Cleveland Browns Game 8: Winners and Losers

Who caught your eye? Did someone stand out? Who blew it? That’s what were interested in this morning. Winners and losers.

Another week, another loss. Do you take any consolation from the game being close? Should the Browns? Did someone out there drop the ball? Sorry, that was a little too easy of a shot I guess.

LOSER: Devone Atrayo Bess. Brutal. It’s hard to remember that it wasn’t Bess himself that talked non-stop about being a great third down, possession type receiver. He was sold hard to us by the front office (as well as media) as great hands, move the chains wide out. Saying he hasn’t lived up to that so far in Cleveland is a bit of an understatement.

Against the Chiefs, Bess dropped a couple of passes and fumbled a punt return. The punt was just a killer, as the Browns would have had the ball on Kansas City’s side of the field with over four minute to go and down just three points. Instead the Chiefs got another chance to run the clock down.

LOSER: Rushing attack. The Browns had -1 yard rushing at the half. They finished with a whopping 57 for the game. If the other team isn’t afraid of your running game it makes the passing game more difficult. It’s really not complicated.

WINNER: The offensive line. Despite a couple of costly penalties, the offensive line performed much better than expected, allowing only one sack and keeping Campbell upright the majority of the game. This despite facing the top pass rushing team in the league.

LOSER: Third Down Defense. The group played much better in the second half to be certain, but 10 conversions on 19 attempts isn’t going to get the job done. I counted three times that the Chiefs executed a screen pass on third and long and converted. Can’t happen.

WINNER: Jason Campbell. After a slow start Campbell got things going by finding the best weapons the team has in Gordon and Cameron. Campbell finished the game with 293 yards passing, 213 of which were to Gordon and Cameron. He was better than just “not Weeden”. He didn’t make many bad decisions with the ball, and got throws off quick enough to avoid pressure. He even made a few plays with his 108 year old legs.

Alright. Your turn.