Jets, Browns veer down vastly different paths with Rex Ryan, Rob Chudzinski

As the Jets doused their beloved coach with Gatorade following a win that spoiled a division rival's playoff hopes, a very different scene was going down for the Cleveland Browns.

Head Coach Rob Chudzinski and his team walked off the field for the final time in 2013, allowing their division foe to breathe playoff life for a few hours more.

Jets Owner Woody Johnson made the announcement minutes after his team finished their season at 8-8 with a win in Miami: Rex Ryan would be returning as Jets head coach in 2014.

Cleveland's "process" didn't go down quite so smoothly.

After a day's worth of rumors surrounding "bad vibes" and "turmoil," NFL reporters tweeted texts from players deriding the organization and/or Chudzinski and foretelling his demise.

Before he left Berea, the Browns made it official and fired Chudzinski after just one season on the job.

Chudzinski held the title of Browns head coach for just 352 days.

What was a dream come true on Jan. 11 turned into a nightmare by Dec. 30.

A somewhat promising start spiraled downward with the team losing its last seven games.

The Browns released a statement Sunday night that included the line: "We have high standards, and there's an urgency for success."

Go back to Chudzinski's introductory news conference on that early January 2013 day and you'll get a much different tone.

"Joe [Banner] and I have both come from organizations where there has been little change in terms of leadership. This organization has had a lot of change in terms of leadership. We wanted to spend a little bit more time," Owner Jimmy Haslam said of the interview process, which ended with Chudzinski getting hired.

One season at the helm, a second major leadership change already awaiting on the horizon.

But what Haslam and company expected to get from Chudzinski they obviously did not get.

"Everywhere Rob has been, the quarterback has gotten dramatically better," Haslam said of Chudzinski.

That certainly did not happen in Cleveland in 2013.  Then again, Chudzinski also went through three quarterbacks, the one who appeared the most successful (albeit in a small sample size) lost to a season-ending injury.

For the Jets, Ryan came into the season with a huge target on his back. Before it even began, he was maligned when Mark Sanchez, who may have been his starting quarterback, was injured while playing during the second half of a preseason game against the Giants.

Some called for his head right at that moment. I was skeptical of Ryan's decision-making at the time.

However, Ryan's fate, and the Jets' approach on this season's final Sunday could not have been a more stark contrast from the Browns.

While Ryan has been a pariah to some for his blusterous attitude, he earned what seemed to be universal support from his players and won eight games with a team critics predicted would win three or four.

Ryan certainly presented fodder for firing: his six seasons have been a rollercoaster ride, the GM who he began with was axed and a new regime can often spell doom for an incumbent head coach.

But instead, of cutting the cord on Ryan, the Jets took the path of patience and continuity.

"We're confident that, with the leadership of General Manager John Idzik, working closely with Rex, we will enter 2014 with great opportunities to improve. We have the resources in place to continue to build our team, including more draft picks and roster flexibility than in previous years. In short, we're on the right path. We are going to continue to move forward together, always looking to be better and stronger, building on our successes and learning from our failures," Woody Johnson wrote in a letter to season ticket holders.

The Browns also have plenty of draft picks but Chudzinski won't get another chance to learn from the failures of his first season as an NFL head coach.

Ryan will be the guy the Jets entrust with leading them forward, despite his inability to get the Jets over .500 in each of the last three seasons.

Is there a black-and-white, right-or-wrong answer when it comes to which approach is best?

No -- NFL coaching decisions are far from an exact science.

Where Cleveland goes next with its new leader and New York its grizzled guy will decide how this day goes down in these franchises' histories, whether the path proves prosperous or plighted with pitfalls.

Browns' Joe Haden pours heart out after loss to Jaguars

When the game’s on the line, Jaguars wide receiver Cecil Shorts wants the ball.

The hometown kid got it and scored the game-winning touchdown in the final minute Sunday to propel the Jaguars to a 32-28 victory over the Browns.

Shorts beat Browns cornerback Joe Haden, who poured his heart out after the game.

