4 Thoughts as Cleveland Browns Bounce Back Against Bengals

After the Cleveland Browns trounced the Cincinnati Bengals on the road, Cory Kinnan offers four thoughts on the game.

The Cleveland Browns bounce back big against the Cincinnati Bengals as thoughts on Jedrick Wills, Donovan Peoples-Jones, and the red zone offense emerge.

After laying an egg against the Pittsburgh Steelers and enduring one of the most chaotic weeks ever under this regime, the Browns came out looking for vengeance. They did just that, running the Bengals out of their own building by a score of 41-16. 

Complete dominance by both sides of the ball, the Browns now head into a week against the New England Patriots with a 5-4 record. What stood out in this lopsided game? 

Jedrick Wills has best game as a Brown

Trey Hendrickson came into the game with 7.5 sacks on the season. He finished the game with just a half of a sack that came as a coverage sack. No beating around the bush, Jedrick Willis took Hendrickson to the woodshed all game long.

Not only that, but Wills can be found climbing up to the second level and down the field on Nick Chubb's long 70 yard touchdown as well. Battling though health this season, Wills finally looks to be completely healthy for the first time since Week 1. 

This was his best game as a Cleveland Brown and one that must be built upon as the Browns enter a crucial stretch before the bye week. It's not a big secret that Wills has struggled this season, grading out poorly by PFF.

With health as a factor, there is hope that he and the Browns are beginning to get back on track at the right time.

We are now on sack watch with Myles Garrett

For one, there needs to be a conversation about all of the missed holds on Myles Garrett. These aren't the coached holds used against elite pass rushers. These are wraps around the waist, grabs at the collarbone, and borderline tackles.

Regardless, however, Garrett managed to reel in another 1.5 sacks today, boosting his total to 12 on the season. With eight games to go, Garrett now sits 10.5 sacks off of the all-time single-season record. 

This is less than a sack and a half per game, which will be a tough task for the league's best pass rusher. However, if he can find a way to sneak out just a couple two-sack games, the number becomes extremely attainable. 

He is just nine sacks off of Clay Matthews Sr.'s career record with the Browns, and doing so in what could end up being 150 less games. He is just two sacks off of Cleveland's single-season record of 14 set by Reggie Camp. 

Garrett is your Defensive Player of the Year at this point, holdings be darned. If he keeps this up, he will find his name in the record books both within the franchise and beyond. 

How does the red zone offense improve?

If there was a qualm about this game, it continued to be the red zone offense. Once again, the Browns got within the 10 yard line on two separate occasions against the Bengals and failed to come away with six points.

The efficiency was a bit better overall this week, but still lacking. What is going wrong at the goal line, and how can it improve? There isn't a concern with play calling, there isn't really a concern with personnel. It just continues to come down to execution.

Bad penalties inside the five yard line are inexcusable, and one snuck up and bit them today. The offense was humming today, and has for most of the season, but they have to figure it out inside the 20. Today was a good start.

The ceiling of Donovan Peoples-Jones has yet to be found

The Browns needed a wide receiver to step up after this week. And big time. Peoples-Jones did just that, racking up a tab of 86 yards and a touchdown on just two catches. 

The volume is still not there for Peoples-Jones to be convinced he can handle the load of a true top wide receiver. However, what is exciting, is that the ceiling of Peoples-Jones has yet to be found or even scratched.

A year ago, Peoples-Jones was arguably just a big target down the field after being selected in the sixth round by the Browns. This year, however, he has proven that his development has been great. His second catch, a deep ball down the sideline, displayed a great deal of nuance off the line of scrimmage to beat press-man coverage. 

He has already outplayed his draft position in less than two years, and the sky appears to be the limit. Can he be a true WR1? Who cares? The position will be a need regardless this offseason. What has become evident is he has the makings of a long-term threat who still has room to grow.

And that is absolutely thrilling.

READ MORE: Winners - Browns Tame Bengals, Hang 41 Points