Cleveland Browns studs and duds from convincing Week 15 win vs. Giants

The Cleveland Browns knocked off the Giants and these players stood out

Week 15 gave us another Cleveland Browns prime time game and unlike their Monday Night Football showdown a week ago, they were able to get a huge win as they made it look easy against the New York Giants.

Cleveland won this game 20-6 as they were never really in danger. The offense controlled the clock and the defense, while it gave up yards, tightened up near the goal line and had a couple of key fourth-down stops.

The Browns are now 10-4 with two games to play and are in control of the No. 5 seed in the AFC as they look to end their 17-year playoff drought.

Here, we look back over their latest win with the Week 15 studs and duds — which has way more studs than duds this time.

Stud: Sheldon Richardson, Defensive Tackle

Sheldon Richardson had back-to-back stops late in the second quarter. He stopped Dion Lewis a yard short on third-and-six and then when Wayne Gallman went for it on fourth, he was there again to disrupt that play and end the Giants’ drive.

Richardson was unable to finish the game as he suffered a neck injury but he still made his impact in this game.

Dud: Penalties

The Cleveland Browns have had their share of penalties this season and while they played fairly clean in this one, they had some penalties that put them in several rough spots. One was the taunting call from Jarvis Landry that set up a 48-yard extra point following his touchdown. Cody Parkey missed the kick but it likely would have been good from 33 as it just did hit the upright.

There was also a block in the back called on Tavierre Thomas that backed Cleveland up to their own five-yard line. They did go 95-yards to score their third touchdown of the game, but that drive also had its share of penalties.

First was Jack Conklin being called for clipping, which negated a Nick Chubb touchdown run. Then, Jedrick Wills was hit with a false start that pushed them back five-yards after Baker Mayfield hit Rashard Higgins to move it to the eight.

Cleveland overcame these but against better teams than the Giants, each of these penalties could have been much more costly. Thankfully, it hasn’t been as big of an issue in 2020 as it has in the past, and hopefully, it can stay this way.