The end of the long journey of the 2025 NFL regular season is upon us. No playoffs for the Cleveland Browns faithful once again. In fact, another year of double-digit losses.
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We all would like to view the schedule and give accounts of games that the Browns had basically won in the fourth quarter and then gave those matches away. Or how Cleveland lost all these games by less than a touchdown.
Yeah, none of that happened. The Browns’ offensive line went down to
injury player by player, and only seven-time Pro Bowler Joel Bitonio was the only starter left. All of the remaining line was second-teamers and practice-squad guys. The lack of a decent offensive line decimated this Cleveland offense. Then there is the flux at quarterback, in which the Browns once again started multiple guys to start and ended up with two rookies for the majority of the season.
TE David Njoku was hurt – again. Rookie RB Quinshon Judkins was playing well and ended up on IR himself. The special teams group struggled all season. The receiver group was terrible.
The Browns played the Cincinnati Bengals in the rubber game. The Bengals won the first game in the opening weekend 17-16, but this game had extra incentive as Myles Garrett was attempting to become the sack leader in a single season. At the final gun, K Andre Szmyt nailed a 49-yard field goal to top Cincy 20-18. It would become the second game in a row that the Browns won.
So who played well for the Browns? Who didn’t?
BROWNIES
DE Myles Garrett – Back in Week 14 against the Tennessee Titans, their offense had given up the most sacks this year. It was supposed that Garrett would have another five-sack day, and speculation was that he would end up with 30+ for the year. However, the Titans only yielded a single sack. Bears 1.5 sacks. Bills .05. Steelers 0.0. Garrett remained one full sack away from the record playing the Bengals, who had allowed 34 sacks this year. Anticipation was high for the entire first half, but no sack.
With 4:45 left in the third quarter, Garrett had QB Joe Burrow in his sights on a scramble, but Burrow turned his head at the last second, made a move as Garrett never leaped. Early in the fourth quarter, Garrett was late as Burrow hurried his throw. All the while, Cincinnati had a tight end on Garrett’s side who chipped him, then passed him off to LT Orlando Brown, Jr., who is 6’-8” and weighs 350 pounds. Nobody left for the restroom or the concession stand or wandered off at the sports bar while the Bengals had the ball. The third quarter came and left. Finally, with 5:16 remaining in the game, the Bengals lined up on a first-and-10 at the Cleveland 45 after converting a third-and-two. Burrow was in shotgun. The rightside was devoid of a tight end. Garrett got off the snap, placed his right hand on Brown’s outer shoulder pad, then jumped inside like he was shot out of a gun, and Burrow had no chance to do anything except make sure he did not fumble. The Bengals had tried so hard to keep Garrett from the record, but failed to line up a tight end when they needed it the most. Literally, time stood still, and the refs did not attempt to start the play clock for the ensuing down as they waited patiently for Garrett’s celebration to subside.
On third-and-five, Garrett just missed another sack. The NFL should have been more prepared for this moment, as they should have had the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award already engraved and wheeled it out to Garrett on the spot. 23 sacks in a single season is an amazing achievement. We love you, Myles. Thank you for staying in Cleveland.
LB Devin Bush – Why hasn’t Bush been signed to an extension already? The dude plays lights out every game. 14 tackles in this game. Yeah. Knocked down a pass and had a pick six for, what? 97 yards? Who wasn’t yelling at Garrett to block RB Chase Brown, who had almost caught up with Bush and had a great angle for the takedown? Bush looked back at the 30-yard line and luckily saw Brown, then pointed at Garrett to block him, made a move that placed Garrett and Brown together, then proceeded into the end zone. Knucklehead move to flip into the end zone as the league is trying to cut down on any act of taunting, but a great return for the score. Bush made a good tackle on RB Samaje Perine in the second quarter when it appeared Perine had an open field. On the second-and-two from Cleveland’s 46 midway in Quarter 2, Brown met Bush on the right tackle run for a single yard. Two plays later, the Bengals punted. The hook-and-lateral play in the third quarter only went for six yards as Bush wasn’t fooled.
