CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – What a disaster.
The Browns blew a golden opportunity to keep pace in the AFC playoff race with Sunday’s 29-12 loss to the Broncos that saw Dorian Thompson-Robinson suffer a concussion, Myles Garrett a left arm/hand/wrist injury and Amari Cooper also head to the locker room with an unknown injury.
Here’s our top Brownie Bites from a disastrous day in Denver.
Stacking wins remains elusive for the franchise since 1999. They've won three straight just nine times, including this year, and four in a row just three times in 25 years. Meanwhile the Broncos won their fifth in a row, which every team in the NFL seems to do with regularity, except the Browns.
This loss is on Kevin Stefanski, plain and simple. Stefanski refused to attack Denver’s No. 32 ranked run defense, and the few time that he did saw the Browns move the football with ease. Instead, Stefanski had Thompson-Robinson throw it 29 times vs. 15 runs between Jerome Ford and Kareem Hunt before Thompson-Robinson departed with a head injury. Stefanski got cute early in the fourth quarter calling a reverse that saw Elijah Moore’s pitch after P.J. Walker handed the ball to him be fumbled while flipping the ball to Pierre Strong. Denver recovered and scored a touchdown on tight end Adam Trautman’s sliding catch from Russell Wilson to blow a tight 17-12 game open.
Denver gashed the Browns for 169 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Conversely the Browns managed 107 yards rushing against the No. 32 run defense in the NFL. Ford averaged 7.2 yards per carry but only received nine of them to finish with 65 yards. Hunt had 22 on seven carries.
At 7-4, the Browns could be in serious trouble depending on the outcome of injuries from this game. Thompson-Robinson had to depart with 11 seconds remaining in the third quarter after taking a vicious hit from Broncos linebacker Baron Browning as he threw the ball after scrambling on third-and-12. Browning was called for a personal foul. Thompson-Robinson’s mouth was bloody as he went to the medical tent, and he was diagnosed with a concussion. Cooper left in the fourth quarter after getting hit by Broncos linebacker P.J. Locke while trying to make a catch. Garrett bounced in and out of the lineup for much of the afternoon while favoring his left arm, which was in a sling. Garrett mentioned to reporters he hears a pop, which is a bad sign.
Thompson-Robinson completed 14 of 29 passes for 134 yards with a touchdown before departing. Walker went 6 of 13 for 56 yards in relief.
Dropped passes continue to plague the Browns. There were at least six of those Sunday. They also fumbled five times and lost three of them.
Another slow start for the Browns in the opening quarter saw Denver lead 7-0 after 1 thanks to a three-yard touchdown run by Broncos running back Samaje Perine with 8:14 remaining in the quarter. Denver had 68 yards rushing in the opening quarter, the most allowed by the Browns this season. Cleveland has been outscored 76-33 in the first 15 minutes of games this season.
An unusually messy sequence for center Ethan Pocic occurred with around five minutes to play in the first quarter. With Harrison Bryant under center, Pocic was called for a false start for moving the ball forward on third and short. Then on fourth and short he contributes to a fumbled snap at midfield to Bryant.
Linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah got the football back with a punchout of Wilson after the Broncos QB ran for a first down on fourth down. Defensive end Alex Wright recovered the football for the Browns. JOK had seven tackles, two for a loss plus a sack and QB hit.
The Browns fell behind 14-0 on the road again after Wilson ran it in from 2 yards out with 5:52 remaining in the first half. Denver came into the game with one rushing touchdown this season and they already had two of them in the first 30 minutes.
The Browns had their best opportunity to score 7 late in the first half but Thompson-Robinson couldn’t connect on second or third down. His pass was batted at the line by Broncos defensive tackle Mike Purcell looking for receiver David Bell on a slant and then a fade to the back corner on third down fell incomplete with receivers Cedric Tillman and Elijah Moore vying for the football. Hopkins kicked a 24-yard field goal to make it 14-6 at half.
Cleveland cut it to 2 at 14-12 with 6:42 to play in the third quarter after Thompson-Robinson hit Bryant for a 2-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal. Bryant lined up next to Nick Harris and Hunt behind Thompson-Robinson in the T. Unfortunately, Cooper, who converted a third-and-long early in the drive, dropped the 2-point conversion that would’ve tied the game. On the drive tight end David Njoku made two big catches but was unable to haul in a touchdown for the second straight week on second-and-goal.
Zach Allen sacked Walker for a safety to close out the scoring and seal the fifth consecutive win for Denver with over 2 minutes to play.