Browns vs. Bengals: Final Report Card, Player Grades for Cleveland

The Cincinnati Bengals defeated the Cleveland Browns by a 34-27 margin at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Bengals kicker Mike Nugent delivered the dagger to the Browns' hopes after the Bengals ate up five-plus minutes of clock and took a 10 point lead with a little over two minutes to play.

Trent Richardson became the first Browns' rookie running back to surpass 100 yards since 2003 and Brandon Weeden broke the 300 yard mark and threw two touchdowns. Weeden's 320 yards is the most by a Browns' rookie in the team's history!

A week after the defense forced five turnovers and stifled a high flying Philadelphia Eagles' offense, it digressed against Cincinnati allowing 27 points. Andy Dalton was sacked six times but took advantage of the injured (and suspended) Browns' cornerbacks by laying on three touchdowns and over 300 yards of his own.

It's hard to stay positive, but there were signs of improvement for the Browns on the offensive side of the ball this week.

Hopefully they can begin to put the pieces of the puzzle together and orchestrate a complete game performance to get the team on track against the Buffalo Bills in Week 3. Another disappointing loss like the first two weeks and the Browns may find themselves on the way to yet another losing season at the bottom of the AFC North division.

Quarterback

Brandon Weeden: B-

Brandon Weeden rebounded from one of the worst debut performances in NFL history by compiling 322 yards through the air with two touchdowns and no interceptions. That’s a huge improvement over his four interception outing in that opening day stinker.

Overall, he looked a lot more comfortable with the offense and more in sync with his receivers. A couple times, primarily with Josh Gordon, Weeden seemed to have put the ball where the receiver was unexpected.

However, Weeden will need to continue to progress and be more consistent. This is especially true in down-and-distance awareness. A couple of times Weeden threw well short of the sticks when the receiver clearly had no chance of advancing the ball for a first down.

For every negative, though, there was a positive for Weeden. Hopefully this performance is enough to unite Browns’ fans and keep the calls for Colt McCoy at bay. McCoy had his opportunities; let’s see what Weeden does now to build on this performance.

Running Backs

Trent Richardson: A+

There isn’t much that needs to be said about Trent Richardson’s performance against the Cincinnati Bengals. Richardson took a chip on his shoulder after the criticism from his less than spectacular debut against the Philadelphia Eagles.

He then took that shoulder and laid it on the Bengals defense.

Richardson became the first Browns’ rookie running back since 2003 to rush for over 100 yards. He also scored two touchdowns on 20-plus yard plays. He did it with a relentless effort that will not soon be forgotten in Cleveland.

Chris Oggbonaya: C-

For every good play, one bad play can overshadow it. That is the case for Chris Oggbonaya. Holding onto the football, especially in a close divisional matchup on a franchise that desperately needed to get in the win column, is paramount.

Oggbonaya made a really good play and then had the ball knocked loose after crossing midfield.

He was a surprise addition to the roster after not playing last week due to an injury. Brandon Jackson, who has proven to be more reliable, was questionably inactive in favor of Oggbonaya.

Owen Marecic: D-

There isn’t much more to say about Marecic. He is a complete non-factor in the blocking and passing game as he, again, dropped an important short-yardage pass from Brandon Weeden.

Most of Trent Richardson’s big runs were after contact; meaning Richardson was making things happen more so than the blocking providing him the lanes to make things happen.

I will continue to lobby for his release as long as he continues to fail to fulfill his role in the West Coast Offense.

Wide Receivers

Greg Little: A-

Greg Little did have one critical drop in this one. However, compared to recent performances, only one drop is a good day for the second-year receiver from North Carolina.

Overall, though, Little hauled in 5-of-7 targets and created nice separation on a 24 yard touchdown reception to bring the Browns’ within seven points with seven minutes to play.

His ability to keep the

Mohamed Massaquoi: A

Like Little, Massaquoi hauled in 5-of-7 targets and looked good at getting open, catching the ball and finding space in the Bengals’ secondary.

He finished the day with an impressive five catches for 90 yards.

Josh Gordon: C-

Josh Gordon was unable to hook up with Brandon Weeden for any type of impact in this one. He only grabbed one pass for five yards on a third-and-long try that was thrown well short of the first down marker.

Travis Benjamin: D

Travis Benjamin wasn’t even targeted in this one but did have two end-around plays including a 13 yarder that started the day. It wasn’t just that Benjamin wasn’t able to get open, he wasn’t even targeted by Weeden after Weeden was intercepted when targeting the speedster last week.

