Cleveland Browns studs and duds Week 8: Jarvis Landry had day to forget vs. Pittsburgh

Cleveland Browns Stud: Myles Garrett

Defensive end Myles Garrett showed up both off and on the field on Sunday. Prior to the game, Garrett won the day on social media with his Grim Reaper Halloween costume, including a cape of all the quarterbacks he’s “killed,” or sacked, on it.

On the field, Garrett put a fright into the Steelers offensive line all game, getting constant pressure on quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and giving anyone who was assigned to block him a total work-out. While Garrett only finished the day with one sack, he did have two quarterback hits, and several other pressures on the day that kept the Steelers quarterback uncomfortable.

There’s really no underselling what Garrett brings to this Cleveland Browns defensive unit, as each and every game he finds a way to make his presence felt. Even if he doesn’t bring the quarterback down on the day, his fingerprints are still all over the game. Without him on the field, there’s no telling if the game against the Steelers looks uglier than what it did.

Cleveland Browns Dud: Fourth-down inefficiency

The Cleveland Browns went 0-for-2 on fourth down conversions on Sunday. The first was a fourth-and-short situation that should have likely been converted. The second came late in the fourth quarter on a must-get situation, which saw Landry drop the would-be first down.

The lack of conversions on fourth down attempts continues to be an issue for the Browns, as they now fall to 7-for-18 on the year in that situation. That puts them at 39% on the season in converting them, placing them well towards the bottom of the league in that category.

More often than not, Stefanski is in the right mindset when he goes for it. When the analytics say it’s more probable than not that it will be converted, you have to trust those numbers. It’s up to the players to execute the play calls, and to this point, that has not happened.

If you expect Stefanski to stop going for it when the numbers say to, you’re going to be really disappointed to see how the rest of the season goes in these situations. While the Browns have struggled to convert in these situations so far, he trusts his players and what the analytics tell him. You can’t tell a numbers guy to stop being a numbers guy.

The team just needs to execute better, and sadly for them on Sunday, they could not.