Cleveland Browns Week 9 grades: With Odell Beckham gone, unified team gets an A
By John Suchan
The Cleveland Browns, now in the post-Odell Beckham days, enjoyed a great team effort that scored big in their much-needed victory on Sunday
One might hear stories in the school teaching world of that one kid in the class that would cause all types of issues and heartache for the other kids in the classroom. Since we’re dishing out grades to the Cleveland Browns this week, I thought it fitting that we remind ourselves of that common problem in the classroom because Odell Beckham Jr. reminds me of that kid.
With the troubled kid out of the picture now for Cleveland, things seem to have been fixed quickly with the snap of the teacher’s fingers. Or in this case the snap of general manager Andrew Berry and coach Kevin Stefanski’s fingers.
The Browns totally dominated the up-and-coming Cincinnati Bengals Sunday down along the Ohio River and gave Browns fans a reassuring feeling of hope that this season is far from over despite being 5-4 on the year.
In a game where there were several big moments for the good guys in white and orange, the team focused on a collective effort and got an important victory. With that, let’s take a look at each part of the team and their final grade.
Cleveland Browns Special Teams Grade: B
This wasn’t the best game for the special teams unit but it was good enough to help at key times of the game. Because the other parts of the team played so well, the special teams got that extra time in this game to not feel the pressure of the moment.
We’ll start with Browns placekicker Chase McLaughlin who went two for three on field goals and a perfect five for five on extra points. It was only the second time this season that McLaughlin has missed a kick. He’s 13 for 15 on the year. He’s also a perfect 23 for 23 on the extra points which aren’t simple chip shots any longer.
Browns all-purpose player Demetric Felton took back a couple of punts and one kick return. There was nothing special about these moments. I still think Felton will break one for six points before the season is over.
Cleveland punter Jamie Gillan had a decent game but nothing to write home about. He kicked three punts for only a 39-yard average. He better be practicing this week.