Grades from the 31-17 loss to the Bengals

Defensive Line: F

Partially to blame for the 559-yard outburst from Cincinnati’s offense was the miserable play of Cleveland’s defensive line. Danny Shelton and Jamie Meder especially had rough games, failing to get off of their blocks to pursue running backs or the quarterback.

A very telling stat was the fact that the defensive lineman with the most tackles on the afternoon for the Browns was just the fifth-leading tackler for the entire team. This means that most of the tackles were made far from the line of scrimmage, further proving the fact that the Bengals’ 559 yards of offense were no accident.

With just over five minutes remaining, when the Bengals were running the same play every play, head coach Hue Jackson called a timeout and called the defense over to the sideline. Standing in the middle of them, he presumably informed the defense of what he felt about the effort. It obviously wasn’t a real analytical football talk, but a disgusted coach releasing some steam.

This moment gets to the root of the problem. As good as the Browns’ run defense had been most of the year, their Week 7 performance is the result of a clear lack of effort. This, of course, isn’t acceptable. It is also an automatic fail.