Cleveland Browns Week 8: Studs and duds

The Cleveland Browns fell to 2-5-1 with a 33-18 loss in Week 8 to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Here we assign our weekly studs and duds for their game.

It seemed like just about everything that could go wrong for the Cleveland Browns in Week 8 did. They were trying to bounce back from a close loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and get back into the AFC North race. Their opponent on the day was the Pittsburgh Steelers — a team the Browns had unfinished business against.

In Week 1, the Browns were out to prove their offseason of hype was more than just a fun story. They were featured heavily in the draft thanks to owning the No. 1 and No. 4 picks in Round 1 and the first and third picks in Round 2. On top of that, they had made some big splashes like trading for wide receiver Jarvis Landry from the Miami Dolphins.

Then, they were on the HBO series ‘Hard Knocks‘ which gave us all an inside look at them. Week 1 then came and they quickly fell behind 21-7 to the Steelers. Cleveland didn’t give up and fought back, only to see the game end in a tie.

Here in Week 8, they wanted to atone for that ugly third column on their record. They sought to show they were a better team and they came out swinging. The Browns dominated the first half as they moved down the field with ease on their first drive. They later put points on the board after a turnover and started the second quarter in range to score once again.

After all that, they had just a 6-0 lead thanks to settling for three field goal tries. The Steelers put a 43-yard touchdown on the board after a missed kick from Cleveland and that was all she wrote. From then on, they were playing from behind and before long they were walking off the field with a 33-18 loss.

Here we will look back at the game and pick our weekly studs and duds.