Cleveland Browns Grades: Offense fails to take advantage

Nov 28, 2021; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) walks on to the field during the game against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 28, 2021; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) walks on to the field during the game against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports /
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Cleveland Browns
Nov 28, 2021; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Cleveland Browns kicker Chase McLaughlin (3) reacts after missing a field goal in the first quarter against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports /

Week 12 was a tough one for the Cleveland Browns offense, and that’s reflected in this week’s report card

The Cleveland Browns could not seize the moment and let another win slip from their grasp in a 16-10 loss at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens.

The Browns had a golden opportunity that they simply failed to take advantage of. There is a bevy of different things that did not go accordingly for Cleveland and this is a game that might end up costly down the stretch.

Cleveland dropped to 6-6 on the season while Baltimore jumped to 8-3. The Browns are currently third in the AFC North but are in the 11th spot in terms of playoff seeding. A win against the Ravens would have been huge heading in the Week 13 bye.

This was a game in which the Browns defense really had a strong performance, but complementary football was not played as the offense couldn’t capitalize on an ample amount of Ravens mistakes and sputtered out most of the night.

The team played well enough to win but came up short. This is the worst loss of the year based simply on the fact that this team controlled its own destiny – in a sense, they still do – and seemed unprepared offensively.

Let’s get to the grades, shall we?

Cleveland Browns Special Teams Grade: C

The special teams unit didn’t play great, but they also didn’t play poorly.

Kicker Chase McLaughlin missed a 46-yard field goal and also connected on a 46-yard field goal. Leaving points off the board is something that can’t happen. Cleveland was solid on the opening drive, but then the McLaughlin miss put that to a screeching, scoreless halt.

Punter Jamie Gillan booted the ball six times for 261 yards for a 43.5 average and put Baltimore inside their own 20 twice. He’s still struggling, so it will be interesting to see if the Browns explore other options during the bye week.

The return game wasn’t anything to write home about. Demetric Felton returned one punt for negative three yards and Jojo Natson was only able to return one kick-off for a total of 15 yards.