Browns studs and duds: Secondary torched by Bengals in Week 14

The entire Cleveland Browns secondary struggled in Week 14 as the Bengals won 23-10. Here are the studs and duds from the loss.

Another loss dropped the Cleveland Browns to 5-8 and dampened spirits following a two-game winning streak.

What’s worse is, they lost to the Cincinnati Bengals, allowing their in-state rivals to stay in first place in the AFC North. It also means they’re no longer undefeated against Joe Burrow.

It was a frustrating loss but let’s look back and identify a few of the studs and duds from Week 14.

Cleveland Browns Stud: Jadeveon Clowney, Defensive End

Yes, there was one terrible play from Jadeveon Clowney but outside of that, he completely dominated La’el Collins and was disruptive all day.

Clowney drew a hold on Collins, which negated a first-down pass on third-and-five for the Bengals. Instead, Cincinnati had to face a third-and-15 and an incomplete pass forced another punt — unfortunately, the Bengals got it back as a roughing the kicker penalty on Tony Fields gave them a new set of downs.

Clowney continued to dominate his guy as he blew up Joe Burrow for a sack a couple of plays later but a penalty for illegal use of the hands again gave them a first down.

He also tipped a pass that wound up being picked off by Deion Jones, and that one wasn’t blown by any teammates getting flagged.

As for his one huge gaffe, Clowney completely missed Samaje Perine on his touchdown run. Clowney had a shot to tackle him but it was as if he didn’t even see him and he ran past him. As bad as that was, he still stood out for his positive play throughout the day.

Cleveland Browns Dud: Tony Fields II, Linebacker

Cleveland’s defense started out playing very well, forcing three punts in a row to start the game. They made it four in a row originally as Joe Burrow missed Samaje Perine on third-and-15. That led to a punt from their own 17, but they were given a new set of downs thanks to a roughing the kicker penalty on Tony Fields II.

That gave the Bengals 15 yards and a fresh set of downs. Of course, Burrow took advantage of the opportunity and was able to lead his team down the field for the first touchdown of the game.

Fields entered the game off his best performance ever as a pro and had this huge mistake early, which had to be frustrating for the young man who was gaining so much confidence.