I'd love to think . . . 

Here we are barely into week two of the 2020 National Football League regular season and already the critics -- yep, including yours truly -- are chirping about the Browns and it's not, uh, nice. So what else is new?

It has been this way since 1999 and it seems there is nothing that can be done about that. Two ownerships have failed in two decades to unlock the mystery of what it takes to win football games. And the beat goes on.

The part of me that helps remember all too well what this franchise meant to its fans and the world of professional football in its first 50 years is rapidly fading. Memories are nice, but extremely difficult to hold on to when balanced by absurdly bad football.

Even though I am a pessimist by nature, I still have a few positive genes remaining that stubbornly refuse to go away. They are frantically -- often hopelessly -- searching for positives among the tidal waves of negatives.

As we approach the Browns' Thursday night nationally-televised game against Cincinnati in the 2020 home opener, allow me to share several thoughts. They fall under the category of "I'd love to think."

I'd love to think Nick Chubb will get more than 13 carries against the Bengals. That's how many one of the NFL's elite runners had in the season opener. against Baltimore. Gotta change.

I'd love to think Baker Mayfield will magically connect often with Odell Beckham Jr. and make his prized wide receiver happy.

I'd love to think OBJ will be a Cleveland Brown all season.

I'd love to think Mayfield will ultimately return to the form of his rookie season (2018) when he set a league record for most touchdown passes by a first-year quarterback in just 14 games.

I'd love to think he will have a 2018 type bust-out game against the Bengals.

I'd love to think the Browns' offensive line will provide Mayfield with a clean pocket on every pass play.

I'd love to think Myles Garrett will get off the schneid and collect two sacks (can't get too greedy) and five hurries as he makes life miserable for Bengals rookie quarterback Joe Burrow.

I'd love to think fellow defensive end Olivier Vernon will finally stay healthy and show up between the lines the rest of the season.

I'd love to think the (correctly) much maligned secondary will not play against the Bengals as if they have no clue as to what they are doing back there.

I'd love to think Browns cornerback Denzel Ward will shut down A. J. Green, who usually torches the Browns.

Stay with me. There's more.

I'd love to think brain farts like fake punts have been placed so far back on the burner, they won't be used until 2022. If then,

I'd love to think the special teams will return to normal after imploding against the Ravens in the season-opening debacle.

I'd love to think the wide receivers corps has learned how to get open. Studying tapes of how the Ravens did it Sunday is a good start.

I'd love to think the three tight ends will become a major factor in the game plan unlike last Sunday when Beckham was targeted more than the entire tight end position.

I'd like to think head coach Kevin Stefanski will remember his offensive philosophy calls for running the football and throwing it to the tight ends, something he failed to do against the Ravens. Must be a Cleveland thing.

I'd love to think if the offense doesn't start producing to his satisfaction, Stefanski will hand over the play-calling duties to offensive coordinator AlexVan Pelt.

Hang on. Almost done.

I'd love to think the awful linebacking we saw in the Ravens loss was just an aberration and we will see a return to normal against the Bengals.

I'd love to think defensive coordinator Joe Woods will come up with a much better game plan -- hint, hint: blitz, then blitz some more -- against Burrow, still in the infant stages of his pro career.

I'd love to think picking the Browns over the Bengals by more than the six points they are favored is a wise move. Better yet, I'd love to think they will win regardless of the point spread.

I'd love to think all of the above. But I can't. I just can't.

Instead, I am going to keep picking the Browns to lose until I'm wrong. I won't love thinking and doing that at all.

In a battle of field goals, make it:

Bengals 19, Browns 16