S Grant Delpit – Delpit is more of a linebacker hybrid whose job is to take on the slot guy. Since DC Jim Schwartz rarely sends a blitz, it is usually Delpit who gets that assignment, and he came through. The 13-yard run by Perine in the first quarter was six if Delpit does not take him down. On the Sam Webb touchdown after TE Noah Fant fumbled, it was Delpit who tripped up Fant before being splattered by LB Jerome Baker, who jarred the ball loose on the hit. Delpit saved a touchdown with 4:09 left in the second quarter as WR Ja’Marr Chase caught a short pass in the right flats, and the tackle was missed by CB D’Angelo Ross with nothing but open field for Chase. The sack with 3:29 left in Quarter 3 was a stunt that left Delpit with an open lane to bury Burrow. Finished with 10 tackles, one sack, one tackle for loss, and two QB hits.
Defense – Any time your defense can provide two touchdowns is a very good day for this side of the ball. Cincy has an electric offensive attack, yet was stymied on third downs, going 5-11. Defense came away with three turnovers and had two sacks, one for the history books. No Bengals receiver got beyond the 100-yard mark for the game, and limited Burrow to just 236 passing yards.
K Andre Szmyt – Raise your hand if, after the Week 1 loss to the Bengals, in which Szmyt missed an extra point and a makable field goal, you wanted him cut. Here at DBN, we wrote an article about it with suggestions of who to bring in for a tryout. Instead, the young man shook off the yips and has had a very productive season. He has converted 22 of 25 field goals (88%), including 5-6 on kicks of 50+.
Against Cincinnati, he made both field goals of 27 and 49 yards, the final one being the game-winner with three seconds left. And while his counterpart was missing PATs, Szmyt connected on both as the Browns won by two points. Great game, and an awesome season.
FROWNIES
Offensive output – Will be happy to see a decent offensive line to gauge where this offense really stands. The defense constantly bails out this team, and scored 14 points in this game. Receivers had 21 targets, yet only caught 11 passes. That’s for the entire game. 111 passing yards. What? Quarterback was sacked six times, and should have been double-digit numbers as QB Shedeur Sanders did try to get out of trouble several times. The leading rusher had 32 yards. No receiver had more than two catches. 0-1 in the Red Zone. Time of possession: 24 minutes to the Bengals, 35 minutes. No interceptions, finally, but lost a fumble. First half possessions: Fumble, punt, punt, punt, downs. Second half: FG, punt, punt, FG. Thank Schwartz’s unit for the win because this offense is a tragedy.
QB Shedeur Sanders – In all fairness, the O-Line he is working behind is a seven-time Pro Bowler, and then all second team or practice squad guys. How many passes in this game did Sanders throw into the turf?
Did not toss an interception for once, but his fumble on the Browns’ first possession was a collapsed pocket in which he took off towards the right and held the ball with one hand as he approached defensive players. All DE Cam Sample did was reach out and touch the ball, sending it loose. Every ball carrier must tuck the ball to their chest when approaching any defensive counterparts. That put the Bengals in business at the 28-yard line, which four plays later became six points. Three passes in this game should have been intercepted, but were messed up by the Cincy defense: 6:29 first quarter, 5:34 second quarter, 13:34 third quarter. With 19 seconds in the game, Sanders threw a long pass to WR Isaiah Bond, but heaved it into the field instead of along the sideline, which Bond was running. That could have been a huge completion. The Browns’ offense had just 11 first downs, with four being on a passing play. Third down efficiency 5-14. Only got into the Red Zone once all game, and went 0-1. Under Sanders, the offense scored just six points. Finished going 11-22 for just 111 passing yards. Yikes. A 5.0 yards per pass reception average, sacked six times, with a 64.8 QB rating.
Milk Bones – Turns out being an adult is mainly just Googling stuff
DT Shelby Harris – Got his hand up and tipped the pass that Bush intercepted, then ran back for the defensive touchdown. Was a key factor in the Bengals not being able to run up the middle.
CB Sam Webb – Came into the game when CB Tyson Campbell became injured early in the game, and was Johnny-on-the-spot with the scoop and score. But he had no defense on the Bengals’ late touchdown to Chase. With 33 seconds before the half, the Burrow pass into the end zone should have been up for grabs as Webb was slightly deeper than WR Tee Higgins, except Webb never looked for the ball. The TV announcer called it a spectacular catch. Webb might have intercepted it and, at the very least, knocked it away. Instead, he grabbed Higgins’ arm, then watched him make a great catch. Made four tackles.
