Cleveland Browns: Grades from the bizarre defeat in Pittsburgh

Defensive Line: C

It is difficult to assess the performance of the defensive line, since dramatic momentum swings greatly altered circumstances and often made matters impossible.

Early on, the Browns were dominating up front, sacking Pittsburgh’s Landry Jones four times and holding them to negative yardage on their first two drives. The defensive line was right in the middle of everything, pressuring the quarterback and bottling up the running game.

Pitching a shutout late into the first half, everything changed after a momentum shifting fumbled snap. Instead of the Browns having the ball in Pittsburgh territory with an opportunity to go ahead by three scores, Pittsburgh gained position at the Cleveland 37-yard line and the Browns’ defense was thrust back into action.

After a Pittsburgh touchdown closed out the first half, the Browns were resilient and rebounded defensively. But after yet another turnover, the pressure disappeared and Pittsburgh ran the ball with ease.

Overall, it was a very inconsistent performance by the defensive line. But in the end, there was more good than bad. The young line just needs to handle pressure situations with more effectiveness and recover from momentum swings more quickly.