Coming up empty before half was costly

Coming up empty in drive before halftime was costly in loss to Chiefs

The lament around town after the Browns blew a 29-20 fourth-quarter lead in Kansas City on Sept. 12 is they won’t be an elite team until they learn how to finish.

True enough, but finishing isn’t always defined by what happens at the end of a game, center JC Tretter says.

“It’s attention to detail throughout the entire game,” Tretter said on a Zoom call Sept. 13. “Every moment is important — making sure you have no lulls, no little let-downs … It’s about doing the right thing for 60 minutes no matter where that comes.”

Coach Kevin Stefanski was in no mood to hear about playing well against the two-time defending AFC champs for most of the game. He answered with a succinct “No” when asked if in “the big picture” he felt better about his team if it cleans up the mistakes that led to defeat.

Lost in the debris of Nick Chubb fumbling, punter Jamie Gillan running with the ball and being tackled after dropping a perfect snap from Charley Hughlett, safety John Johnson being beaten for a 75-yard catch and run on a pass from Patrick Mahomes to Tyreek Hill and Baker Mayfield’s final pass being intercepted is the way the first half ended.

The Browns were leading, 22-10, when they got the ball on the Cleveland 1 with 1:31 remaining in the second quarter after a Kansas City punt.

Stefanski called for a safe play — a handoff to Kareem Hunt. The play gained five yards. The Chiefs called their first timeout. They called their second timeout after Hunt ran 15 yards to the Cleveland 21 on the

next play.

Now, with 59 seconds still left in the half, the Browns changed gears. Instead of running out the clock, they went on the attack.

Mayfield hit tight end David Njoku for 43 yards to the Chiefs’ 36. The Browns called their first timeout with 49 seconds left before halftime.

Passes on first and second downs were incomplete. A holding penalty on Wyatt Teller on third down pushed the ball back to the Chiefs’ 46. Left tackle Chris Hubbard was beaten by Chiefs

defensive end Chris Jones, who sacked Mayfield at the Browns’ 43 on the next play, setting up fourth-and-and 31. The Browns advanced the ball 45 yards to the Chiefs’ 12 as time ran out.

The Browns came up empty. Even a field goal on that drive might have changed the way they approached the final possession had the score been 3332 instead of 33-29.

“Those are the moments,” Tretter said. “We knocked ourselves out of field goal range. Those are points that are needed in every game.

It’s not all about what happens in the fourth quarter.

“There is a ton of game before the fourth quarter. Little things like that need to be improved on to put ourselves in a better situation when it comes to that fourth quarter.”

Hubbard might be the starting left tackle on Sept. 19 when the Browns host the Houston Texans in the home opener at FirstEnergy Stadium. Jedrick Wills, who started at left tackle against the Chiefs, is “day to day” with an ankle injury, Stefanski said.

ED ZURGA — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Nick Chubb carries during the second half of the Browns’ loss to the Chiefs on Sept. 12.