3 Studs & 2 Duds From the Browns' Monday Night Football Loss Against the Steelers

That was a tough one. The Cleveland Browns' Week 2 Monday Night Football loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers hurt for so many reasons.

It hurt to lose to a rival. It hurt to continue our streak of having never started 2-0 since the Browns returned to Cleveland in 1999. It hurts to lose a chance at leading the AFC North. It hurt to see our supposed franchise QB struggle agian. It hurt to see our biggest offensive star suffer a devastating injury.

But all of that hurt doesn't mean there weren't bright spots. If Browns fans have been trained to do anything over the years, it's in finding reasons to get excited about this team even when a game doesn't go our way.

Here's a look at three studs and two duds from last night's painful loss.

Browns Week 2 Studs and Duds vs Steelers

Stud: Nick Chubb

How can you not give it up for Nick Chubb after Monday night? The entire sports world was in Chubb's corner. Even Steelers fans were willing to set the rivalry aside to support Chubb.

Chubb's gruesome knee injury was not only incredibly hard to watch (ESPN wouldn't even show one replay), but it was heartbreaking. It was the same knee Chubb seriously injured in college at Georgia, and it clearly ends his 2023 season. I won't speculate on what it means for his career beyond 2023, but that we even have that thought come to mind is telling of just how bad the injury is.

Honestly, I'd want to give Chubb the stud designation even if he'd had a bad game.

But he was well on his way to another huge night already. Chub was his usual dominant self while he was on the field, destorying the Steelers defense for 64 yards on just 10 carries.

Chubb is one of the few truly irreplaceable running backs in the NFL, and the Browns offense will look very different as they move forward without him.

Dud: Deshaun Watson

Deshaun Watson's poor play makes the Chubb injury sting that much more.

This does not look like an offense that can function without a dangerous rushing attack, and Watson's play has been a big part of that.

Obviously things were pretty rough right from the jump, as Watson threw a pick-six on the first play of the game.

That was just the first of three turnovers for Watson in the game, also losing a fumble on a run and getting strip-sacked for another defensive touchdown.

Watson's overall stat line left a lot to be desired, going just 22/40 for 235 yards with 1 TD and 1 interception, and a big part of the limited success he did have was carried by a couple of incredible catches and perfect routes by Amari Cooper.

Watson even risked ejection by pulling one of the biggest no-nos in the rulebook. Letting your temper get the best of you like that is unacceptable. The franchise quarterback should be able to keep his cool and not risk making things even worse for his team.

Total dud behavior, even if he hadn't already had a bad game to go with it.

Stud: Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah

It was clear on Monday night why Jim Schwartz describes Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah as a "lightning bolt." He was absolutely flying around the field on every play.

Every time a play ended, if Owusu-Koramoah wasn't in the pile of bodies that was making the tackle, you could be pretty sure you'd see 6 right in the fray anyway.

That explosiveness was on display when he was flowing sideline-to-sideline in pursuit or in pass coverage, and also on display vertically when he was breaking into the backfield right off the snap on run plays.

This put the Steelers running backs in some very tough spots, feeling heat as soon as the took the handoff, and led to some great plays that include a big TFL that helped for a 3-and-out with the game close in the first quarter.

But it wasn't just flying around the field that made him a stud. He also played solid fundamental footballl and didn't get overagressive in pursuit to miss his run fits. His TFL on the reverse to Calvin Austin ended up looking like an easy play for the linebacker, since he put himself in such a perfect position to make the play in the first place.

JOK is quickly becoming one of the Browns' most valuable defenders.

Dud: Wyatt Teller

Former Browns defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi gave our offense a mighty hard time on Monday, especially in the first half. And nobody had more of a hard time with Ogunjobi than Wyatt Teller did.

Even when Ogunjobi wasn't getting home for sacks, he was getting pressure and forcing Watson to either get the ball out or scramble from the pocket immediately.

Really the entire Browns offensive line struggled with the Steelers defensive front, but Teller in particular had a dud of a day.

He had already had an up-and-down Week 1 showing, and with rookie Dawand Jones starting next to him on the right side we really needed Teller to step up, and he just couldn't.

Is this a hard matchup for any offensive line? Absolutely. But when you're supposed to be one of the best offensive lines in football you shouldn't look this overmatched against anyone, period. A two-time second-team All-Pro like Teller has no business getting beat like he did early on Monday Night.

Things started to get a little better for Teller in the second half, and he ended up stringing together a few solid reps, but he didn't do enough to overcome that poor first half.

Stud: Jerome Ford

There aren't many players in the NFL whose injuries would leave bigger shoes to fill than Nick Chubb. Not only is he arguably the best running back in the NFL, but he's one of the most unique.

His ability to break off explosive big plays while also handling an old-school high-volume workload and getting better as the game goes on is something you just don't see.

But when Chubb went down, especially with Watson struggling, Ford had to take things over, and he was up to the task immediately.

Ford caught a touchdown pass on the first play after Chubb's injury, then immediately followed that with a two-point conversion.

He went on to combine consistent, tough running with explosive home-run hitting upside (notably a 70-yard touchdown run) in a way that looked very reminiscent of Chubb.

A final stat line for 15 carries for 105 yards plus 3 receptions for 25 yards and a touchdown is nothing to scoff at.

Ford doesn't have a hope of actually replacing Chubb in a one-for-one kind of way, but more studly performances like this are exactly what Cleveland needs to continue posing a threat on offense with Chubb out of the picture.

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