CLEVELAND – Scribbles in my notebook after the Browns lost, 32-28, to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium:

1. There are a lot of things for Browns fans to second-guess about this game. One of the most annoying parts of the game happened with two minutes left in the half. The Browns had the ball on the Seattle 12-yard-line, first down. They had three timeouts remaining. Lots of options, especially if you want to run the ball. They had a 20-12 lead.

2. The Browns ran it on first down: Nick Chubb for 2 yards. On the next play, Baker Mayfield tried to throw a pass in a tight spot to Jarvis Landry in the end zone. It was intercepted.

3. Why not run the ball again, especially since Chubb has been far more effective scoring in the red zone than Mayfield throwing it this year? Coach Freddie Kitchens said: "I thought about scoring, using my three timeouts to get the ball back and score again. That was the mindset I was in.”

4. It was the wrong mindset. After Chubb was stopped on the first run, there was 1:36 left... or 96 seconds. The idea should be to score a TD, or at least kick a field goal. Keep the ball for the rest of the half, put up more points. Thinking the Browns could score... then kick off... stop Seattle... and then score again... dream on!

5. The fact is, Mayfield isn’t the same QB in the red zone (inside the opponent’s 20-yard line) as a year ago. Mayfield is 9-for-30 (30 percent) passing in the red zone with three touchdowns and three interceptions. Those interceptions lead the NFL.

6. A year ago, Mayfield completed 65 percent of his red-zone passes, 20 TDs compared to zero interceptions. Be it the play calling or his decline in performance, Mayfield is no longer a major threat in the red zone.

7. Mayfield has been effective before in the red zone. The talent is there to do it again. But until his performance improves on that end of the field, the Browns will continue to be frustrating to watch.

8. In part of my column from the game, I agreed with Mayfield who said: “I’ll probably get fined for this, but they (the officials) were pretty bad.” Actually, they were AWFUL. I won’t be fined. They are not the main reason the Browns lost. But the NFL should not only be embarrassed by all the flags and strange calls, but be willing to do something to improve the officiating.

9. Back to my main point -- struggles in the red zone. Mayfield also said: “If we don’t hurt ourselves, this team can go where it wants to go... if we eliminate that we can be a great football team.”

10. Penalties are happening all over the field. It’s not just Mayfield and the offense. But the Browns have an elite running back in Chubb. They have big-time receivers in Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham. They have a QB who knew how to lead his team into the end zone a year ago. But this season, Mayfield has five TD passes compared to 11 interceptions.

11. This from ESPN stats and information: “Baker Mayfield’s 11 interceptions through 6 games are the most by a Browns QB through 6 games since Paul McDonald had 12 back in 1984.”

12. The 11 interceptions are bad, but if Mayfield had thrown a dozen TD passes in the same span, it would be easier to accept. That’s my biggest concern. He can’t get his team into the end zone.

13. I wonder if Mayfield is hurting more physically than he admits. His hip obviously was bothering him in the second half. He left the field briefly to be examined in the locker room, but he didn’t miss any snaps. In San Francisco, he left the game limping. I saw it because I was walking down the hallway behind him following the 31-3 loss last Monday night.

14. You could hear the frustration in the voice of Kitchens when he said this: "I have to call better plays. But it is execution and turning the ball over. We had four turnovers. We had 400 yards of offense (actually 406 yards) and had 28 points with four turnovers.”

15. His point is the Browns could have scored far more than 28 points without those turnovers. My point is, why all the turnovers? Why all the trouble in the red zone? A year ago, they ranked No. 6 in scoring TDs in the red zone. They went into Sunday ranked No. 20.

16. The Browns are 2-4 and they deserve that record. Two of their losses were by 30 and 28 points. The others were reasonably close -- 20-13 to the Los Angeles Rams, and 32-28 to Seattle. But the Browns didn’t out-play those teams, they just played them reasonably close.

17. While Kitchens talked about his team’s 400-some yards of offense, Seattle piled up 454 yards on offense. Russell Wilson has become such an elite QB, there was a sense that he’d make sure his team scored enough to win. Whenever the Seahawks needed a big drive, he’d put one together.

18. This from Wilson about what he was thinking when his team was behind, 20-6, early in the game: “We’re made for this. We’re built for it. I think the biggest thing was just to stay the course and keep believing. Then something would happen, a long play or something.”

19. Wilson’s record as a starter is 80-37-1. This is his seventh season and he’s never had a losing record. Only once has his team missed the playoffs. When some experts were carried away comparing Mayfield to Wilson at the start of this year, they really needed to check the record first.

20. The 2-4 Browns now have to wait two weeks before they play again - at the New England Patriots on Oct. 27. Some changes, at least in terms players, could (and should) happen during the next two weeks. I would not be shocked if the front office at least made some minor deals.