CLEVELAND, Ohio — The season is only five games old and the Cleveland Browns have lost games by 30 and 28 points.

Monday night, it was 31-3 on the road to San Francisco.

In the home opener, they were embarrassed 43-13 by Tennessee.

The home opener . . .

Monday night football . . .

Big games, important games . . .

These Browns have already lost two games by wider margins than ever happened in the 40 games coached by Hue Jackson.

Yikes!

Jackson’s teams never lost by more than 25 points (35-10 to Dallas in 2016).

This is not a defense of Jackson. But it is to underline this big point: SOMETHING IS REALLY WRONG HERE!

The Browns owning a 2-3 record at this point in the season isn’t a big surprise. Their schedule has been difficult. It remains that way with Seattle and New England as the next two opponents.

Some losses are to be expected. The Browns have only nine players left from when GM John Dorsey took over in December of 2017. They have a nearly all-new coaching staff.

The talent has been upgraded, but this is not fantasy football. It’s more than numbers on paper or a computer screen. This is men in flesh and blood engaging in a violent sport. Football requires coaches and players to work together. Too often this season, it seems the Browns have been clueless when it comes to continuity on the field from week to week.

HOW YOU LOSE MATTERS

I expected the early season losses to be something like their 20-13 defeat to the Rams. The Browns were driving at the end of the game, throwing passes in the end zone.

Coaches like to say the NFL is a “pass/fail” league. If you win, you pass. If you lose, you fail. But does matter how you play in your losses. Showing some grit and a lack of quit against the Rams had a role in their 40-25 victory in Baltimore the following week.

The Browns did a lot of things right against the Rams, especially on defense. That game also was the start of working Nick Chubb back into the heart of the offense.

The defense...the running back...the determination.

It set up the victory in Baltimore.

Then came San Francisco, where their heart and will were broken by the relentless 49ers in front of a national television audience.

IT’S ABOUT EFFORT & ATTENTION

“We don’t want to be an up-and-down, roller-coaster football team if we want to get to where we want to get to,” Coach Freddie Kitchens said in his Tuesday media conference call.

Rather than build on two good performances (Rams and Ravens) they reverted back to the opening game loss to Tennessee.

Baker Mayfield lost his poise under the defensive pressure. The defense continually was out of position on misdirection plays, or even old-fashioned, fullback-led power runs.

There was nothing tricky about what San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan did Monday night.

But Browns defensive coordinator Steve Wilks didn’t have his defense ready.

I’m sure coaches prepared the defense for the 49ers. But they ran over the Browns for 275 yards, even when the Browns often knew the run was coming.

No excuse for that.

ABOUT ANTONIO CALLAWAY

On offense, Kitchens brought Antonio Callaway back from his four-game suspension. He played at a receiver spot where the young man had only one week of practice.

Maybe some of the problems Callaway had lining up were far more due to the coaching staff. Callaway has played only 16 NFL games before Monday. Why throw so much new at him so quickly?

"We move our receivers around a good bit, " said Kitchens. "We felt he was probably ready to play so we played him.”

He wasn’t ready.

Callaway had a likely TD pass bounce off his hands and it became an interception for Mayfield.

“It was a big play in the game,” said Kitchens. “When you go on the road in an environment like that, you have to withstand their initial fury and emotion of being at home. We withstood that and we put ourselves in position to cut the lead to 14-10 before the half.”

Instead, the 49ers marched down the field and scored a TD.

That’s my point. Callaway blew the play.

Defense, go stop them. Keep the score 14-3 at the half instead of 21-3.

This team gets knocked down emotionally during games and hasn’t developed a personality to bounce back.

ABOUT ODELL BECKHAM Jr.

The issue of how to maximize the talent of Odell Bekcham Jr. hangs over the team. I’m not smart enough to know if the wide receiver can’t get open, or if it’s a coaching issue.

He’s caught only four passes in the last two games. Kitchens tried to have Beckham do a few other things. The Browns opened the game with a trick play, Beckham hitting buddy Jarvis Landry with a 20-yard pass.

The Browns also let Beckham run the ball twice, totaling 15 yards. All of that was a good idea.

But Kitchens made a ridiculous move letting Beckham return a punt for the first time this season. That was with 7:30 left in the game and the Browns losing, 28-3.

“He wanted to be out there fielding that punt because he thought he could do something and provide a spark,” Kitchens said.

Who cares if “he wanted to be out there"?

That’s like throwing a match off the Golden Gate Bridge hoping to light the bay on fire.

Beckham has an injury history, having missed 16-of-32 games in 2017-18. This season, he complained of hip and hamstring problems. Kitchens should be thankful Beckham didn’t pop a hamstring on his strange runback that led to a hard hit and a fumble.

Right now, the Browns are a mentally fragile team. That’s why both games turned into blowouts. The talent is there. The Baltimore game wasn’t a fluke. It was an example of what the Browns can become.

But they need to grow and toughen up as a team to get there.