Should Fans Want the Cleveland Browns to Lose?

The Cleveland Browns have given fans plenty of reasons to ignore Monday’s game involving the Browns and the Baltimore Ravens.

The Browns are 2-8 and going nowhere before the end of the 2015 National Football League regular season. Head coach Mike Pettine has grounded second-year quarterback Johnny Manziel because Manziel had a bit too much fun during the bye week and then lied to coaches about his off-field activities. Cleveland is no closer to being a legitimate Super Bowl contender than the club was at the conclusion of the 2013 campaign.

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With there being just about nothing interesting to talk about regarding the Browns at this point, the debate has been launched on local sports talk radio and among fans posting on websites such as Twitter: Should fans root for the Browns to lose each of the final six games on the team’s schedule?

The hope among those wishing for the Browns to finish 2-14 is that having such a horrendous record will earn the club the first overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. That pick will (hopefully) allow the Browns to land a franchise quarterback, a play-maker for an offense that is lacking firepower or a menacing defensive player who will become a mainstay on the roster.

Such thinking would be logical if we were talking about a competent NFL franchise. We are, however, discussing the Browns, a team currently run by a regime that swung and missed in back-to-back draft classes. Here’s a friendly reminder of the first-round picks that have been made since Pettine and general manager Ray Farmer have been in their current gigs:

Justin Gilbert: Can’t get on the field minus some special teams duties because he is such a disaster.

Johnny Manziel: Remember the episode of Friday Night Lights when J.D. McCoy’s dad learned that his son dared to drink alcohol at a party? That is essentially what Manziel is to the Browns these days.

Danny Shelton: People with too much time on their hands and who watch way too much All-22 film will try to convince you that Shelton has done some things during games. Big whoop.

Cameron Erving: Welp.

It has not mattered which side of the ball the individuals selected in drafts play on. Farmer has failed to land hits in draft classes. Pettine and other members of his staff have failed to help rookies develop into contributors and professionals on and off of the field. There is no reason other than blind hope to think that those currently in charge of the Browns will not just screw up another draft.

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We have yet to see any proof that they wouldn’t turn Peyton Manning in his prime into Matt Schaub.

There is another thing that those hoping that the Browns go 0-6 between now and the first Sunday in January need to consider. Ending the season at 2-14 would mean that the Browns will have lost 17 of 19 contests with Pettine serving as head coach. NFL coaches have, in the past, been fired for far less than that.

Team owner Jimmy Haslam promised before the start of the season, per ESPN, that he would stay the course regardless of what occurred in 2015:

"“We’re not going to blow things up, OK?” Haslam said Saturday after the Browns’ third practice of training camp. “I think we’re on the right track, so we’re not going to blow things up.“[I] Understand why people might ask that after a couple bumps in the road the first couple years. I think we’re putting in place a good foundation.”"

Mr. Haslam has not been rewarded for his faith in Pettine and Farmer. The owner and successful businessman will now be able to do nothing but watch as the Browns play a Monday Night Football contest in a stadium that probably will not be packed to capacity. Haslam will understandably not be pleased when ESPN focuses portions of the broadcast to everything bad that is currently hovering over the Browns.

The only real argument one could use to explain why Farmer should keep his job for at least 2016 is that the GM has never hired a coaching staff. Pettine and Farmer were put together by an arranged marriage, one that has been about as successful as the coupling of Britney Spears and that random guy she married years ago seemingly just for fun.

Pettine, meanwhile, has become the subject of a #HighSchoolMike Twitter hashtag.

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Fans who have given up on Pettine and Farmer may want the Browns to lose every game so that the duo is fired by Haslam in January. That’s reasonable. Pettine and Farmer being shown the door leads to different questions: Who comes in the save the day? What executive actually worthy of holding the job would want to become general manager of the dumpster fire that has been the Browns? We live in a world where coaches would rather be coordinators for teams such as the New York Giants than a head coach for the Browns.

The harsh reality of the situation is that this may be the worst that the Browns have been since the team returned to the NFL in 1999. Fans of the Browns had at least some hope for the future back in ’99. One would have to look through a telescope to locate the flickering light that represents a reason to believe that the Browns are close to turning things around.

What would be best for the Browns is a scenario that involves young players such as Manziel and Gilbert shining during the final six games and the roster learning how to consistently win games. More realistic, though, is that the Browns will notch a couple of insignificant victories before Haslam presses the figurative “reset” button. It’s yet another year of wash, rinse and repeat for the Browns.

Who else is hyped for Monday night?