Cleveland Browns: Studs and duds vs. Patriots in Week 8

The Cleveland Browns were humiliated by the New England Patriots in Week 8 and fell to 2-5. Here we look at who stood out as both studs and duds in the defeat.

Winning would have been ideal, but the reality is the Cleveland Browns could have even boosted their hopes for the second half of the season simply by making this game competitive. That didn’t happen though as the Patriots won 27-13 but the game wasn’t as close as that score makes it seem.

Cleveland was playing from behind for pretty much the entire game and continually made one huge mistake after another. They had 13 penalties, three turnovers and dropped an interception in the end zone.

It’s hard to defeat any team with mistakes such as those, but doing so while playing against an undefeated six-time Super Bowl champion team makes it completely impossible. What made the sloppy play even worse was the fact that the Browns were coming in off a bye week, giving them two weeks to get ready for this one.

Now with the score final, we look back over the game and pick out which members of the Browns stood out in both good and bad ways with the Week 8 studs and duds.

Notable Omission: Steve Wilks

The Browns defensive coordinator hasn’t been popular among the fanbase this season. He came over after a one-year stint as the Arizona Cardinals head coach but despite that tough season, he’s a well-respected defensive mind. He’s had success in the past with the Carolina Panthers, which led to his shot with Arizona.

As for this season, the Browns defense has been inconsistent under his tutelage. On Sunday, they again had some problems as they allowed New England to put together far too many extended drives and gave up two fourth-down conversions.

It wasn’t Wilks’ worst performance, and he was facing a great team. But it also wasn’t his best game and the frustration was understandable.