Berea, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – It doesn’t matter where Nick Chubb gets the ball, when it’s in his hands, he can score from anywhere on the field.
Where did the Browns’ back get it from?
“I ran track in high school, so maybe that’s what it was,” Chubb said Tuesday.
Chubb’s 88-yard touchdown to put the Browns back in front by two scores and suck the life out of the Ravens remains the talk of the town.
“I saw Earl [Thomas] give up,” right tackle Chris Hubbard said. “He is a great player. Chubb is fast. I do not think people notice his speed. When he took off running, I was like, ‘There is no way anybody is catching him.’”
Chubb was clocked at 21.95 miles per hour according to Next Gen Stats and he sustained 21 miles per hour for 44.4 yards, from the Browns 33-yard line to the Ravens 21-yard line.
“It happened so fast,” Chubb said. “Just had to get to the end zone. I did not want to get caught so I made sure I did what I had to do to get into the end zone.”
Last year against Atlanta, Chubb ripped off the longest run in Browns history and the second-longest run by a rookie in NFL history – a 92 yard TD run.
Not only is Chubb fast, he’s also agile, which he showed on his 14-yard touchdown run that saw him make four Ravens whiff on tackles as he bounced the run left.
“Just because I am a bigger back, so they don’t really think speed and big usually go together, but I am able to open up when I get an open field and it worked out,” Chubb said.
Chubb finished with 165 yards and three touchdowns rushing and 183 total yards in Baltimore.
He is just two yards shy of 400 on the young season, is averaging 5.1 yards per carry and is ranked fourth in the NFL in rushing behind Christian McCaffrey (411), Dalvin Cook (410) and Leonard Fournette (404).
“Nick, first and foremost, is an excellent individual,” head coach Freddie Kitchens said. “He works his tail off every day he walks on the football field, walks into the weight room or walks into the classroom. You know exactly what you are getting from Nick every time he walks out there. Every time the clock starts turning, you know what you are going to get from him.
“After all of that, you throw in his ability, his skillset, his desire inside within to be successful and his resilient nature and chasing being good. I do not know what else you want in a football player.”
Hubbard helps – Right tackle Chris Hubbard returned Sunday after missing the previous game due to a foot injury suffered against the Jets Sept. 16 and his presence up front was felt.
“I thought Hub played his best game to date,” Kitchens said. “I know he missed one, but I think he played his best game up to this point, which I fully expect him to do forward.”
Hubbard did not have any problems playing hurt.
“It held up pretty good. I did not feel anything,” Hubbard said.
After the offensive line had allowed 11 sacks and 16 QB hits through the first three games, Baker Mayfield was sacked once and hit once by the Ravens Sunday. As a result, Mayfield looked much more comfortable against the Ravens and the Browns offense exploded for 40 points and a season-high 530 yards, a 260-yard improvement from the previous week.
“We came out there well-planned, and as a whole O line unit we played together, we played sound and kept Baker clean for the most part and we made holes open for Nick,” Hubbard said. “Nick makes things possible. When he puts that foot into the ground, he makes things go.”
As for Hubbard’s foot, he’s good to go going forward.
“It says a lot about his character and his ability to fight through some things,” Kitchens said.
Challenging times – The NFL has an officiating problem and the rule change this year to allow coaches to challenge pass interference has been a disaster to date.
While Kitchens can’t and won’t acknowledge the problems with officials, the new rule has created a challenging situation for him when it comes to using the red flag during a game.
“It has to be very, very clear before I throw a flag for PI,” Kitchens said. “It does not really matter to me what they say to me afterwards or what they say during, or anything like that. Those are valuable, precious commodities we have to impact the game in a positive way. To take a chance on something that you know the percentages are not very high, I do not think that is the brightest thing to do, but I do think you have to pull the trigger per se whenever you have the opportunity.”
Through three weeks across the league we’ve seen calls overturned that shouldn’t be and calls that should be overturned held up after replay review.
During the third preseason game at Tampa Bay Kitchens challenged a call just to get a feel for how the rule would be administered, and it did not go well.
“We picked out a good one, I thought, and it was not overturned,” Kitchens said. “I looked at the percentages throughout the preseason and throughout the first few weeks of the regular season, and it needs to be pretty definite. The thing you run into sometimes is would they have called DPI or would they have called defensive holding? If they would [have] called defensive holding, it is not going to help you with your challenge. That is what you have to factor in, as well.”
The nominees are – Following the 45-20 win over the Ravens, Chubb was nominated for the FedEx Ground Player of the Week award and quarterback Baker Mayfield FedEx Air Player of the Week award.
Mayfield completed 20 of 30 passes for 342 yards with a touchdown, interception and passer rating of 102.4.
Long road back – It’s been a long steep climb for Browns to return atop the AFC North.
On Nov. 23, 2014 the Browns beat the Falcons 26-24 to move back atop the division. 1,731 days later, Sept. 29, 2019 they beat the Ravens 40-25 to return.
Their record between that span: 12-59-1.
Injury report – WR Jarvis Landry (concussion), WR Rashard Higgins (knee), OT Kendall Lamm (knee), CB Denzel Ward (hamstring), CB Greedy Williams (hamstring), S Morgan Burnett (quadriceps), S Sheldrick Redwine (hamstring)
