By Katelin Marshall, @KatelinKnowsCLE
The Cleveland Browns lost another game, this time to the Cincinnati Bengals 23-10. The Browns now sit three losses away from joining the 2008 Detroit Lions to lose 16 games in a season. This week the Browns just got outplayed. They struggled with the passing offense only having 85 total passing yards. And defensively gave up 360 total yards with 213 of them on the ground.
The overall all offense wasn't good. A combination of terrible starting field position and the rust of Robert Griffin III didn't spell success for this week. RGIII was only 12/28 throwing the ball. He missed throws all day, whether under-throwing the deep ball, throwing into double coverage, or just missing wide-open dink-and-dunk throws. Obviously, Griffin was going to have rust considering he hasn't played since week 1 but even with rust being accounted for Griffin seemed to be overzealous most of the game. Taking deep shots down field when it wasn't there. Hopefully this was a "knock off the dust" type game because the Browns can't afford to have RGIII play like that.
Where the Browns had success was in the running game. Isaiah Crowell had 113 yards on the ground, RGIII ran for 31 yards and a touchdown, and Duke Johnson had 24 yards on four carries. The running game started to work in the second half when most of the running plays were: A. Zone-Read options, or B. used in a high-tempo situation. The Browns had two really good drives in the third quarter, the one that resulted in the touchdown and the one that resulted in the field goal. And both were set up by the running game
Defensively, the Browns struggled stopping the run. Jeremy Hill ran for 111 yards and a touchdown. And overall the Bengals ran for 213 yards on 38 carries, which was the main reason the Bengals won the time of possession battle. The positive side of this game the pass defense wasn't terrible. They only allowed 147 yards through the air and got pressure to Dalton, hitting him five times and sacking him four times.
Overall it wasn't a good game for the Browns. Inconstant defense and an offense who could only manage two positive drives. But hopefully next week, vs the Bills, the Browns can regroup and start putting drives together, force a few turnovers, and maybe just maybe pull out a win next week.
Most Valuable Brown: Jamie Collins is the MVB for this week. He had 15 totals tackles, one sack, and two tackles for losses. Collins has played really well in his short stint with the Browns. It is going to be interesting if the Browns want to/are able to bring him back for next year and beyond.
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