Cleveland Browns: The good, bad, and ugly vs. Saints in Week 2

Here we go again. My hopes of avoiding the good, bad and ugly have fallen short, much like the Cleveland Browns in their Week 2 loss to the New Orleans Saints.

While the defense played well for the most part, the Cleveland Browns chances of winning drifted wide left — and wide right. Keeping the New Orleans Saints high-powered offense at bay was impressive, but the Browns offense remained stagnant until late in their Week 2 matchup.

There was some good things to build upon, there were bad things that need corrected, and then there is the ugly.

Let’s take a look at these takeaways from the Cleveland Browns’ Week 2 loss against the New Orleans Saints.

The Good

• Larry Ogunjobi is a force to be reckoned with in the heart of the defensive line.
• Antonio Callaway could provide a huge playmaking contribution with more opportunities. His fourth-quarter touchdown reception was a thing of beauty. If only we had seen more of a down the field attack earlier in the game.
• Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers! Need I say more?
• The issues with penalties were vastly improved.

The Bad

• After the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lit up the stat sheet last week against the Saints, the expectations for the Browns looked good. That was not the case, however. Whether it is due to questionable play calling or Tyrod Taylor’s inability to find receivers down the field, the offense struggled to make things happen until late in the game.
• Once again, the special teams play was horrid. They allowed huge return, which offered hope and momentum to a struggling Saints team. There were more issues, but those fall further down this list, highlighting the ugly category.
• Although the Browns kept themselves in a position to find victory until the very end, the once more gave it away. The effort overall keeps them away from the ugly category, but in the end, it is simply bad.

The Ugly:

• Oh, the ugly. I hoped Week 2 would come and go without the need for an ugly category. My hopes sailed away with the kicking of Zane Gonzalez. He may have been a college standout, but his efforts thus far have been under-par in the NFL. His performance, or lack of, in Week 2 leave little hope for his future and the Cleveland Browns need to move on, period. 

While most of my bold predictions were far from accurate, my prediction for this game was a Browns victory with a score of 24-21. Had Gonzalez made the two extra points and two field goals that veered off course, I would have been four points away and very pleased with the outcome.

There is hope on the defensive side of the ball, but once again the offense failed to impress. Last week, I called for Baker Mayfield to get his shot and this week only verified my thinking. Taylor has the skills, as demonstrated with a beautiful deep throw to Callaway, but he continues to dink and dunk his way to mediocrity. It is time for our offense to live up to its potential. It is time for Baker to heat things up.