GLENDALE, Arizona – I don’t want to hear any excuses for the Cleveland Browns 38-24 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.

“Frustrating,” said Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield.

He used that word more than once.

The Browns were favored to win this game. A victory would have made them 7-7 and kept hopes of a winning season and a flicker of playoff possibilities alive for another week.

Instead, they are 6-8.

No winning season. No playoffs.

Nothing but the drumbeat of despair for this team that entered the season with such great expectations.

The Browns have more talent than Arizona. They had far more reasons to play hard than the Cardinals, who were on a six-game losing streak.

Yet, the Browns turned in perhaps their worst performance of the season.

“Just because it (the roster) looks good on paper doesn’t mean it will just happen," Mayfield said.

The quarterback wore a wristband reading: “Humble Not Hype.”

It’s a good thought, but has seldom applied to this Browns team.

NOT PREPARED

The Browns missed star defensive end Myles Garrett (suspended) and starting defensive end Olivier Vernon (injured).

But the defense seemed utterly ill-prepared for Kliff Kingsbury’s quick-tempo Arizona Air Raid offense. Nothing Arizona did should have been a surprise. A former Texas Tech coach, Kingsbury was hired as coach to install this style in the Valley of the Sun.

They have been playing like this all season. Yet the Browns gave up 299 yards... in the first half. Arizona had scoring drives of 90, 87 and 66 yards.

For the game, Arizona not only scored a season-high 38 points, but piled up 445 total yards.

Arizona ran for 226 yards.

Come on... giving up 226 yards on the ground?

I asked Browns coach Freddie Kitchens about his team perhaps not being in position or being confused by Arizona’s offense. He would not admit to that.

He did agree with me about missed tackles.

“When you are giving up 8 yards a play, there has to be some missed tackles,” he said.

Kitchens also said he and the coaches needed to do a better job preparing the team in general for games like this.

No one will debate that point.

Too often, the Browns looked unsure of what they wanted to do.

Coaches won’t agree to that, but it looked that way.

SOMETHING IS WRONG

I don’t feel like talking Xs and Os.

There is something very wrong with this team, something deeper than strategy.

Coming into the game, Arizona had lost six in a row. The Cardinals were 3-9-1 overall and were 1-5 on their home field.

That’s the team who embarrassed the Browns.

I’m tired of the Browns being out-coached and out-hustled.

I’m sick of them losing to first-year QBs, be it Brandon Allen in Denver, Delvin “Duck” Hodges in Pittsburgh or now Kyler Murray in Arizona.

But it’s more than that.

There is something lacking in terms of character and concentration.

Not with every player.

Nick Chubb is giving younger Browns fans glimpses of what it was like to watch Jim Brown in the 1950s and 1960s.

Chubb rushed for 127 yards. He was brilliant as always.

But the Browns remain a collection of individuals unable to come together when facing adversity on the field.

WHOSE FAULT IS IT?

Some of this must be blamed on Kitchens, who continues to look the part of the overwhelmed rookie coach on days like this.

Some of it is due to Mayfield, who failed to make the big throws when it meant the most.

Some of it certainly belongs to defensive coordinator Steve Wilks who seemed clueless dealing with the spread offense.

Some of it is the fault of the front office, which brought in talented players who don’t seem able to come together for a common purpose. Too many big egos? That question must be honestly answered by those who pick the players.

There will continue to be speculation on the future of Kitchens. I see no reason to dwell on a question that won’t be dealt with until the end of the season.

There will be more gnashing of teeth about Odell Beckham Jr. and his role on the team. That seems to never end.

There will be players who are unhappy, and fans who feel let down by this 6-8 Browns team that entered the year with such high expectations.