both 3-8. The other two 1-10 teams — the Buccaneers and the Rams – have no real cupcakes left on their schedules. The Buccaneers' only win is against 7-4 Green Bay, which puts a win against someone like 4-7 Seattle or 4-7 Carolina within the realm of possibility. But the Rams' only win was against the 2-9 Lions. All but one of their remaining games are against sub-.500 opponents, but I can't see them beating any of them, even the 4-7 Bears. But we'll see, I guess.