Cleveland Browns: 5 Positive Takeaways in Browns' Week 2 Loss to Bengals

Despite an amazing defensive performance last week against the Philadelphia Eagles, the Cleveland Browns' offense was nothing short of embarrassing. This week against the Bengals, the offense showed up in a big way, especially rookies Trent Richardson and Brandon Weeden.

Even though the Browns lost on Sunday, there are still quite a few things that fans should take away from Sunday's game that they can look forward to for the rest of the season.

Brandon Weeden's Improved Performance

After only completing 34.3 percent of his passes last week, Browns rookie QB Brandon Weeden was much improved over his 5.1 passer rating from last week against Philadelphia.

Weeden threw for 322 yards and two touchdowns, one to WR Greg Little and one to RB Trent Richardson. Weeden averaged 8.7 yards per completion, completed 70.3 percent of his passes and didn't throw a single interception, as opposed to four last week.

The 28-year-old could be starting to build a connection with the Browns' receivers and backs, which would certainly add to the potency of the offense for the rest of the season.

Trent Richardson's Ability to Find the Hole

After only rushing for 39 yards on 19 carries against Philadelphia, rookie Trent Richardson took the same number of carries and turned it into 109 yards. Richardson became the first rookie RB in team history to rush for 100 yards, score both a rushing touchdown and a receiving TD.

There were times when Richardson made Bengals defenders look silly, especially in the third quarter when Richardson took a screen pass from QB Brandon Weeden and made four potential tacklers miss en route to a touchdown.

Richardson seemed to find the hole much better than last week, and Browns fans can look for that to continue for the remainder of the season.

Improved Play by the Receivers

Even though there were still a few drops to be had between Cleveland's receivers, their performance was much improved from last week, which can also be attributed to QB Brandon Weeden.

The Browns' top two receivers, Mohamed Massaquoi and Greg Little, each caught five passes for a combined 147 yards. Little also had a 24-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter.

It is still concerning that a backup running back, Chris Ogbonnaya, led the team in receptions, hopefully the receiving core can start to build a relationship with Weeden.

The Continued Success of D'Qwell Jackson

After returning an interception for a touchdown last week, linebacker D'Qwell Jackson continued his success this season against the Bengals. Jackson, who had a career-high 154 tackles last season, intercepted Bengals' QB Andy Dalton once and sacked Dalton three times.

Jackson added on five tackles and was undoubtedly the defensive MVP for the Browns against the Bengals. Expect the Browns' defensive captain to carry the defense until DB Joe Haden returns from his suspension.

Solid Performance by Front Four

After giving up 150 rushing yards to the Eagles, the defensive front of the Browns was much-improved against Cincinnati.

Defensive end Frostee Rucker had four tackles and one sack, leading the front four to only giving up 80 rushing yards, and forcing the Bengals to go to the air. Ahtyba Rubin and second-year player Jabaal Sheard combined for four tackles as well.

While D'Qwell Jackson and Joe Haden can help the secondary, if the Browns are going to win some games this season, they will need their defensive line to perform and put pressure on the running game and the quarterback as they did on Sunday.