Cleveland Browns: Grades from shameful loss in Buffalo

Special Teams: F

The MVP as far as special teams was concerned on Sunday is whoever provided those orange jackets for all of the players. Standing on the sidelines, this group was able to brave the frigid Buffalo temperatures with remarkable success.

On the field, it was an entirely different story. The Browns averaged just 17.4 yards per kick return, far from the 25 that they could by simply kneeling in the end zone. They also surrendered 46 yards of punt return yardage, enough to set the Bills up in perfect field position on multiple occasions.

Mario Alford was the one somewhat bright spot. Just signed this week, the 24-year-old took some risks and made some plays. Unfortunately, beyond what he could do himself, there was nothing more.

On the first punt of the game, Briean Boddy-Calhoun hit Buffalo returner Brandon Tate prematurely, drawing a personal foul flag. This put the Bills inside Browns’ territory to begin their first drive, already handicapping an incompetent defense.

All afternoon, these sorts of struggles persisted. Little field position went the Browns’ way due to a special teams unit that simply can not create any room to set up punt and kick returns. And on punt and kick coverage, they were unable to slow down Tate.

Of everything that went wrong for the Browns on Sunday, the special teams is not the most glaring. But when analyzed deeper, there is still a lot for this group to work on.