The Cleveland Browns weren't prepared on Sunday. They were outmuscled, outcoached, and outworked from start to finish in an ugly divisional loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers. It wasn't a pretty look for Todd Monken's team.
Mike McCarthy's Steelers won the battle on both sides of the trenches. On defense, they collapsed the pocket time and time again, and while most of the sacks were self-inflicted wounds by Deshaun Watson, the offensive line didn't look good at all in giving up eight of them.
That includes rookie left tackle Spencer Fano, who, despite not being the primary culprit in the debacle, didn't play up to his usual high standards. It happens, but watching him emotional and angry after the game shows why he'll be a special player in this league.
"I need to play a whole lot better than what I put out on that field," the rookie said, per Browns reporter Camryn Justice. "I feel like I've been taking steps all season, and feel like I took a little step back today and just need to get better."
Spencer Fano has already shown the Browns exactly how he responds to adversity
Don't let Fano's easy-going and soft-spoken demeanor fool you: He's a fearless competitor. He's a winner, and he'll bounce back better than ever after getting manhandled by the Steelers' pass rush in Week 8.
We've already seen it happen. He had a long day at the office against Josh Hines-Allen and the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 1. He responded by not giving up a single pressure in his second career game.
Heck, he's been doing it since training camp, when he didn't let Jared Verse bully him.
Anyone can have a bad game here and there. All rookies go through growing pains. It's all part of the process, and the important thing is how a young player bounces back and responds to those setbacks.
Fano allowed a career-worst eight pressures on Sunday, per Pro Football Focus, including five hurries, two quarterback hits, and a sack. It was just the second sack he's given up in his first eight games as a pro — not too shabby, actually, for a former college right tackle with shorter-than-average arms.
Also, to be fair to the rookie out of Utah, it's impossible to keep a clean pocket when the quarterback is dropping back 13 yards behind the line of scrimmage. Shutting down the edge in those circumstances is a Herculean task, regardless of whether the tackle gets beaten or not.
If anything, this offensive line might be twice as good as it looks right now, but it's tough to make an honest assessment when they spend the entire game in shotgun and try to reset the pocket after eight-step dropbacks.
What's obvious, however, is that Fano is a special type of competitor.
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