Browns vs. Rams: Cleveland Grades, Notes and Quotes
Penalties and turnovers plagued the Cleveland Browns in St. Louis, and they couldn't do enough to overcome them, losing 24-6. Now at 2-5, the Browns have Arizona next at FirstEnergy Stadium in Week 8.
Cleveland moved the ball well against the Rams defense, out-gaining St. Louis 364-308, but it wasn’t able to capitalize with touchdowns. Its 11 penalties for 98 yards and four turnovers aren’t something a team can overcome, especially on the road.
After the Browns forced a Rams punt to start the game, it took the Rams defense just three plays to get them on the board. McCown hit receiver Taylor Gabriel with a quick swing pass, but cornerback Janoris Jenkins read it, quickly shed his blocker and jarred the ball loose. Safety Rodney McLeod scooped it up and returned it 17 yards for the first score of the game.
Five plays later, defensive end William Hayes stripped McCown after beating Mitchell Schwartz, and Rams linebacker Akeem Ayers fell on the loose ball. They settled for a field goal after the Browns held in their territory.
There wasn’t much action after that in the first half, although the Browns did have a 14-play drive consume over eight minutes of clock. They settled for a 25-yard Travis Coons field goal, though, after McCown was flushed and forced to scramble for little gain on a third down.
Cleveland came out of the gate hot in the second half. McCown hit Gary Barnidge down the seam for 22 yards, and then running back Robert Turbin added a 22-yard run to put the Browns in field-goal range.
Two consecutive Turbin runs got a couple of yards, but McCown’s third-down checkdown to Travis Benjamin wasn’t enough to move the sticks. Coons hit a 44-yard field goal on the next play, his 14th consecutive field goal of his rookie season, to bring the Browns within four points with 11:45 to play in the third quarter.
Todd Gurley broke a tackle by Karlos Dansby on the next drive and then broke another attempt before gaining 48 yards to the Browns 22-yard line. A couple of plays later, Randy Starks sacked Nick Foles for a nine-yard loss after beating rookie right guard Jamon Brown. Foles missed tight end Jared Cook on the next play, and the Rams were forced to settle for a field-goal attempt. Greg Zuerlein, who hit a 39-yard field goal in the first quarter, missed from 35 yards out.
Barnidge did it again, making another spectacular catch. That made up for a holding penalty a few plays earlier, tipping a high pass to himself with one hand and then running for a first down. The Browns were forced to punt, though, after Joe Thomas’ holding penalty negated a big completion to Benjamin.
The Rams got some help from Pierre Desir to get into the end zone on their next possession. Desir was flagged for pass interference on Kenny Britt, and then Britt beat him on the very next play for 44 yards to the Browns 1-yard line. Gurley scoring on the next play was a formality, and it was the first touchdown of his career.
Trailing 17-6, the Browns crossed midfield on a pass to Benjamin, but safety T.J. McDonald jarred the ball lose, and tackle Nick Fairley scooped it up. That was the Browns’ third fumble of the game.
Gurley finished off the Browns with a 16-yard stretch run to the right. He broke a tackle, then cut back between Browns defenders and easily scored. That pretty much sums up the second half, as well.
McCown had the Browns driving but was sacked and stripped by Hayes, again, and the Rams knocked him out of the game in the process. Johnny Manziel's lone series in relief resulted in a turnover on downs after his slide was initiated well before the to-gain marker.
Position Grades for Browns
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| Position | Grade |
| QB | C |
| RB | C+ |
| WR | C- |
| TE | A |
| OL | F |
| DL | D |
| LB | D+ |
| DB | C |
| Special Teams | C- |
| Coaching | D |
Cleveland’s offense was led by McCown, who on the stat sheet looks to have had a good ballgame. But he really didn’t. He held the ball way too long, leading to multiple holding calls on his linemen. He also tucked and ran frequently with little success. His accuracy wasn’t bad overall, and he definitely didn’t play terribly, but the team could have used a better performance from its signal-caller.
