PITTSBURGH — Unless Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam will be satisfied finishing 2-13-1, coach Hue Jackson must go. Now.

Don’t wait for Nov. 11, the Sunday preceding the bye week. Baker Mayfield could be injured or mentally scarred by then.

Don’t wait for the end of the season, when the new players — who comprised 60 percent of the opening day roster — will have become enveloped by the hopelessness their returning teammates were starting to feel Sunday at Heinz Field.

Arguably, the entire coaching staff should be banished, but half the season remains for the 2-5-1 Browns following a 33-18 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Much can be salvaged if the Browns don’t stand pat and let the losses mount.

General Manager John Dorsey is also at fault for not finding an adequate replacement after the March 14 retirement of left tackle Joe Thomas, for signing underwhelming free agent right tackle Chris Hubbard, for the continued failures of what ex-coach Butch Davis would have called “the kicker du jour of the week.” The offensive line woes are especially egregious since the Browns spent the first overall pick on Oklahoma quarterback Mayfield.

With the rookie showing enough promise to lend credence to the belief he is the long-sought franchise quarterback, the Browns must put Mayfield’s development at the forefront. That means ending the dysfunction and finding a way to fix the untenable relationship between Jackson and offensive coordinator Todd Haley.

Reports before Sunday’s game said either Jackson or Haley could be on the way out. That leaves the Browns with the kind of decision that has proved vexing to the Haslams, whose questionable hirings and firings seemingly have no end. To this point, they have made the choices that continue or compound the Browns’ problems, not alleviate them.

But to stop this season’s downward spiral, now at three consecutive losses, the Haslams must do something. The choice between Haley and Jackson may be the lesser of two evils, but firing Jackson would be better for Mayfield and the rest of the Browns.

Jackson’s resume in Cleveland is littered with quarterbacks who did not grow on his watch. Robert Griffin III, a cheap gamble, Cody Kessler, a backup at best, DeShone Kizer, the turnover machine. Jackson has gotten away with blaming his GMs long enough.

Haley’s play-calling may continue to baffle — running back Duke Johnson had only four touches Sunday, three on a 66-yard opening field goal drive. But Haley spent six years in Pittsburgh with future Hall of Famer Ben Roethlisberger, even if their relationship did unravel. Haley went to the 2010 playoffs as Kansas City Chiefs coach with quarterback Matt Cassel, to the 2008 Super Bowl as Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator with Hall of Famer Kurt Warner.

As an assistant, he also reached the postseason with the Dallas Cowboys (2006, Tony Romo), the Chicago Bears (Jim Miller, 2001) and the New York Jets (Vinny Testaverde, 1998, 2001).

Haley has more of a track record with quarterbacks than Jackson, whose best days came in Cincinnati with Andy Dalton and in Baltimore with Joe Flacco.

Firing Haley would be less disruptive than letting Jackson go. It would also fit the philosophy shown when Dorsey traded running back Carlos Hyde to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Oct. 20. If Jackson couldn’t convince Haley to play rookie Nick Chubb over Hyde, get rid of Hyde to eliminate that option.

But Jackson’s tentacles are more far-reaching and invasive. His lack of discipline, cited by a Sunday report from Jason La Canfora of CBS, includes allowing players to arrive late or bend the team’s rules for travel dress code. Such laxities bleed onto the field in the form of penalties (65 for 511 yards, averages of 8.1 and 63.9 yards per game), missed assignments and poorly run routes.

The special teams are still drawing flags even after Jackson stepped in to help. Browns end Myles Garrett criticized the defensive game plan Sunday; although run by coordinator Gregg Williams, that is another area Jackson should oversee.

The Haslams should not take the easy way out. It is time to make the move that will have the most impact on Mayfield and the rest of the Browns, the one that will banish the black cloud, give them a fresh start and inspire professionalism. It is time to make Jackson accountable for everything, including 3-36-1.

Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Browns blog at www.ohio.com/browns. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.