Cleveland Browns: Grades from shameful loss in Buffalo

Secondary: F

Usually when an opposing team runs the ball 40 times, the secondary isn’t in on just about every tackle. But for the consistently unconventional Browns, they feel that incorporating their pass defenders in on every running play is a necessity.

Ed Reynolds played an excellent game, recording eight tackles. But with the exception of the second-year player nobody has heard of, Cleveland’s secondary performed disastrously.

Missed tackles and blown coverages plagued this undersized unit. On the touchdown catch made by Charles Clay, three defenders were covering him. Yet somehow, none were in the same zip code of the tight end. The same was true on Buffalo’s 3rd-and-22 conversion to Marquise Goodwin. The defenders had every inch of the field covered, except for a 10-yard radius around the intended receiver.

A lot of this is due to the disaster known as the zone defense. Intended to protect the reputations of players, this is making it hard to point out one specific player who is at fault. Unfortunately, it only makes everyone at fault.

Other contributing tacklers included Jamar Taylor with four, and Tracy Howard with two. Joe Haden also earned his $838,000 this week by making one tackle. Maybe Sunday wasn’t a lost cause after all.