Speaking of that critically acclaimed offensive line, not one of them gets a pass for their poor play. Down Chris Long, St. Louis’ front seven made the Browns linemen look like amateurs. Trying to contain dynamic pass-rusher Robert Quinn, Joe Thomas was flagged for a false start and a key holding penalty. Schwartz has played much better this season, but he was the weakest link in this one. Interior line blocking wasn’t much better, either. Running the ball continues to be a near impossibility, and nothing changes from week to week in that regard.
Barnidge set another Browns record, joining Ozzie Newson, Kellen Winslow Jr. and Milt Morin as the only Browns tight ends to record three 100-yard receiving games in a single season. He also added another acrobatic one-handed catch to his growing highlight reel. Jim Dray had a couple of catches for minimal gains but appeared to block decent enough.
Tight ends and running backs continue to lead the Browns in passing yards and catches, partially by design and somewhat out of necessity. Gabriel, Benjamin, Andrew Hawkins and Brian Hartline combined for 13 catches for just 105 yards while Barnidge, Johnson, Dray and Robert Turbin logged 17 grabs for 192 yards.
Isaiah Crowell had another poor game, rushing for nine yards on eight carries—eight of those came on a single rush. Johnson didn’t fare much better running the ball, but his 73 receiving yards were one of few bright spots. He's now third on the team in receptions behind Barnidge and Benjamin with 31 on the year.
Defensively, the Browns look good in the first half and limited the Rams’ effectiveness outside a couple big chunk plays. But those plays, along with the team’s turnovers, were enough to make them look bad again this week.
Randy Starks made a couple impact plays, including a sack that helped force a field goal attempt two plays later. It was his first sack of the season and 42nd of his career. Zuerlein missed that one from 35 yards out. Desmond Bryant got his first sack of the season, too, but the Rams scored a few plays later when Gurley’s 16-yard run embarrassed the entire defense and put the game out of reach with 8:11 to play. Jamie Meder had some nice push early in the game, but wasn’t consistent throughout.
Karlos Dansby whiffed on a tackle at the line of scrimmage, springing Gurley’s 48-yard run that set the tone for the second half. What, if anything, is there positive to say about Browns linebackers in this one? Armonty Bryant logged a key pressure but was invisible much of the game. And Paul Kruger’s one tackle in the box score fooled us all, because he was a ghost again this week. Chris Kirksey made a couple nice reads and played decent in coverage. His eight tackles were second on the team behind Jordan Poyer.
Poyer and Donte Whitner had pretty sound games, with Poyer recovering the fumble Whitner caused. That stopped a Rams drive that was moving deep into Browns territory. Both had five solo tackles, and neither was responsible for giving up any big plays this week.
Desir had maybe three bad plays the entire game, but two of them came on consecutive throws to Kenny Britt. After a 26-yard pass interference call, he gave up one big play to Britt that set up Gurley’s first touchdown from one yard out. Tramon Williams wasn’t playing physical football, and the Rams took advantage by getting blocks set and throwing quick bubble screens to Tavon Austin. The Browns, especially Williams and K’Waun Williams, didn’t have an answer.
Special teams, usually a strong point for the Browns, weren’t very impressive in the dome. Travis Coons stayed perfect, hitting both his field goal tries, but that’s where the praises end. Benjamin made a poor choice to let a punt drop, and the Rams downed it at the Browns 4-yard line. They punted four plays later. An illegal block in the back by rookie safety Ibraheim Campbell also negated what would have been a decent Benjamin punt return early in the game. Those penalties are momentum-killers and continue to plague the Browns’ special teams unit each week.
Down 17-6 with 15 minutes left to play, head coach Mike Pettine decided to punt on 4th-and-2 at the Browns 47-yard line. It turned out not mattering in the end, but that’s a somewhat alarming call considering how well Gurley was playing at that point and how much time was left in the game. The Rams scored four minutes later to take a 24-6 lead. Pettine’s time management continues to be poor, and his staff’s preparation is looking suspect after the team looked fundamentally incompetent in St. Louis this week.
