CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Mother nature might have delayed win No. 6 but there was no stopping Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt.
The Browns and Texans played some ugly football Sunday afternoon following a 35-minute weather delay prior to kickoff as strong storms blew through northeast Ohio, but Cleveland kept pace in the AFC Wild Card race.
Chubb returned from injured reserve and ran 19 times for 126 yards and a score, giving up a second TD with less than a minute to play, as the Browns beat the Texans 10-7 Sunday afternoon at FirstEnergy Stadium.
“We had to run the ball throughout that game,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said. “We were kind of in that mode from kickoff, just how those conditions were. We knew what the conditions were so then when you get those moments when a first down ends the game, that is when you really lean on your guys to come through, and they did.”
Houston, which came in with the 32nd ranked run defense, gave up 231 total yards on the ground to the Browns as Hunt added 104 yards on 19 carries.
They are the first Browns teammates to each rush for 100 yards in the same game since Leroy Kelly (113) and Ernie Green (103) on Oct. 8, 1966.
“They are two very different people, but I think that is the great part about it,” quarterback Baker Mayfield, who completed 12 of 20 passes for 132 yards, said. “Kareem brings energy into the huddle, continues to fight off tackles and just does not care what happens, just really wants to win in any way, which Nick is the same way. It is great to see how they both lead in two very different ways.”
With less than a minute to play clinging to a 3-point lead, Chubb ripped off a 59-yard run on third-and-3. Instead of walking into the endzone, he stopped at the 1 and stepped out of bounds so Mayfield could kneel on it and run out the clock.
“[It] is indicative of the type of person and player he is,” Stefanski said. “We told him, ‘Hey, get the first and game is over. Go down.’ We have a code word for that, and he said, ‘Yes sir,’ ripped down the sideline there and just did his job. We are looking for smart, tough dudes, and Nick Chubb is that.”
Kicker Cody Parkey banged through a 41-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead to cap a nice opening drive for the Browns. stalled. Mayfield was called for intentional grounding on a third-and-1 because the snap got by him after Hunt and Chubb combined for 39 yards on seven carries.
It would be the lone score until Chubb finally cracked the scoreboard with a 9-yard touchdown run that saw him bounce a run to the left past Texans defenders untouched for a 10-0 advantage with 13:32 remaining in the final quarter.
“If felt good. I had to get going,” Chubb said. “I have not played in a while, and it felt like I had not played in a while. I just had to knock the rust off and keep trusting myself and keep trusting in the line and that it would pay off in the end.”
The score by Chubb, his fifth rushing TD of the season, capped a 9-play, 64-yard drive and was the first for the Browns on the ground since Oct. 4 at Dallas.
“We always want to be a team that runs the ball,” Chubb said. “That is who we want to be. That is who we work to be and we have to keep it going. Never satisfied. We got 10 points so that is not enough. We are going to keep working and keep getting better.”
Myles Garrett and Sheldon Richardson teamed up to take Watson down to end the Texans’ first offensive series. Garrett is fastest in team history to reach 40 sacks and the fifth fastest in league history to reach the mark as he did it in his 46th game.
“It was windy day so they were not really trying to go deep or really trying to set up their passing game,” Garrett said. “When they were, we were on it. We had a lot of good blitzes. We were able to get free. We were able to get some pressure on him that caused him to throw some unapparent balls.”
Houston’s second drive stalled thanks to a drop at the goal line by Randall Cobb and then Watson got dropped for a 2-yard loss by Garrett on fourth down to give the Browns the ball at their own 4.
“I saw them go into empty, and they were on the 3-yard line,” Garrett said. “I knew they were not going to drop back and pass with such a dynamic quarterback like Deshaun. I just took two steps and kind of tried to bait him up the field, and then I knew he was going to try and run behind me and I just took it.”
It was the closest the Texans got to the end zone all afternoon until late in the fourth quarter.
After preparing to go for it on fourth-and-2 in the third quarter, Texans interim head coach Romeo Crennel called timeout, then sent kicker Ka'imi Fairborn on for a 46-yard field goal try. It sailed wide left towards the west uprights to keep the Browns in front.
In the second quarter Fairborn lined up for a 48-yard try into the Dawg Pound before taking the direct snap and pooch punting it to the 4.
Stefanski bluffed Crennel into burning his second timeout with 7:51 remaining in the fourth by lining up to go for it at midfield on fourth-and-4. As soon as the Texans called timeout, the Browns punt unit ran on and Houston got the ball at their own 10.
Houston marched seven plays and 90 yards to climb back within 3.
Linebacker Mack Wilson was flagged for unnecessary roughness when he flipped and slammed Cobb after a 10-yard completion. On the next play, Watson found former Browns receiver Pharaoh Brown for a 16-yard TD to make it 10-7 with 4:59 remaining.
Rookie Donovan Peoples-Jones muffed the ensuing kickoff at the 2 and got another yard after recovering the loose ball but Houston didn’t see it again.
