Cardinals Remain Winless : Interconference: McMahon isn’t the answer on offense and defense continues to struggle in 32-0 loss to Cleveland.

CLEVELAND —  No way, the Arizona Cardinals had promised. No way would a team coached by defensive mastermind Buddy Ryan go 0-3.

The Cardinals were so sure of themselves, their boastful prediction made it into a Cleveland newspaper that was tacked on the Browns’ bulletin board all week. And the Browns clearly took offense.

“I think it’s an insult for somebody to say they’re going to come in here and do it in your stadium,” Brown Coach Bill Belichick said after his team pummeled the Cardinals, 32-0, Sunday on the strength of a 29-point second half that left Ryan groping for clues.

It was the first time in Ryan’s six years as a head coach--five of them in Philadelphia--that one of his teams was shut out. Perhaps equally disturbing was the way his fabled “46” defense failed to pressure Cleveland’s Vinny Testaverde into the kinds of mistakes he’d made the previous two weeks.

“I think our offense is fixable,” Ryan said. “It’s just a matter of people starting to pick up the blitz and taking a stand and playing tough.

“I don’t think anybody quit on me today. I pulled a couple of guys because they just didn’t have that look in their eye that I want to see. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s that deep look.”

But wholesale personnel changes won’t help, said Ryan, adding that he plans only a few subtle adjustments this week as the Cardinals wait out a bye. Arizona had been picked by many to be one of the most improved teams in the NFL this season and a playoff contender.

Arizona (0-3), uninspired by Ryan’s decision to start Jim McMahon at quarterback in place of Steve Beuerlein, was shut out for the first time since 1991. The Browns (2-1) got their first shutout at Cleveland Stadium since 1983 and their first on any field since 1991, stopping the Cardinals on the 2 with one second left.

Intercepted six times in the previous two games, Testaverde passed for 248 yards and two touchdowns, ran for another and was sacked just once. He threw one interception.

Testaverde connected with rookie Derrick Alexander on an 81-yard play that put Cleveland ahead, 25-0, midway through the fourth quarter.

Safety Eric Turner then added the exclamation point, a 93-yard interception return with two minutes left after Jay Schroeder had replaced McMahon.

“I was under a lot of pressure from last week’s performance (four interceptions in a loss to Pittsburgh), coming in against the No. 1 defense,” Testaverde said. “I was thinking about it all week.”

The Cardinals entered the game with the NFL’s lowest-ranked offense, and they looked it.

They had minus-one yard on offense in the first quarter, didn’t get a first down until 10 minutes remained in the second quarter, and got past midfield five times in the game.

“I don’t deserve to start after the way I played today,” McMahon said. “I don’t know what it is. I’m not blaming anybody else. I stunk it up.

“It’s gut-check time. We’re 0-3. We’re not out of it by any means. But if we don’t start winning ballgames. . . .”

The Browns started slowly on offense but got a lift late in the first quarter when rookie Antonio Langham intercepted McMahon’s pass to set them up at the Arizona 31. Seven plays later, Matt Stover kicked a 32-yard field goal for a 3-0 halftime lead.

Short punts led to the Browns’ two third-quarter touchdowns--Testaverde’s one-yard sneak and Tommy Vardell’s 16-yard reception.

The Browns added a two-point conversion after Vardell’s score, with holder Tom Tupa picking up the ball and running up the middle for an 18-0 lead.