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.
Cleveland Browns Defensive Grade: A
Let’s hear it for the boys! I mean the Browns defense.
After making all of Cleveland sweat at the start of the game because the Cincinnati Bengals had glided down the field without any turbulence, cornerback Denzel Ward came to the rescue, stole a pass intended for Ja’marr Chase, and rumbled 99 yards the other direction for a big score. It was the beginning of several impressive plays where the Cleveland defense turned the Bengals over.
The Browns have struggled in the takeaway battle on Sundays as of late. They had only recorded seven turnovers on the year and on Sunday, they got three. John Johnson III was a part of two of those as he scooped up a fumble and ran toward pay dirt. He also grabbed a third-quarter tipped ball and nearly scored on his run back of the interception.
Cleveland also turned Cincinnati over on downs early in the second quarter that resulted in a quick touchdown as a result. Quarterback Baker Mayfield found wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones streaking down the center of the field for a beautiful 60-yard touchdown as well.
The front four defensive linemen, like Myles Garrett and Malik McDowell, caused a lot of uneasiness for Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow. Garrett got to Burrow 1.5 times so that he now has a league-best 12 sacks on the year.
The Browns corners, like Ward, Greg Newsome II and Troy Hill all knocked away passes to the Cincinnati receivers. Hill even got into the sack game as he chased down a flustered Burrow twice. Not to be overlooked on the day, veteran linebacker Anthony Walker recorded a whopping 14 tackles on the day. A nice day’s work indeed.
In the end, the Browns gave up only two touchdowns on the day and the first one happened at the start of the contest. In the last three games, the defense has settled in on the season and has only given up 16, 15, and 14 points.
Cleveland Browns Offensive Grade: A
The Browns only ran 46 plays on offense but made sure to make the most of each snap. After the team grabbed the lead quickly with the 99-yard pick-six by Denzal Ward, the Browns finally got the ball with a little over four minutes in the first quarter.
They went right to work getting their stud running back in the mix early. On that initial drive, Nick Chubb ran for 34 yards and caught a bullet from Mayfield for 26 yards. He then finished the nine-play drive off with one yard, well-earned touchdown.
When Mayfield got the ball again after his defense teammates forced the Bengals over on downs he immediately went to play action and hit wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones on a 60-yard pass that was right on target for six points.
After the offense had their first series in the second half — that didn’t go far — they got the ball back on their second possession and benefited again from running back Chubb as he took a handoff from Mayfield and burst through the line on his way to a dazzling 70 yard run for the score.
The Browns may have only run 46 plays on the day but they were very efficient all afternoon. As I suggested in an earlier article I wrote that I felt that Mayfield would likely see the field of play with much more clarity with the departure of the problem kid, which was very obvious in this first game post-Beckman.