Report Card Grades for Browns' NFL Week 8 Game vs. Steelers

Ugly. That's the one-word report card for the entirety of the Cleveland Browns performance in a 27-6 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The blowout loss moves the Browns' record to 5-3 on the season and knocks them out of first place in the division. Perhaps more than that, it showcased some of the shortcomings that have been hidden behind a series of close wins for the team this season.

The offensive line issues, lack of run game and run defense all played a role in a lopsided loss.

Let's get a little more granular with those grades to diagnose who played well and who came up short in the disappointing loss.

Quarterback

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Deshaun Watson: C-

Deshaun Watson's afternoon exemplified the idea that the final statline can lie.

The quarterback connected on 27 of his 39 pass attempts and threw for over 300 yards for the second week in a row. He had no interceptions. In a vacuum, that looks like a pretty good day at the office.

It wasn't, though.

The Browns managed just nine yards in the first quarter. Watson missed a few easy throws in the first frame that would have given the offense more early momentum.

The eight sacks will mostly be charged to the offensive line, but Watson also held on to the ball longer than he needed to. He has extended plays for much of this season, but didn't do it much against Pittsburgh.

Running Backs

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Quinshon Judkins

Quinshon Judkins: C

The biggest difference in this game was the ground game and some of that falls at the feet of Quinshon Judkins. As usual, the offensive line bears some of the responsibility for the blocking.

However, PFF credited Judkins with 21 yards after contact and just five yards before contact. That's abysmal on 11 carries.

Dylan Sampson: B-

Sampson didn't help the run game much either, but he did tie Judkins' best run of the game with a seven-yard gain on his only carry. His best contribution came as the team's second-leading receiver with 62 yards on six receptions.

Wide Receivers

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Denzel Boston

KC Concepcion: C-

KC Concepcion has been the high-volume target who gets the passing game going throughout the season. That didn't happen this time.

It's hard to hold Concepcion too accountable, though. The only target he didn't catch was a ball that Watson sailed over his head.

Denzel Boston: D+

The Browns funneled 11 targets to Boston on the afternoon, putting a lot of the passing game on his plate. Boston responded with six receptions for just 37 yards. His game would have been much better if he had gotten a second foot in on a near touchdown.

Jerry Jeudy: D-

Jeudy has come up with a few clutch catches over the last few weeks, but was nowhere to be found on Sunday. He had just one target and didn't haul it in. This wasn't the week to disappear.

Tight Ends

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Harold Fannin Jr.

Harold Fannin Jr.: B+

Much like Watson, the final statline doesn't completely capture the performance from Fannin. He had a costly fumble on the first drive that set the tone for the offense.

That being said, he also put up the best performance of anyone on the offense with 10 receptions for 154 yards. He again proved to be a yards-after-the catch menace with multiple instances of running over Steelers defenders for additional yards.

Blake Whiteheart: C+

Whiteheart's blocking did not help establish a run game, but he at least brought in his lone target on the day for nine yards.

Offensive Line

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Tytus Howard and Elgton Jenkins

Spencer Fano: D+

This was not the rookie's finest moment. He got overextended and was pulled down by Nick Herbig on a sack, and was later beaten around the edge with speed by Alex Highsmith, which forced him to hold.

Add in the Browns' struggle to get the run game going behind him and this was a lesson learned for Fano.

Zion Johnson: D

Johnson gave up a hustle sack to Cam Heyward. That's understandable. The sack he gave up because he straight-up lost a rep to Kevin Jobity Jr. is a little harder to forgive.

Elgton Jenkins: C-

Jenkins wasn't directly involved in a lot of the sacks, but he conceded a lot of ground in pass protection. He didn't generate much push in the pass game with Keeanu Benton across from him much of the afternoon.

Austin Barber: C-

Barber was called for a hold on a first-down run and his run blocking wasn't stellar to begin with. He ceded a few pressures in pass protection, but he did avoid any atrocious reps there.

Tytus Howard: C+

Howard was probably the cleanest in pass protection all day. However, he didn't help the anemic run game and he was called for two penalties.