Tight Ends

Benjamin Watson: B

Watson was, for the most part, a non-factor until garbage time when he hauled in a 27 yard reception. It was his only target of the day.

He doesn’t seem to be much of a factor in the Browns’ game plan this season. Alex Smith, on the other hand, who is primarily regarded as blocking tight end, received four targets and hauled in three of them.

Alex Smith: A-

As mentioned, Alex Smith hauled in 3-of-4 targets for 30 yards and played a lot in two and single tight end sets.

Smith left the game in the fourth quarter with a concussion according to reporting by Nate Ulrich  (via Twitter) of the Akron Beacon Journal.

Offensive Line

Joe Thomas: F

Pro Bowl left tackle Joe Thomas was beaten up in Cincinnati, Ohio. Playing with an injured knee, Thomas’s focus clearly suffered as a result of the injury.

He was flagged for a false start and a crucial holding call on a first down play that moved the team and ultimately led to a punt.

Thomas was also beat twice, one resulting in a trip sack of Weeden and forced a punt.

Jason Pinkston: B

Pinkston wasn’t flagged and seemed to play effective in both the passing and rushing game on Sunday afternoon.

For a second-year man, this was an encouraging performance after he and his offensive line teammates have come under-fire for their inability to move defenders along the line-of-scrimmage.

Alex Mack: B-

Like Pinkston, the middle of the offensive line was effective on Sunday. Mack was flagged once in this one on a holding call but was otherwise pretty solid.

Shawn Lauvao: C+

Right guard Shawn Lauvao had a couple of lapses that resulted in negative yards for the Browns. His first was a crucial holding call and his second was a whiffed block on a screen pass to Trent Richardson that resulted in the play getting blown up in the backfield.

Another young guard, Lauvao did play well for the most part and gave Brandon Weeden ample time to get into rhythm and move the chains.

Mitchell Schwartz: B+

For the rookie right tackle, Week 2 was a coming of age. I’ve graded him out as the best Browns’ offensive lineman from the day because he did his job and wasn’t flagged for a penalty unlike his veteran counterparts.

He wasn’t perfect, but he did his job and gave the Browns a good chance to win.

Defensive Line

Jabaal Sheard: C

Sheard failed to get to the quarterback but did bat down an Andy Dalton pass. It’s concerning to see the lack of production for a second straight game by the Browns’ former second-round pick in 2011.

It’s only two games, though, and teams are now aware of the threat Sheard brings off the edges.

Ahtyba Rubin: B

Rubin had only two tackles on the game but was involved in pressuring Dalton and clogging the middle of the line-of-scrimmage.

He pushed Dalton out of the pocket with great pressure on the play that Dalton found Andrew Hawkins for the 50 yard touchdown pass.

Billy Winn: Incomplete

Winn left with a concussion and failed to a record a tackle.

John Hughes: A

Rookie John Hughes was a shocking third round selection by the Cleveland Browns in April’s NFL draft. His performance Sunday showed why.

Hughes recorded six tackles, one sick, a tackle for loss and a hit on Andy Dalton. The sack came after Hughes blew up his blocking assignment and tossed a scrambling Andy Dalton to the field. It came on a second down and pushed the Bengals back to a third-and-long situation leading to a Bengals punt.

Frostee Rucker: A

Rucker was named a captain this week and came to play against his former team. He recorded a sack on Dalton by pulling down by his ankles.

He also was frequently in on the action and recorded four total tackles, another hit on Dalton and a tackle for a loss.

Juqua Parker: B+

Parker continued to help pressure the quarterback with a solid performance on the end of the defensive line. He recorded 2 tackles, had one sack and another hit on Dalton in limited action. He left the game with an ankle injury later in the ball game.

Linebackers

Craig Robertson: B+

Robertson built on his first week performance with another six tackle outing. He didn’t intercept Dalton but was a big factor in the Browns’ limiting the Bengals to a 3.6 yards per carry average in this one.

Scott Fujita: B-

Fujita’s return meant the end of playing time for L.J. Fort. Fujita didn’t make a huge difference but the results of the run defense were evident with his presence on the field.

He recorded four tackles and was rotated out for his liability in pass defense. It didn’t seem to help as the Browns’ pass defense was torched in this one.

D’Qwell Jackson: A

D’Qwell Jackson, the team’s leader in the defensive huddle, made a bone-headed unnecessary roughness hit on Andy Dalton that negated a Juqua Parker sack on the Bengal’s QB.

Jackson, though, took it personally and went on a tear after that slip-up. Listen to this stat-line: three sacks, two tackles for loss, five tackles, one pass deflection and three hits on Andy Dalton.

