CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The Browns ended the 2021 season by sweeping the AFC North champions – even if Cincinnati sat most of their key players.
The 21-16 victory for Cleveland allowed them to finish 8-9 in the NFL’s newly expanded 17-game schedule, still bitterly disappointing given the expectations going into the season.
Here are our Top Takeaways from Sunday’s 2021 season finale.
1. The season opened with a Baker Mayfield-Patrick Mahomes matchup and ended with Brandon Allen and Case Keenum squaring off. Somehow, that seems fitting.
2. It was die-hard day at the stadium with most fans dressed as empty chairs. This isn’t a shot at loyal fans who continue to ride or die with their beloved Browns but is a reminder of their understandable dissatisfaction with what happened this season.
3. Not sure where the creativity went for most of the season but with Baker Mayfield watching from the bench, Kevin Stefanski mixed it up a bit with multiple misdirection plays and even a flea flicker. For much of the day – minus two turnovers by Keenum – the offense resembled what we thought it would for most of the year. Such a shame that it didn’t.
4. Mayfield was on the sideline and spent the game engaged in conversations with teammates and looking at pictures on the tablets with Keenum. Stefanski met with Mayfield Friday to complete the quarterback’s exit interview for the year.
5. Jarvis Landry is the epitome of being a pro. In a meaningless game, Landry played as if the playoffs were on the line. He finished with six catches for 75 yards, including his second touchdown reception of the campaign – 26 yards to open the scoring and give the Brows a 7-0 lead with less than a minute to play in the opening quarter.
6. Jadeveon Clowney got himself paid with a pair of sacks to earn another $250,000 bonus. He’ll cash in a total of $750,000 in incentives. Clowney’s second sack saw him force Allen to fumble and he was frustrated after dropping the ball while trying to scoop it up. Cincinnati recovered but lost a whopping 26 yards on the play. Keeping Clowney should be among the top priorities but money will talk this spring.
7. Running back D’Ernest Johnson, who will be a restricted free agent, punctuated a solid year for him with a 100-yard game. Johnson finished with 123 yards on 25 carries, including his third touchdown run of the season – from 4 yards out – to put the Browns up 14-0 early in the second quarter.
8. Cincinnati’s first touchdown came from their defense. Defensive end Wyatt Ray strip sacked Keenum and safety Trayvon Henderson scooped the loose ball up and scored from 29 yards out to cut the Browns lead in half with under 4 minutes to play in the first half. Not one of the finer moments of the afternoon, but Keenum took the blame for it following the game.
9. With a chance to extend the lead heading into the locker room, Keenum was intercepted on the final play of the first half thanks to his pass being tipped by linebacker Markus Bailey into the arms of cornerback Mike Hilton, who returned it 35 yards. Wyatt Teller got flagged by three officials for a personal foul, which was assessed on the second half kickoff. In the third quarter Keenum was unable to convert inside the five, including a misfire on fourth down to Donovan Peoples-Jones.
10. Myles Garrett’s 16th sack of the season help derail a Bengals threat to tie the game and led to Elliott Fry bouncing a 36-yard field goal through to make it 14-10 in the third quarter. Garrett could have easily rested a groin injury but played through it down the stretch.
11. After the Bengals pulled within 21-16 on Chris Evans’ 4-yard touchdown catch and failed 2-point conversion, Cincinnati went with an onside kick and almost recovered. It took the officials 5 minutes to unpile the pile and finally award the ball to Cleveland. Harrison Bryant whiffed, MJ Stewart had it squirt around on him as well. All’s well that ends well.
12. The win allowed the Browns to avoid a 16th double digit losing season since 1999 and a last place finish. That’s pretty much the biggest positive to take away from what was an underwhelming and disappointing year.
