Cleveland Browns: Grades from the disheartening loss to the Giants

Special Teams: F

It is easier to complement the Giants’ special teams play this week than to criticize Cleveland’s. Still, there is ample reason to do some of both.

Brad Wing, New York’s punter, may have been the MVP of the game. Keeping the Browns in field position jail all afternoon, the Giants eventually benefited greatly from this.

But as good as the Giants were on special teams, Cleveland was equally horrendous. Misplaying punts on three separate occasions, Duke Johnson cost the Browns chunks of yardage in the return game. Even without these blunders taken into account, Johnson returned three punts for a total of just five yards.

Kickoff returns didn’t serve the Browns any better, as neither attempt made by Ricardo Louis reached the 25-yard-line.

The Browns actually had the edge in time of possession, but not in field position. Their constant poor starting field position came back to haunt them in the end, as it eventually swayed New York’s direction. This stemmed from a non-existent punt return game.