CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The offensive line was terrible, the defensive line was terrible, and Johnny Manziel was mediocre enough to keep the Browns from losing their eighth straight.
After a jubilant overtime victory against the Cardinals last week, the 49ers looked like they had expected a week off for defying the odds against a strong Cardinals team.
"I think we all took a step backward today. We played poorly," coach Jim Tomsula said.
Blaine Gabbert was sacked not one, not two, not three, but nine times. In his previous four starts, he had only been sacked eight times. On a few occasions, Gabbert found enough time to complete a pass and move the ball, but each first down seemed to be followed by another sack.
Isaiah Crowell had a field day against a 'Niners defense that looked the worst it had since the pre-Harbaugh era. 140 yards with two touchdowns was his stat line. It was the first 100 yard game of his career. All together, the Browns rushed for 230 yards.
"They were able to do whatever they wanted to do on us today," defensive end Ahmad Brooks said.
The lone bright spot for the defense was an interception by Jaquiski Tartt, who took advantage of an immature decision making by the young Manziel. Scrambling to his left, Manziel chucked the ball across his body and across the field.
But even when Tartt set the 49ers up in Cleveland territory after a 25-yard return following his interception, the offense crumpled. Gabbert was sacked once again, and his fumble on the play was luckily recovered by Joe Staley. The situation was made worse for an already shaky O-line with Daniel Kilgore checking in and out at center, when Alex Boone was sidelined with an injury minutes into the second half.
“You can’t take anybody lightly,” left tackle Joe Staley said. “We’re not in the position right now to take anybody lightly. We got to take it one week at a time and not give a crap about records or anything, because we’re not a position where we’ve done anything. We got to play our (butts) off every single week, and we didn’t do that.”
The only time the offense was able to get anything going was on their last drive, when the Browns defense almost seemed to be taking pity on them. Gabbert finished it off with a touchdown pass to Jerome Simpson, resulting in a less outrageous scoreline of 24-10.
"They still can fight and they still should at least be competitive," CSN Bay Area analyst and former 49ers RB Ricky Watters said. "There's no reason for them to come out and play like they did today against a team like the Cleveland Browns."
The 49ers drop to 4-9 with the loss, while the Browns improve to 3-10. According to 49ers insider Matt Maiocco, this is the type of defeat that should make the 49ers rethink their coaching staff. Next week the 49ers face the 10-3 Bengals, who will be looking to bounce back after a tough defeat to the Steelers. However, they will have to do so without starter Andy Dalton, who fractured his right thumb in the game.
Hopefully, it is not as Anquan Boldin put it, another "piss-poor effort".
