CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – There’s a lot to smile about a day after the Browns upset of the 49ers.
Here’s our top Brownie Bites from the third victory Monday of the season.
Nothin’ new – This just in, Deshaun Watson remains day-to-day. The quarterback’s status remains unchanged according to head coach Kevin Stefanski who said Monday afternoon, “He's making progress and we'll know more as the week progresses.” Watson hasn’t practiced since September 29 when he was extremely limited due to a right rotator cuff contusion suffered against Tennessee September 24 that is preventing him from effectively throwing the football. Stefanski continues evade questions from local reporters when it comes to specifics about Watson and said Monday he “doesn’t pay attention to reports,” but we should note that Stefanski explained Watson’s injury in detail for Jay Glazer, who mentioned what Stefanski told him in during his pregame report for FOX NFL Sunday. All we can do is ask the questions when we have the opportunity. We don't control the answers.
Best in the World – The Browns served notice Sunday they are for real – at least defensively – and turning non-believers into believers. Holding the 49ers to a season low 17 points and 215 yards was no accident in Sunday’s 19-17 win. “That's our goal, is to be number one, to be that best defense,” cornerback Denzel Ward said. “We went against who you guys considered the best offense [Sunday], and they were a great offense. And I feel that we've been showcasing what we're capable of week in and week out, and we got to continue to stay consistent.” The Browns have allowed just 51 first downs, limited opponents on third down to a 23.1% conversion rate and just 1,002 total yards – all leading the NFL by a comfortable margin. “We're playing good defense. We're playing sound defense,” Stefanski said. “But there's room for improvement. And I think those are some of the things that we talked about this morning. There are definitely things that we can continue to do better. I know coach [Jim] Schwartz and the defensive staff are not concerned at all about statistics. We're not. That's just not how we operate. We're concerned with playing good football, playing sound defense, and we're not chasing any type of stats.” Cleveland has allowed the fewest yards through their first five games since 1971 and it’s also a franchise record through the first six weeks of a season. “When we lock in, when we play discipline, complementary football and have a great deal of focus and everything is aligning the way it's supposed to, we are the best,” safety Rodney McLeod said. “And I think for anything in life, you have to speak things into existence and you have to manifest it and it's just a constant reminder about who we are and what we're striving to be day in and day out. And everybody holds one another to that standard. And I love it.”
Keep the faith – As the 49ers lined up for the 41-yard field goal, McLeod’s message was simple. “I remember Rod saying, 'hey, just keep hope, keep faith', and the game's not over yet, we still got one more play,” Ward said. “So the focus was just play this play as hard as you can. Everybody come off hard and try to find a way to affect the kick and go block the kick. And so it was just a lot of emotions.” It worked because Jake Moody’s kick sailed wide right and Ward came within a whisker of blocking it. “Even though he didn't necessarily block the field goal, you can tell that it did affect the kicker,” McLeod said. “And so when I saw it go wide right, man, I was just ecstatic and celebrating with him.”
One to go – Tight end Harrison Bryant seems to have become the one-yard specialist for the Browns. Sunday Bryant lined up behind center and took the direct snap on a third-and-1 at the 16. He moved and pitched the ball left to running back Kareem Hunt, who followed the blockers in front into the end zone. “Those meetings for short yardage goal line, those are some of my favorite ones during the week because you try to look at what you might be facing and try and get creative and get that yard sometimes,” Stefanski said. “We’ve run that play before, so that’s no secret. But to have a versatile football player like Harrison that you trust in those moments to do a variety of jobs. He’s a guy since he got here, he does a lot of dirty work, doesn’t get a lot of the credit, but he’s done a really nice job in that expanded role.”
Stepping up – Stefanski praised Michael Dunn, who filled in for Joel Bitonio Sunday, for not only playing through a calf injury but playing well. “He was unbelievable,” Stefanski said. “I mean, the way he fought through his injury, he wouldn't come out of the game, and you can see it on tape. He was fighting and just in the run game in the past game. He's a guy that we trust so much. He's played well when we put him in there. He's an awesome teammate, just an all around good person. We're really pleased that he's a member of the Browns.”
Running men – The run game appears to be resurrected after the Browns out-gained the 49ers on the ground 160-108 behind 84 yards on 17 carries from Jerome Ford and Hunt’s 47 on 12 totes plus the score. “They did a really good job with a tough front. I mean, that's a very good run front,” Stefanski said. “We got on the edges, when we could get on the edges. We ran tight zone when we could run tight zone. We moved them with double teams. So tried a little bit of everything and then you got to highlight the tight ends and the wide receivers, the role they play in the run game as well. But Kareem ran hard. Jerome ran hard. Wasn't pretty always, but, man, they played really hard."
Injury updates – Stefanski said linebacker Antony Walker is in concussion protocol and the team hopes Bitonio returns to practice Wednesday in addition to the Watson non-update and Dunn’s calf injury.
