We can understand why fans are mad at almost every player on the Cleveland Browns this week.
As Myles Garrett said, it appeared the entire team relaxed about a minute and a half too early against the Jets.
Cleveland’s inconceivable collapse involved all three facets of the team, as well as the coaching staff.
Final. pic.twitter.com/ALNX16KwOx
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) September 18, 2022
And it wiped out what was an otherwise stellar effort for most of the game.
But those efforts need to be recognized somewhere lest we forget.
So here are the studs and duds from the Browns’ horrifying loss to the Jets.
Stud: Jacoby Brissett
Jacoby Brissett had his own “dud moment” that shattered dreams of another last-second field goal victory.
But things never should have come to that after the quarterback’s near-perfect game.
Brissett is supposed to win games when he throws over 200 yards without mistakes and puts the team up by 2 scores late.
Jacoby Brissett finds a lot of room #Browns pic.twitter.com/w60hMP6FPs
— Pro Football Culture (@proftblculture) September 18, 2022
This Sunday, he even showed off a little mobility with some feisty scrambles at key moments.
Cleveland is averaging 28 points per game right now, 2 points more than their 2020 playoff season.
And Brissett should be among those quarterbacks boasting a 2-0 record at this point.
Stud: Nick Chubb
Nick Chubb scored 3 touchdowns while contributing 113 total yards to the Browns’ offense.
And the Jets’ defense thinks they did a credible job all around on him.
New York held Chubb somewhat in check early in the game, but the yards kept building.
TD No. 2 on the day for Nick Chubb‼️ pic.twitter.com/pvaGFdiZPm
— PFF CLE Browns (@PFF_Browns) September 18, 2022
And there was never a key stop on Chubb that the Jets can say stopped momentum in the game.
Chubb is off to a great start this season, and his third touchdown should have iced the game for Cleveland.
Indeed, nary a soul thought “he should have gone out of bounds” until about a minute later.
Stud: Amari Cooper
Amari Cooper was wide open all day in Week 1 against the Carolina Panthers.
And maybe Jacoby Brissett didn’t notice him much during that game, but he sure saw him on post-game film reviews.
Brissett and Cooper were more in sync this week and the result is very promising for the future.
Amari Cooper had 4 catches for 48 yards for the #Browns on this drive, inc his first TD grab with Cleveland — via this strike from Jacoby Brissett. pic.twitter.com/u8vkmMkObE
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) September 18, 2022
Cooper caught 9 of his team-high 10 targets for 101 yards and a touchdown Sunday.
He wasn’t immune from a dud moment, hanging back too far to field the onside kick and letting the Jets knock it away.
But on 99.9-percent of game days, Cooper will do well enough just playing the stud wide receiver role.
Dud: David Njoku
It is not David Njoku’s fault Andrew Berry decided to reset the tight end salary standards with his new contract.
But when fellow tight end Harrison Bryant saw 4 targets compared to 1 for Njoku last week, it raised eyebrows.
Bryant had a couple of early catches against the Jets, too, before Njoku’s name was called.
David Njoku great catch but out of bounds #Browns pic.twitter.com/QjRillXlhj
— Pro Football Culture (@proftblculture) September 18, 2022
And his 3 catches on 5 targets for 32 yards don’t seem too unreasonable for a run-first offense.
But those 2 non-catches included a potential touchdown where he couldn’t get his feet down and a drive-stopping drop.
Njoku threw more really good blocks Sunday, but he needs to be a receiving weapon for this offense to be complete.
Dud: Joe Woods
Pretty much every player in the Browns’ secondary was a dud.
So to save time, we threw their coordinator’s name into the headline.
Joe Woods earned his reputation by coaching some of the best secondaries in the NFL.
#Jets scored a 76-yard touchdown from Flacco to Davis and recovered the onside kick, crazy time in the NFL.pic.twitter.com/GmLok9DxiK
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) September 18, 2022
By all accounts, the Browns have a tremendously-talented pool of players among their safeties and corners.
But for the second week in a row, a corner passed a receiver on to a non-existent teammate for a back-breaking touchdown.
And if that situation was not a point of emphasis leading up to the Jets game, Woods should be an ex-coordinator by now.
Dud: Myles Garrett
When Myles Garrett sacked Joe Flacco hard from behind, fans expected to see a little more of him as the day went on.
Granted, the Jets made it a point to chip him like crazy and forced Garrett out wide all game on a really hot day.
And we could pile on Joe Woods for not providing Garrett much help in the way of blitzes or stunts.
Max Mitchell vs. Myles Garrett on the game winning TD 👀 pic.twitter.com/JPNeYngLuu
— Michael Nania (@Michael_Nania) September 19, 2022
But Garrett’s biggest faux pax came after the game when he let the disappointment roll out of his mouth at the podium.
To infer the fans’ post-game reaction hurt more than losing the game the way Cleveland did is irrational, at best.
Fans boo, and when they don’t care enough to boo is when Garrett should be worried they gave up.
NEXT: John Johnson's Comments Bring Coaching Staff Into Focus
