The Browns had a chance to leave New York with a fourth straight win. Instead, they left with a mess.
On a soggy Sunday at MetLife, Cleveland beat itself over and over and wound up on the wrong end of a 17-12 loss to the Jets. The weather made life miserable for both teams, but the Browns’ mistakes did the most damage. With Baltimore coming to Cleveland next Sunday, there’s plenty to clean up.
The offense was the biggest problem, and it showed up everywhere. Deshaun Watson had a few bright spots, including a gorgeous 29-yard touchdown to rookie Denzel Boston in the fourth quarter that pushed the Browns ahead 12-10 with 6:15 left. But Cleveland couldn’t build on it.
After a Jets fumble gave the Browns a chance to salt away the game, the offense went nowhere. Watson saw two passes knocked down at the line, and the drive ended with a punt. Then came the special teams collapse: Corey Bojorquez couldn’t handle a high snap, and the ball sailed through his hands before the Jets recovered deep in Browns territory.
Watson got two more chances to pull out a fourth-quarter escape act, and neither one worked. On the final fourth-down snap, he was sacked for the eighth time and fumbled. He finished 15 for 33 for 155 yards, plus a 20-yard run that brought his total to 40 yards on the ground.
Grade: C
The run game never gave Cleveland anything to lean on. Quinshon Judkins had another tough outing, and the production issues keep piling up.
There’s been plenty of talk about whether the blocking or the back is to blame, but here the criticism lands mostly on Judkins. He missed openings, didn’t always follow his blockers, and spent too much time dancing in the backfield instead of getting downhill.
His biggest miscue came with the Browns nursing that 12-10 lead. With just over four minutes left, Cleveland had a chance to make the Jets burn their timeouts.
Instead, Judkins bounced the first-down carry to the right and then out of bounds, stopping the clock. A few plays later, the punt mishap flipped the game.
Judkins ended with 44 rushing yards on 3.1 yards per carry, which is right in line with his season averages. That hasn’t been enough.
Grade: F
The passing game around Watson wasn’t sharp either. Rookie KC Concepcion left early with a concussion, which thinned out the options.
Isaiah Bond led the group with three catches for 74 yards, but he was targeted seven times and dropped four passes that could have changed the night. One of those came on a long 2nd-and-19 late in the game in the rainy conditions.
Denzel Boston’s touchdown kept the grade from sinking even further. Tight end Harold Fannin was largely invisible, finishing with one catch for 4 yards.
Grade: C-
Up front, the offensive line took its share of the blame. Cleveland allowed eight sacks, and the Browns never found a rhythm.
The running game struggled too, though the issues weren’t entirely on the line because Judkins wasn’t taking advantage of what was there. Still, the offense looked stuck in mud for most of the afternoon.
In the second half alone, Cleveland went three-and-out five times.
Grade: D-
Defensively, the Browns did enough to put themselves in position to win. The front got three sacks and brought early pressure, but it didn’t stay disruptive enough as the game wore on. Jets running back Braelon Allen had the game of his life, rushing for 116 yards and the decisive touchdown on a 22-yard run with nobody touching him.
Grade: C
The linebackers were the clear bright spot on the defense again. Carson Schwesinger and Quincy Williams were all over the field, with Williams forcing three fumbles and the Browns recovering one deep in their own end.
Schwesinger also stripped Geno Smith late to give Cleveland another chance to close things out. The two combined for 20 tackles and a sack.
Grade: A
The secondary had stretches that were solid, but it wasn’t clean enough across the full game. Garrett Wilson finished with seven catches for 104 yards and a touchdown, and most of that damage came right away on the opening drive. Even in a unit that had been strong all season, the mistakes stood out.
And then came the late breakdowns. Bojorquez’s mishandled high snap on the punt set the Jets up in winning position, and Andre Szmyt added to the pain by missing a crucial extra point after Cleveland had moved in front 12-10.
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