Brownies & Frownies from Browns loss to Bengals in Week 16

The bottom of the AFC North squared off in Week 16 with the Bengals toppling the Browns

The Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals each had different aspirations before the season began. Going into their AFC North clash, pride and a job next season is what each player on both rosters was playing for.

The Bengals won their first encounter 21-14 earlier this year, but the Browns had their chances to pull out a win and did not.

Coming into this game, Cincinnati was 6-8-0 while Cleveland was 3-11-0. The Browns were one of the lowest-scoring teams in the league with just 239 points scored compared to the Bengals’ 399 points.

At the final gun, the Browns were once again turnover-prone and were defeated 24-6.

So who played well for the Browns? Who didn’t?

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BROWNIES

RB Jerome Ford – The talented running back got Cleveland off to a great start with an exciting 66-yard dash off right tackle on the first play from scrimmage. His touchdown run in the third quarter was all meat and potatoes as he plowed into the end zone as the play was designed to go inside and instead, he bounced it out to the right between the blocks of Wyatt Teller and Jack Conklin. With 38 seconds left in this period, he reeled off a seven-yard run to the 15-yard line. With just over 11 minutes to play in the game, he caught a swing pass in the right flats for 11 yards to keep another drive going.

Playing young guys – Lots of snaps for younger players in this game in order to give some live action. Athletes who got more than their usual snaps included DT Mike Hall, DT Jowon Briggs, WR Jamari Thrash, LB Winston Reid, DE Isaiah McGuire, and QB DTR. The season is over so why not get these youngbloods some experience and the Browns did just that.

LB Jordan Hicks – Every week, Jordan is one of the top tacklers and the Bengals game was no exception as he led all defenders with nine total tackles. He now has 71 for the year. In the first quarter, RB Chase Browns hit the hole as Hicks ran all the way across the field for the tackle.

DE Myles Garrett – Had a vanilla first half but was a force in the final two quarters. His sack of QB Joe Burrow with 1:31 remaining in the first half was a thing of beauty. Cincinnati had been using a secondary player to chip Garrett before releasing him to the offensive tackle. Garrett was lined up on the defensive right side on this play. On the snap, WR Andrei Iosivas hit Garrett and then slid off into his route. LT Cody Ford was in the game for the injured Orlando Brown, Jr., and took Garrett on. Garrett’s speed got him around Ford almost instantly as he buried Burrow. It was Garrett’s 100.5 career sack. He also had three tackles, two of which were for loss, one QB hit, and several pressures.

Fourth downs – Okay, Cleveland missed on that fourth-and-27, but the conversion of fourth-and-four in the third quarter resulted in a touchdown that kept an 11-play drive going. Later, raise your hand if you were stunned they converted on that fourth-and-eight prayer that TE David Njoku made yet another sensational catch.

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FROWNIES

Lack of receiver play – The Browns have all these high-dollar receivers and yet none were utilized in this game. The franchise stud pass catcher Jerry Jeudy had just two catches all game on a mere three targets. What? He had 11 receptions for 108 yards and 14 targets just one week before and gained 142 and 235 yards in recent games. Elijah Moore is making bank, but just two balls? Michael Woods and Jamari Thrash did not register any catches. Why? Four receivers, four receptions for 41 yards. How is this possible?

RB D’Onta Foreman – The dude has not played since before Halloween, and on his second carry back in the lineup on the one-yard line the plan was for him to go into the center of the Bengals’ defense? Ford had the hot hand on this drive, and Foreman is now the bell-cow? His fumble took away a huge opportunity and wasted Ford’s long run. From that point on, the Browns played defeated.

Third down efficiency – This should be a copy/paste as each week this category is an eyesore. In the middle of the third quarter, the Browns converted their first third down as they went 0-5 in the first half and finished 3-12 in the game.

K Dustin Hopkins – Score points, that and kickoffs are all a kicker has to do. Apparently, yet another kicker will be drafted this year.

QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson – Yes, DTR knows how to throw interceptions and replaced a guy who is the King of Picks, but at least QB Jameis Winston’s offense moved the ball and was exciting to watch. DTR’s game is to look at one receiver and then take off running. And agreed, he is a good runner and gained the second-most yards rushing. But his usage of both the receiver group and tight ends was horrible. 20-34 for 157 yards with two picks, zero touchdowns, sacked five times, and a 45.8 QB rating. Can this experiment be over?

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Milk Bones – Christmas: the only time of year you can sit in front of a dead tree eating candy out of socks

DT Jowon Briggs – The rather large rookie had some bright spots. In the first quarter, he split OG Cordell Volson and LT Ford’s block and nailed RB Chase Browns for a two-yard loss. Then in the fourth quarter, he came up with a fumble recovery and more importantly, he didn’t attempt to play the hero and run with it but instead fell on the loose ball. Had two tackles.

DE Isaiah McGuire – The young man is getting a lot more snaps now that ZDS is gone and played well in spurts. Was able to knock the ball out of Burrow’s hand in the fourth quarter which became Cleveland’s ball. McGuire is a good run defender but needs to be in the offensive backfield more.

CB M.J. Emerson – He was tasked with covering Ja’Marr Chase, which is usually done by Denzel Ward instead. Chase had just six catches, with half of those in the first quarter. Emerson was able to keep Chase in check, relative to Chase’s skill, for the remainder of the game despite gaining 97 yards. Emerson did have an inadvertent face mask penalty late in the game but released it as soon as he realized where his hand was. The one play that he did not cover Chase, CB Cam Mitchell lost sight and the talented receiver scored.