The Sports Xchange

BEREA, Ohio – The Cleveland Browns’ last-ranked rush defense had another bad day in the 24-6 loss to the St. Louis Rams Sunday.

Rookie running back Todd Gurley carried 19 times for 128 rushing yards as the Browns gave up 158 rushing yards on 26 carries – a 6.1 average. They went into the game allowing five yards a carry and six rushing touchdowns. Gurley added two more touchdowns on the ground.

Gurley broke away on a 48-yard run and wide receiver Tavon Austin ran 21 yards on an end-around. The Browns have given up runs of 20 or more yards 10 times this season.

–Nobody needs to remind the Browns how important the turnover battle is. They are a dismal 2-5, but two of their losses were on last-play field goals.

They turned the ball over five times in a 31-10 loss to the Jets in the opener. Josh McCown threw an interception with 32 seconds left in a 27-10 loss to the Raiders and they lost four fumbles in the 24-6 loss to the Rams on Sunday. The Rams converted three of the takeaways into 17 points.

“It’s a pretty simple formula to lose a football game,” Coach Mike Pettine said. “Three turnovers lead directly to 17 points. You commit 11 penalties and a lot of them were self-inflicted. There’s not much to say.”

Notes: QB Josh McCown left with a shoulder injury in the fourth quarter and did not return. Johnny Manziel is expected to start this week against Arizona. … TE Gary Barnidge (lip) required stitches and lost a tooth but returned to the game. … SS Donte Whitner stripped the ball from Rams TE Jared Cook. It was the 10th forced fumble of his career. … CB Joe Haden (concussion) missed his second straight game with the injury. He missed one earlier in the season with a finger injury. The Browns lost all three games. … LB Craig Robertson (ankle) missed his fourth straight game with the injury. … FS Jordan Poyer (shoulder) was injured playing against the Rams and is out indefinitely.