Cleveland Browns Week 1 grades: An early ‘A’ performance ended in failure late

Cleveland Browns Special Teams: Grade D

The special teams of the Browns weren’t really involved in the game much at all. They did a good job early of not allowing the Chiefs to gain any momentum. Cleveland wasn’t punting the ball at all because the Browns were scoring touchdowns all day.

So late in the game when Jamie Gillan was asked to punt the ball, the only job he has and the one that has to be precise and timely on, he simply choked, getting butter fingers and allowed the snap back to him to slip through his hands.

Instead of picking the ball up and trying to kick the ball, which he still had time to do, he decided to run the ball and ended in the turnover and giving the Chiefs the ball at the 15 yard line.

It was such an awful way to end a game that was really controlled by the Browns most of the way.

While no loss is easy to swallow, Cleveland fans shouldn’t be too discouraged. The Browns played well for 30 minutes then made one mistake after another after that. Even so, they were within striking distance of the AFC favorites, on the road. Things will improve.