Tears welled up in Haden’s eyes as he delivered an impassioned, sometimes expletive-laden, message to media members at his locker. To get the full impact, you need to read it straight through, in its entirety:

“We f***in’ can’t stand losing. It hurts. To go out there, put my f***in’ heart out there every time, every time. And we end up coming up short. It was my fault right there on the touchdown. He ran a good route, good play, good offense, you know what I’m sayin’? Don’t take nothing from our D. We’re out there every time grinding, fighting, and this s*** hurts, every time we start losing. You know what I’m sayin’? We’re tired of it. And there’s nothing we can say. You’re gonna come with the same questions every week and I’m gonna give you the same answers -- ‘We gonna get better next week. We gonna get better next week.’ Until we do it, then there’s nothing else to talk about -- straight up. Good? Alright.” 

On the other end of the spectrum, down the field-level cavern of FirstEnergy Stadium was an ecstatic Cecil Shorts, the third-year wide receiver who attended Collinwood High on Cleveland’s east side then Mount Union, smiling at the podium in the visitors’ media room.

Shorts explained the 20-yard touchdown, one where he faked a slant then did a side step out, expecting Haden to jump the route, which was just what happened.

“Anytime we’re in two-by-two in our previous games, we ran a lot of slants, a lot of unders, lot of in-cutting routes,” Shorts said. “So, we expected him to jump it and he jumped the mess out of that.”

Henne put it right on Shorts who held onto the ball for dear life as he got his two feet down in the west end zone. Shorts had been hindered by drops in other moments of the game but didn’t let it get to him.

“Chad Henne came to me like ‘Hey, I’m coming back to you. You’re a playmaker and I’m coming back to you,’” Shorts said. “Ace Sanders, Mike Brown, Will Blackmon, Marcedes Lewis, a bunch of the guys came up to me like, ‘We’re coming back to you, don’t worry. Don’t worry about it, just keep fighting.”

To Haden’s dismay, Shorts got his chance to shine on the 3rd and 9 with 40 seconds left in the game. Down three and in field goal range, Jacksonville didn’t play it safe and instead, offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch took the shot at the win.

“Coach Jedd made a hell of a call. I’m happy he called that play. It was for me. He gave me the opportunity to make a play,” Shorts said.

Haden was fooled.

“They were setting it up for the whole game. It was a really, really good route,” he said.

Two weeks removed from what may have been his best game as a pro in Cincinnati, where he shut down Bengals’ receiver AJ Green and notched his first career interception returned for a touchdown, Haden has had struggles.

He allowed Steelers’ receiver Antonio Brown to put up 92 yards and a touchdown in the back-breaking week 12 divisional loss. He held Shorts in check most of the day but it is the one decisive play that will be remembered. That scrutiny goes along with being a top cornerback, which Haden knows.

He made note of that when he spoke after the loss to the Steelers a week ago.

“I’m playing against the best receiver on the other team every single week. Things are going to happen. As a corner, I know it’s not always gonna go my way,” Haden said.

A week later, the frustration boiled over but Haden's teammates remain behind him.

“That’s like my brother. For him to be down on himself after he played a game like he did and what he meant for this defense, it’s kind of a terrible feeling,” free safety Tashaun Gipson said. “I know that he would make that play 10 times out of 10 if it happened again.”

 Captain and defensive leader linebacker D’Qwell Jackson said he walked past and overheard the emotions in Haden’s tone. While Haden took the blame himself, Jackson refused to put it on him.

“That’s on the entire defense. That’s not on one man,” Jackson said about the winning score. “It would be a crime to put it on one man.”

Up 28-25 after Josh Gordon’s 95-yard touchdown scamper, the Browns defense succumbed to a Jaguars offense they held in check throughout the second half.

"We should have stopped that drive. It didn’t start with Joe at all," strong safety TJ Ward said. "Joe didn’t give up that drive. We did as a defense entirely."

The Jaguars drove it 75 yards down the field on nine plays in 3:15, Shorts’ touchdown grab the decisive blow.

Haden’s nightmare with the game at stake was Shorts’ ecstasy.

“I can’t really put it in words. It’s a dream come true -- for that play to happen in this game in that situation in the hometown,”