To what should have been a surprise to no one, the Cleveland Browns lost to the Cincinnati Bengals 37-3.
By @mrgroce
The Cleveland Browns, in front of their own fans looked over matched, overwhelmed, and uninspired as they suffered their worst defeat of the year at the hands of the division rival Bengals. QB Austin Davis made his first start at for the Browns and didn't do too bad completing 25 of 37 passes for 231 yards with one interception. Davis started the game without WR's Andrew Hawkins and Taylor Gabriel and in the first half lost two more, Travis Benjamin and Marlon Moore. Let's not forget Dwayne Bowe and Terrell Pryor were "healthy scratches" as well. This was another game in which the offensive line was completely over matched. The Bengals defense only sacked Davis three times, but he was under pressure on basically every pass attempt. The Browns top receiver was Brian Hartline who had 83 yards on 8 receptions, and running back Isaiah Crowell led the team in rushing with 62 yards on 11 attempts.
Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton did whatever he wanted against the Browns defense. He was 14 for 19 with 220 yards and threw two touchdowns. Running back Jeremy Hill ran the ball 22 times for 98 yards. Receiver AJ Green caught five passes for 128 yards and one touchdown. Keep in mind the Bengals were without tight end Tyler Eifert who leads the league with 12 td's. The Bengals did not commit a single turnover, while the Browns had two.
The Bengals only had two more first downs than the Browns (20-18), and finished with the lead in time of possession by only two minutes (30:58-29:02). Statistically, it would seem that the game should not have been this lopsided. The Bengals finished with a hundred more yards than the Browns, but how does that account for a 34 point loss? Easy answer: coaching and talent. The Browns coaching staff is by far the worst in the league and most of their best players, a term I use loosely, were out with injury. There was clock mismanagement, going for it on fourth down like they were playing Madden on PS4, and questionable decisions on why some guys were made inactive. Blame the coach. Blame the GM. At this point it doesn't really matter. They'll both be gone before the Wild Card games in January.
I know what fans are gonna complain and cry about this week and his name is Johnny. Maybe he'll start next week or maybe he won't, it truly does not matter. His last two games the team has scored 19 points. One game and two and a half drives for Davis has accumulated a total of 10 points. When McCown is behind center the Browns score 23 points per game. Let's stop talking about quarterback. For once it's not the number one problem. There's no one on this team that can rush the quarterback, stop the run, or defend a pass. There isn't a single offensive lineman that's nasty enough to put some one on their ass. If a hole somehow does open up, there isn't a running back that could get more than 9 yards, and finally there isn't a single wide receiver over 6'3 that can bail a quarterback out with a jump ball or a receiver who after the catch get a little something call YAC(yards after catch). There's too many issues on this team to try to say" it's only this or only that".
My fellow TripleThreatCle.com writer normally gives out a player of the game. The score was 37-3. This award goes out to all of us, the die hard, crazy, stupid, committed, Browns fans who watch this crap every week. I know at some point in this game we said we were done, but I'm pretty sure I'll see you all next week.
Next week: The San Franciso 49'ers visit FirstEnergy Stadium led by the rejuvenated QB Blaine Gabbert.
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