He was flying all over the field in Cincinnati and clearly made up for his early mistake.

Defensive Backs

Buster Skrine: F-

What is there to grade of analyze about Buster Skrine? The fact is that the second-year cornerback was completely awful in his relief duty for the injured Sheldon Brown and suspended Joe Haden.

Skrine doesn’t have the size of the strength to play bump-and-run coverage and it was completely apparent in this one. It forced Dick Jauron to back his corners off the line-of-scrimmage and the Bengals exploited then.

Skrine also apparently is unfamiliar with tackling and looked terrible attempted to bring down the big Bengals’ receivers.

Toss in a 31 yard pass interference call that put the Bengals into Browns’ territory and this will go down as one of the worst Browns’ defensive back performances in recent memory.

But, there is still Eric Hagg to come.

Dimitri Patterson: D

Patterson had six tackles and a pass deflection. Now that the positives are out of the way, let’s take a look at why I’ve graded him at a D.

He whiffed on two tackles, including a comeback route catch and spin on A.J. Green that allowed him to easily stroll into the end zone for a Bengals touchdown.

Trevin Wade: D

Wade lost sight of Andrew Hawkins, who stopped running his route. He failed to recover and was left in the dust as Hawkins took the ball through the Browns’ secondary for 40 yards and into the end zone.

He was also beat by a very subtle double move by A.J. Green but the ball was overthrown in the back of the end zone by Andy Dalton.

Eric Hagg: F-

Like Skrine, it would be hard to go into detail about each of the slip-ups by the young defensive back in this loss.

To sum things up for you: Hagg didn’t do anything right against the Bengals. He was completely juked out of his cleats by Adam Jones of his touchdown scoring punt return.

Then, when you thought it couldn’t get any worse for the former Cornhusker, he was absolutely torched by Brandon Tate for a 44 yard touchdown pass.

I realize F- doesn’t exactly exist, but these two both earned the worst possible grade.

T.J. Ward: C+

Ward, the Browns’ starting strong safety, again led the team in tackles with nine on the afternoon. However, Ward was victim to a juke move by Andrew Hawkins along the sideline and the Bengals wide receiver cruised into the end zone from there.

Special Teams

Phil Dawson: A

What else is there to say about Phil Dawson. I’ve completely run out of good and positive things to say about the Browns’ all-time points scoring leader.

He was perfect again, nailing a 50 yard field goal  

Reggie Hodges: B

Hodges was again consistent and posted a 46.5 punt average. His longest punt was a 53 yarder and he failed to knock any inside the 20 yard line—mostly due to the field position of his punts.

Josh Cribbs: B+

Cribbs again averaged a respectable amount on kick returns. Of his six returns, he broke one 38 yarder and averaged 27.5 yards overall.

Johnson Bademosi: C-

Bademosi was brought on to the active roster for his speed and relentless pursuit on special teams coverages. His whiff on Adam Jones sprung the Bengals’ return man to an 81 yard touchdown return.

It wasn’t just Bademosi’s fault, though, plenty of others were caught looking foolish on the play. He did make up for it by completely shutting down another Jones’ return immediately after he caught the ball.

Coaching Staff

Pat Shurmur: B

Pat Shurmur, for the most part, called an effective game on the offensive side of the ball. A couple of questionable decisions, including his refusal to go for it on fourth and short near midfield didn't end up impacting the game very much.

Plus, not many coaches are like Marvin Lewis and are willing to put their defense in a hole if their fourth-and-short attempt fails.

Shurmur's offense gelled more in Week 2 and made the embattled head coach look much better this week.

I'm as big of a critic of Pat Shurmur as you will find, but he didn't cost the Browns' the win this time.

Dick Jauron: C+

Jauron was in a hard place without cornerbacks Joe Haden and Sheldon Brown. However, his decision to use Buster Skrine on the outside in jam situations was exploited for being the terrible idea that it was.

Overall, the supposed elite Browns' secondary was beaten frequently to the tune of three touchdowns through the air and over 300 yards in the process. Jauron didn't do anything at half time to adjust to what the Bengals were doing, either.

His adjustment was to give the Bengals receivers a 10 yard cushion to which they ignored and continue to move the ball at their own discretion.

Chris Tabor: F

What else is there to say? The Browns' special teams unit has been awful since Brad Seely left for San Francisco before 2011. Inconsistency and continual lapses in tackling and lane responsibilities are coaching errors that need to be remedied immediately if the young Browns' team has any hopes of winning games any time soon.