The first was likely on Shedeur Sanders. He held onto the ball too long on the screen and Howard was called for illegal man downfield. The second, a false start, has been a recurring issue for Howard all season.

Edge

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Jared Verse

Jared Verse: D+

Verse drew a lot of attention for his pregame talk. Unfortunately, he didn't live up to it. He didn't record a single sack and his lone pressure came on a screen in which he went unblocked and didn't get Rodgers down before he threw the pass.

His usual solid run defense wasn't a factor as the Steelers ran all over the Browns' front. He had just one assisted tackle the whole afternoon.

Isaiah McGuire: C-

The Steelers shut down Verse and McGuire wasn't there to pick up the slack. He finished the game with just two tackles and didn't affect the quarterback all afternoon.

Sam Williams: C

Williams gets a slightly higher grade just because he didn't get as big of an opportunity as Verse and McGuire. Williams had 22 snaps and managed to have three tackles.

Defensive Line

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Maliek Collins

Mason Graham: B

Graham's performance was hit or miss. On one hand, he was one of few defenders who made any splash plays. On the other, he got mauled on one of Warren's biggest gains and was on skates for his 51-yard run later in the game.

Adin Huntington: C

Huntington registered the only sack of the afternoon. That's good. Unfortunately, that impact was outweighed by the fact that the Steelers targeted him on the trap plays that led to big runs.

The most notable was Warren's 51-yard run. Huntington got his shoulders turned and he took on the kickout with his chest instead of spilling or squeezing it.

Michael Hall Jr.: C

A missed tackle and the overall lack of fits in the run game are too much for Hall's four tackles to overcome. He gets a passing grade, but it was nothing to get excited about.

Maliek Collins: C+

Collins was the most consistent of the interior defensive linemen. That being said, none of them graded out that well given the success the Steelers had on the ground.

He had four tackles with one for a loss despite leaving the game for a while with an elbow injury.

Linebackers

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Carson Schwesinger

Carson Schwesinger: C-

This was an uncharacteristically bad game for the Browns star. He was not downhill against the run game for most of the afternoon.

However, it was his deficiencies in coverage that cost Cleveland the most. He was beaten by Darnell Washington in man coverage on more than one occasion, including a 58-yard reception.

Quincy Williams: B-

Despite the rough performance from the defense as a whole, Quincy Williams was one of the few who played well. He had a tackle for loss and got his hand on a pass.

He did have a missed tackle and only added five tackles to his total for the year. It wasn't a perfect performance, but it should have been enough for the Browns to have a better result.

Secondary

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Denzel Ward

Denzel Ward: B+

The Steelers ran for 200 yards, but the defense didn't really give up a lot to Rodgers and the passing game. Ward was a big reason for that and he had an interception.

It should also be noted that he attempted to tackle Rico Dowdle too high and the running back ran through him to score the first touchdown.

Tyson Campbell: A-

This was one of Campbell's best games. He gave up nearly nothing in coverage and was not an issue as a tackler either. Almost all of the Steelers' success in the pass game was to their tight ends and slot receivers.

Myles Harden: C

Campbell and Ward were able to hold the Steelers' outside receivers in check. Harden had a harder time keeping up with their inside threats. He gave up a few catches in coverage and wasn't an impact player against the run.

Still, he didn't have enough major mistakes to get lower than a C.

Grant Delpit: C+

Delpit gave the Browns' defense some juice in the first quarter when he obliterated a screen for a three-yard loss. He didn't have any major mistakes in pass coverage either.

Ronnie Hickman: C+

Hickman was second on the team in tackles with seven. That wasn't a good thing. Many of those tackles happened too far downfield for the Browns to have success, but that's not really his fault.

Emmanuel McNeil-Warren: B

The rookie was busy on Sunday with nine total tackles. He was one of the few bright spots for the Browns in this game. He continues to make the most of his increasing role as he did all of that with just 31 snaps.

Special Teams

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Corey Bojorquez

K Andre Szmyt: A

The kicker did his part. He knocked both field goal attempts through to score all six of the team's points.

P Corey Bojorquez: A

Four punts. Three were downed inside the 20 and he averaged 49.8 yards per punt. That's a good day.