Todd Gurley Falls Short of Record, Scores First TD
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This isn't as much about Gurley as it is about the Browns rush defense. For the sixth time in seven games, the Browns have allowed opposing running games to eclipse 150 yards.
Gurley finished with 128 yards and two scores on 19 carries after being limited to 45 yards in the first half. His attempt to match an NFL record, rushing for more than 140 yards in three straight games, fell just short. The Rams had the game wrapped up and didn't have to run a play after getting the ball back on downs with just over one minute left to play.
Cleveland's rush defense, again, played well at times but was gashed for big gains frequently, something that has plagued them all season. At this point, celebrating a few stuffs and solid tackles should stop if the team continues to fail to compete at an NFL level for four quarters.
Browns Lose McCown, Hawkins Late in Fourth Quarter
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McCown went down early in the game after running out of bounds, failing to stop himself, and then colliding with the boundary wall. He fell on the concrete below and appeared to hurt his right elbow.
You could have made a case for a late hit, but McCown's momentum was taking him out of bounds quickly.
McCown wouldn't survive the game without taking a few legitimate hits from Rams defenders, though. Late in the fourth quarter, Hayes stripped the quarterback again, and the Rams recovered. In the process, McCown fell on his shoulder and was forced to exit the game.
Andrew Hawkins left the game in the fourth quarter with a concussion, the team announced.
McCown was also checked for a concussion and subsequently cleared following the game, per Scott Petrak of the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram.
After the game, he said he wasn't sure of the severity of the injury, but he'll leave that question for coach Pettine to answer.
"I'll be all right," he concluded, per Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal.
Pettine made it clear Johnny Manziel is the team's No. 2 quarterback, and he will be the starter next week if McCown's injury forces him to miss time.
At this point, with a 2-5 record, we're approaching a place where starting McCown, even if healthy, makes little sense. The Browns are going to be playing for the future if they drop their next two against Arizona and Cincinnati, so it'd be smart to start to think about making the permanent switch to the sophomore quarterback.
Barnidge also had a tooth knocked out, and Poyer hurt his shoulder, Pettine said.
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Pettine: We Never Got in Rhythm
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"Overall it's a pretty simple formula to lose a football game: Turn the ball over four times...penalties... We did some good things defensively for a while," Pettine said after the game, per Mary Kay Cabot of the Plain Dealer. "You can't give up big plays. We have to play at a higher level."
"Offensively I never felt like we got in a rhythm."
No kidding, coach.
The Browns did do some good things offensively, but they weren't able to score touchdowns or hold on to the football, coughing it up four times for the game. Benjamin's fumble was in Rams territory, and Gabriel's was returned for a touchdown.
St. Louis capitalized on those four turnovers with 17 points. It did that despite not converting on third down until late in the game.
The Rams are not an offensively inept team, but the Browns made them look like one for periods. The penalties and turnovers on offense were not needed, and they were the key cause of the loss.
Joe Thomas: Rams' New Looks Caused Problems
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Joe Thomas attributed his offensive line's struggles to adjustments the Rams made during their bye week, according to Petrak.
Thomas said that led to McCown taking too much punishment, and he certainly did before he was knocked out of the game in the fourth quarter.
But despite the Rams lining up and attacking differently defensively, Cleveland's offensive line didn't play very well even when matched up in single blocking matchups. Their several false-start and holding penalties certainly didn't help and were hindrances that negated a couple of big plays.
Thomas and his unit need to refocus after being tested against the Denver Broncos last week and the Rams in Week 7. Those are two of the toughest fronts they'll face, but their schedule does not get much easier moving forward.
Unless otherwise noted, all postgame quotes, stats and injury information were obtained from email press release from Browns communications manager Dan Murphy.
Mike Hoag is B/R's Cleveland Browns Gameday Correspondent, a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and the managing editor of BrownsBeat.com.
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