Peoples-jones continues his third-year breakout
CLEVELAND — Donovan Peoples-jones’ third-year emergence continued on Saturday night.
The Browns receiver didn’t have the statistical game he had six days earlier in Cincinnati. However, Peoples-jones certainly made an impact in the 13-3 win over the Baltimore Ravens.
It was Peoples-jones who caught the game’s lone touchdown, a 3-yard pass from Deshaun Watson. He initially ran a quick out, but then cut back toward the middle where Watson found him in stride for the score.
“It was a great play call,” Peoples-jones said. “We had them in the defense that we anticipated and we went out there and we executed.”
The touchdown grab was one of four catches in the game for Peoples-jones, who finished with 31 receiving yards. The four catches matched Amari Cooper for the most by a Browns player.
It’s all part of what has been a breakthrough season for the University of Michigan product. He has already blown past his career highs in both catches and receiving yards, all while being a much bigger target in the passing game.
Peoples-jones has been targeted 84 times this season, which is 26 more than the 58 times he was a year ago. He caught 57 of those for 782 yards.
Over the last three games since Watson has returned from his 11-game suspension, it has been Peoples-jones who has seen a large number of passes come his way. He’s been targeted by Watson 18 times in three games, with 15 catches for 189 yards and a touchdown.
“We’re just trying to get better each week in practice and come out here in the games and showcase what we’ve been working on,” Peoples-jones said.
Chubb gets going again
It wasn’t the 100-yard rushing performance Browns fans have come to enjoy from
Nick Chubb. But finishing a yard shy of that number Saturday was still huge for the offense.
Chubb was coming off an afternoon in Cincinnati last Sunday on which he was held to just 34 yards on 14 carries. On top of that, he was going against a Ravens defense that ranked No. 2 against the run and had limited the last five opponents to an average of 55 rushing yards a game.
So, Chubb’s ability to get 99 yards on 21 carries was a big thing for the Browns offense.
“I mean, it definitely helps,” right tackle Jack Conklin said. “The defense played an unbelievable game, and that’s a really good defense, too, that we’re playing against. We knew it early on we just gotta keep on pounding them and that, hopefully, at the end of the game things would start to break, and that’s kind of what happened.”
Chubb gained 41 of his 99 yards on his final seven carries. All of those came on the Browns’ final two possessions.
It was Chubb’s 11-yard run with just under 2:30 remaining that gave the Browns the first down they needed to line up in victory formation.
“It is awesome because you have that balance,” Watson said. “The defense can’t just sit on a one-dimensional offense. Early on, you could tell they knew we wanted to run the ball and we couldn’t in the first half so they knew we wanted to pass it. Once the run game kind of [got going, it] opened up everything else. That 94-yard drive, the passes started coming open because they knew that Chubb and Kareem were a play away from just breaking it. They had a couple of big runs on that one so they had to respect that. Then we got behind them on some crosses. It was good to be able to have that balance.”
Brissett successful on fourth down
Jacoby Brissett is no longer the Browns’ starting quarterback. That doesn’t mean the veteran has been forgotten.
Brissett has been called upon in each of Watson’s first two starts in third- or fourth-and-short situations. He picked one up in Houston two weeks ago, then threw an incomplete pass on fourthand-1 early in the Browns’ loss in Cincinnati last Sunday.
So, when Brissett was sent out with 7:28 remaining and the Browns facing a fourthand-1 from Baltimore’s 37, there was an audible grumbling from the fans. Those grumbles, though, turned into cheers when Brissett gained three yards to move the chains on the drive.
“Yeah, like I said before, it’s not like I can go anywhere,” Brissett said. “I mean, I gotta stay here and do my job. So whatever the team needs, whether it’s that or anything else, just being there for the guys because, yeah, I’m still part of this team.”