Instant Recap: Browns Lose 31-17 to Lions After Terrible Second Half

After a pretty decent first half of football that saw the Cleveland Browns jump out to a 17-7 lead over the Detroit Lions, they ultimately lost by a score of 31-17 in a game that will go down as the most frustrating loss this season. There was a lot to get frustrated about in this game:

• Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson whining about pass interference on pretty much every play that wasn't a completion, and the officials giving Stafford the benefit of the doubt for their first touchdown of the game.
  
  
• With the Browns down 24-17 in the fourth quarter, Brandon Weeden connected with Greg Little on what should have been a long first-down completion. The officials ruled it incomplete, saying that Little was out of bounds. Cleveland challenged, and it seemed clear as day that he had both feet in bounds. The ruling? Incomplete.
  
  
• The Lions were trying to seal the game, but needed a third-down conversion. The Browns forced a stop, but a flag was thrown on outside linebacker Quentin Groves for roughing the passer. Replays showed no such foul.
  
  
• I thought we've heard some bad or biased announcers before, but Heath Evans now owns the crown as the most irritating announcer in NFL history. His commentary from start to finish was enough to make your blood boil, regardless of what was happening on the field.

Those were things that made this game less enjoyable. At the end of the day, though, Cleveland has themselves to blame. They couldn't generate a lick of pressure on Matthew Stafford. Despite the fact that Johnson was largely a decoy, Reggie Bush provided a spark for the Lions. Inside linebacker Craig Robertson did not have a good day in coverage, and the defense allowed an undrafted free agent tight end, Joseph Fauria, to catch three touchdown passes against them and do a stupid touchdown dance after each of them. The play that will be talked about the most, though?

Ugh.