BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – With the Baltimore Ravens waiting in the wings, this was the Tune-up Deshaun Watson and the Cleveland Browns needed.
Watson returned from a rotator cuff injury to throw a pair of touchdowns, and the Browns defense welcomed Cardinals rookie quarterback Clayton Tune to the NFL with seven sacks and three turnovers in a 27-0 rout of Arizona.
Here’s our top Brownie Bites from the Browns’ largest blowout since a 44-6 beating of the Cardinals back in November 2003.
Watson settled in and let it rip on a couple of occasions downfield, connecting on a pair of deep throws to receiver Amari Cooper for 58 and 49 yards in the first and fourth quarter respectively. “I thought he had some really, really good moments,” Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said. “He ran the ball when he needed to, made plays, so I was really pleased for him.” Cooper, who finished with 139 yards on five catches, caught his second touchdown of the season with 6:48 left in the first half after Watson’s pass got deflected by Cardinals defensive tackle Dante Stills and the ball landed in Cooper’s hands in the end zone for a 10-0 Browns lead. “The football gods owed us one,” Cooper said, referring to last week’s deflection off a helmet that resulted in an interception late in the fourth quarter in Seattle. The second Cardinals turnover of the game was turned into seven more points with Watson hitting tight end David Njoku on a quick slant for a 5-yard touchdown and a 20-0 lead. “I thought he looked really good and looked like himself to me,” Stefanski said. “And that was important to get out there and get one today, take care of business.” Watson’s final numbers: 19-30, 219 yards, 2 TDs, 107.5 rating before giving way to back up P.J. Walker with less than seven minutes remaining. “It feels good,” Watson said. “This is what I've been preparing and training very hard to get back to. Just to get out there and play free and be able to be very close to myself and just go out there and compete and have fun with my teammates, and that's what today brought.”
Cleveland’s defense was merciless getting after Tune. Defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson had 2.5 sacks after the scorekeepers took a half a sack away and awarded it to safety Grant Delpit. “It feels amazing. It doesn’t feel real right now,” Tomlinson said. Cornerback Denzel Ward snapped the Cardinals consecutive punt streak at three to open the game with his second interception of the season at the 49 early in the second quarter that set up the first touchdown of the day. Ward gave all the credit to the defensive line. “They made a huge difference,” Ward said. “You saw that today, able to dominate and be disruptive up in the front and force things out to Myles and Z on the outside. Those guys deserve it, they work hard throughout the week and were able to make plays today.” Myles Garrett, who collected another sack, batted a Tune pass down on the opening drive and recovered a fumble in the third quarter following defensive tackle Shelby Harris’ strip sack of Tune. “I’m thinking, I’m getting a strip sack, and then I see big old 93 slide through and hit the on, the ball comes out, and I’m like, if I don’t get the sack, I might as well take it to the house,” Garrett said. “[I] Scoop the ball up the air, and all of a sudden, my feet are in the air because Ogbo [Okoronkwo] is tackling me, because he thinks I’m a Cardinal. Just glad to get the ball and be a part of a hell of a play that Shelby created.” Sione Takitaki snagged a Tune pass late in the third quarter to give the Browns the ball at their own 24. It was the third turnover of the day for Arizona and the second interception thrown by Tune. It was the third career interception for Takitaki, including playoffs. “Just really excited that I was able to catch it,” Takitaki said. “Knew I was in the buzz and I knew they were doing a high low concept with somebody to the flat and the tight end running the seven. So it was good enough for me to kind of be in a position to jump the check down and then kind pick off the seven.” Defensive tackle Jordan Elliott and end Za’Darius Smith also had sacks. “It is fun. I mean, s***, y'all know we haven't really won and been dominant since what, 2020, you know what I mean,” Elliott said. “It's fun to really go out there and shut out a team, it's something that doesn't really happen too often in the NFL.”
The Cardinals mustered just 58 yards of offense, the third fewest allowed in franchise history in a game, while the Browns racked up 326 yards of offense. Tune had just 58 yards on 11 of 20 passing that included a pair of interceptions. “All levels of the defense were playing well,” Okoronkwo said. “We all played off of each other. Defense was putting pressure, cover guys were covering, and linebackers were correcting everything. It was perfect football. They didn’t miss a drop.” Arizona, who took just five snaps in Cleveland territory and got no closer to the end zone than the 44-yard line, netted 17 yards passing in the loss. “We’re trying to make history over here,” Ward said. “Glad to get the win and we have to keep stacking them. It was good complimentary football. Defense did good, offense and special teams. We just have to keep building and keep going.” It was the first shutout for the Browns since the snow bowl – an 8-0 win over the Buffalo Bills on December 16, 2007. “That’s crazy,” Tomlinson said. “It’s super amazing to have a shut-out. That’s always what you want on defense. Everything was clicking across the board, from our front seven to the back guys. Everyone was playing their hearts out.”
Kareem Hunt scored from 3 yards out with 7:48 left in the game. It was Hunt’s fifth touchdown since rejoining the Browns in late September. “I mean, hey, I'm going to thank Amari Cooper, man,” Hunt joked. “He just liked falling down on that two-, three-yard line, but no big deal. I'll help him out and finish it off.” Hunt finished with 38 on 14 carries while Jerome Ford had 20 carries for 44 yards. “Anything I can do to help the team in any way, and it felt like yesterday I was just chilling on the couch watching them against the Steelers and the Bengals and I just want to be able to go out there and help contribute and win,” Hunt said.
Kicker Dustin Hopkins broke the scoreless deadlock with a 30-yard field goal with 14:15 left in the second quarter. Hopkins also hit from 45 to end the first half and give the Browns a 13-0 lead at intermission. Hopkins missed wide left from 48 with just over 12 minutes remaining in the game.
Corey Bojorquez 73-yard punt in the third quarter to pin the Cardinals at their own 1. Bojorquez had a 67-yard punt that rolled into the end zone for a touchback in the fourth quarter. “It’s almost like he made a score and play himself,” Garrett said, “putting defense inside the five and allowing us to go hunt, make negative plays, trying to put points on the board ourselves or keep them backed up so the offense in great position. He flips the field, and he had a hell of a day, but none greater than what he did today.”
With just over 10 minutes left in the third quarter left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. was carted off with a significant right leg injury after Hunt was tackled from behind and landed on the back of his leg. “It's tough. I'm not sure what the extent is,” left guard Joel Bitonio said. “I mean, he was a little bit in pain, obviously on the field, had to get carted off. Hopefully it's not too serious, but it's not good. I mean, we've had him and Jack [Conklin] and Nick [Chubb], we've had some serious ones this year and hopefully he can bounce back, but it's hard. It's hard. James [Hudson] came in and fought and did the best he could do, but that's always tough when you see one of your guys, especially the guy you play next to all the time, go down like that.”