Winning in different, unexpected ways shows progress
In Sunday’s 34-20 victory over the Washington FootballTeam, the Browns didn’t just prevail in a different, unexpected way, but they also won a game previous iterations of the franchise would have blown.
The star-studded offense struggled for much of the first half and snoozed for nearly the entire third quarter, among the reasons the Browns were outgained by Washington309to300yards in the final count.
But a defense that had created just two turnovers in the first two games of the season registered five takeaways. Theoffense scoredoff four of those takeaways, the exception a fumble recovery as the first half ended, and didn’t give the ball away to help secure a 5-0win in the turnover battle.
“That’s playing complementary football,” safety Karl Joseph said on Zoom.
Joseph and linebackers MalcolmSmithandB.J. Goodson intercepted Washington quarterback Dwayne Haskins, and the offense scored a touchdownoff each of the three picks. Goodson added a fumble recovery (cornerback Terrance Mitchell forced rookie running back Antonio Gibson lose the ball) with no time left in the first half, and Cody Parkeymade a 30-yardfield goal with 1:10 left in the fourth quarter 10 plays after defensive end Myles Garrett had a strip-sack against Haskins and then recovered the fumble at the Washington 41.
That’s 24 points off turnovers. The offense wasn’t nearly as prolific as it was Sept. 17 in a 35-30 win over the Cincinnati Bengals on “Thursday Night Football,” but it’s not always going to be. What’s more important is that it made Washington pay for its miscues.
Watching the Browns improve to 2-1 for the first time since 2011 and climb above .500 for the first time since Week 14 of the 2014 season evoked memories of Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroydin“Trading Places.”
Washington (1-2), not the Browns, was the club that repeatedly sabotaged itself. And Haskins had a performance reminiscent of many of the 30 quarterbackswho have started for the Browns since 1999.
In the past, the Browns have also foundways tocompile a bunch of turnovers but
fail to capitalize. Their five takeaways are the most they have tallied in a game since they had six in the 2018 season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Theywonthe turnover battle 6-1 in that game. The result? A 21-21 tie.
Finding a way to win is easier when there is more talent on the roster, and the Browns have better players than they did two years ago. They’re alsomore organized and composed under Kevin Stefanski than they were last season under Freddie
Kitchens, whowas fired after going 6-10 in his lone season as head coach.
Theymade winning plays after losing the lead and momentumin the thirdquarter. Washington rallied from a 17-0 deficit to defeat the Philadelphia Eagles 27-17 in Week 1, so the Brownswere in serious troublewhen their 17-7 halftime lead turned into a 20-17 advantage forWashington via Haskins’ 11-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Dontrelle Inman with 2:20 left in the third quarter.
“I thinkwe all felt thatpressure,” running back Nick Chubb said. “... We knew that this team came back the past twoweeks on their opponent, sowe knewthey were going to have push in the third and fourth quarter and they did. That’s a great team we played. We pulled together, and we found a way to win.”
Receiver Odell Beckham Jr. finished with four catches on six targets for 59 yards. Thosearen’t eye-opening statistics, but he delivered crucial plays. His 15-yard reception on third-and-12 fromthe Cleveland 23-yard line awakened the offense and gave the Browns their first first down of the second half on the penultimate play of the third quarter.
“It was huge,” quarterback Baker Mayfield said. “Two of our biggest conversions came from [running back] Kareem [Hunt] doing an unbelievable job. He picked up [Washington safety] Landon Collins on a safety pressure on that play and gave us a chance to get the ball in Odell’s hands. We converted that one and went on later on to score on that drive. We really need the spark, and after that, we were playing complementary football.”
After Beckham created a spark, Mayfield finished the 11-play, 75-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown pass to rookie tight end Harrison Bryant. With 11:14 left in the fourth quarter, the Browns went ahead 24-20 and never trailed again.
Goodson intercepted Haskins on the ensuing possession, andthree plays later, Chubb rushed for a 20-yard touchdown, allowing the Browns to extend their lead to31-20with 8:40 remaining.
Washington has a stellar defensive line featuring five first-round draft picks, though rookie No. 2 overall selection Chase Young was ruled out for the rest of the game early in the second quarter with a groin injury.
Chubbfinishedwith 19carries for 108 yards (5.7 average) and two touchdowns. In the first half, he had 12 carries for 53 yards (4.4 average) and a touchdown.
Although the Browns rushedwell, they didn’t use much of the play-action bootleg passing game in which Mayfield thrived against the Bengals, likelybecauseWashington’s defensive ends line up wide.