CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – If it could go wrong, it did for the Browns Sunday.
Deshaun Watson was sacked 8 times, penalties wiped out big plays, Dustin Hopkins missed a 50-yard field goal, the entire offensive line had to be shuffled in the third quarter due to injuries and the New York Giants beat the Browns 21-15 Sunday afternoon at Huntington Bank Field.
Here’s the top Brownie Bites from a disastrous Week 3 that dropped Cleveland to 1-2.
Under pressure – Watson dealt with pressure from the Giants all afternoon as he was sacked eight times and hit a total of 17 times for the second time in three weeks. “Of course we were expecting pressure, but as much as they brought it, you just got to prepare for the worst,” Watson said. “And they did a good job of trying to create some mismatch and different confusion up front to get us off our timing in the passing game. So, for us to try to correct that, we got to win our matchups and try to figure out the right protection to figure out what pressures they were doing off the edge to create.” Watson finished 21 of 37 for 196 yards with two touchdowns. He ran four times for 26 yards. “He can’t get sacked that many times, can’t get hit that many times,” Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said. “It’s just…that’s not good enough and that’s on me and that’s on us to get that fixed.”
Quick hit – Browns cornerback Tony Brown lit up Giants returner Eric Gray, popping the football loose for Grant Delpit to recover at the New York 24 on the opening kickoff. Watson immediately found Amari Cooper for a 24-yard touchdown on the first play to give the Browns an early 7-0 lead. “It was a great first play of the game,” Cooper said. “Watson said to go out firing, and I think we did just that. It felt good to get a start out of the jump. When we got in the huddle, we knew as an offense we were going for the endzone on play one, and we were able to do just that.” It would be the last time in the first half the Browns offense ran a play from Giants territory.
Going for it – After Jameis Winston got stuffed on a third-and-1 run from his own 29, Stefanski opted to go for it with 4:40 remaining in the fourth. “We got into what I thought was sneakable, move back to a long one,” Stefanski said. “Liked our call, felt good about that and then ultimately, if you don’t perform in those short yardage moments, that’s on us. And so, I’ll take responsibility for that.” Watson came back out for fourth down and got tackled as he tried to reach the ball to the 30 for the first down and was ruled short after faking a handoff to Jerome Ford giving the Giants the ball in Cleveland territory. “I was just trying to reach,” Watson said. “The play was to RPO, read the ‘MIKE’ or read the ‘WILL’, 41 (Micah McFadden). 41 ran with the running back. Pull, throw the slant behind it. Slant wasn’t there. I guess they had a collision and, you know, just after that, I’m not fixing to just throw it covered. So try to get the first down, was one yard and they stopped it short.” It allowed New York to try a 48-yard field goal by Greg Joseph, who missed it to keep the Browns alive with no timeouts and less than three minutes to play.
Momentum swings – Linebacker Ronnie Hickman picked Daniel Jones off but Greg Newsome II hit Jones while pulling up drawing a roughing the passer penalty to wipe out the turnover. “If you think the wind got taken out in the first quarter, then we weren't ready to play at all,” Newsome said. “So at the end of the day, calls like that get made and we got to find a way to persevere and go on to the next thing. At the end of the day, after that play, we got to find a way to get off the field. We can't let one play define us and I just think we didn't do a good enough job in that first half as a unit.” The Giants then marched 13 plays and 81 yards after the penalty to tie the game on Devin Singletary’s 1-yard touchdown run. With 8 minutes to play and the Browns driving, Watson and Ford fumbled a handoff from the gun and Giants linebacker Azzeez Ojulari jumped on the loose ball at the Giants 48. “There’s no excuse,” Stefanski said. “It’s a simple handoff. We have to be able to execute that. And honestly, you aren’t going to win games when you do stuff like that. That’s the truth. So we’ll get it fixed. Disappointed overall, understood that the effort was great, understood that we can be better next week, but ultimately you got to knock out those plays that get you beat.”
O-line shuffle – Right guard Wyatt Teller was lost for the game with a knee injury then James Hudson III went to the locker room forcing Browns to shuffle the entire offensive line in the third quarter. Bitonio moved to left tackle, Ethan Pocic slid over to left guard, Nick Harris came in at center, rookie Zak Zinter came on at right guard and Dawand Jones, who was replaced at halftime by Hudson because he was struggling with his sore knee, returned to right tackle. “When you lose three linemen or three linemen in the game, guys are going to have to move around,” Bitonio said. Wills, Hudson and Teller will all have MRIs on Monday. “I’m never concerned,” Watson said. “I’m going to keep working regardless of what people think, what people say, who’s out there, whatever it is. That’s one thing you’re not going to bash me with is my passion of the game and my work ethic and the way I compete, that’s damn sure of that. So regardless of that, I’m not concerned about any of that. The biggest thing, just keep encouraging these guys, keep working, get in the film room, figure out what we can do to figure out to help these guys out, but help all of us. We’re one, we’re us. We’re not blaming anybody; we’re not blaming all that. There were some throws that I missed that could have capitalized things and helped everything out. So, all of this is a team effort as a group.”
Hobbled Myles – Myles Garrett’s feet problems dropped him to the ground in the fourth quarter and left fans chanting his name. “I felt empowered to continue to give my best for not only my team, but for the fans, for the organization and that’s the kind of things that you dream of,” Garrett said. Garrett will undergo and MRI Monday. After returning on the next defensive series that saw the Browns force a Giants punt, Garrett hobbled to the sideline and threw his helmet to the ground in frustration when he got to the bench. “It’s multiple things going on,” Garrett said. “So, I mean, I if think the foot’s feeling good or feeling better, it’s one thing or another. So it’s kind of just feeding into each other right now and nothing’s sitting right because nothing has time to heal because I’m leaning on something else and I’m compensating here to make some hurt there. It’s just been — like I said, a cycle.” Garrett registered three QB hits.
Cooper’s catches – Amid questions about his slow start this past week, Cooper responded with a pair of touchdown catches – 24 and 6 yards. The second came early in the fourth quarter. Cooper finished with seven catches for 86 yards and the two TDs. “I hate not playing great football because I know I can play great football every single week,” Cooper said.
Go for 2 – Stefanski opted to go for 2 instead of kicking the PAT after Cooper’s second TD, which was successful thanks to Watson’s pass to Jerry Jeudy to cut the Giants lead to 21-15 with 11:33 remaining.
Giant grabs – Giants rookie receiver Malik Nabers made a sensational catch on the boundary to give the Giants a 14-7 lead. Nabers caught a 5-yard strike with 11 seconds left in the first half to put New York in front 21-7 at halftime. “I just think he had a great game,” Newsome said. “He ran a lot of the stuff we seen on tape. We just got to find a way to win and find a way to finish.”
No longer streaking – Dustin Hopkins’ streak of making field goals from beyond 50 yards ended at 10 Sunday afternoon when Hopkins pushed a 53-yard try in the third quarter wide left into the Dawg Pound.
Dawg Pound captain – Former Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis got to smash the guitar before kickoff.
Inactives – QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson (3QB), RB Pierre Strong Jr., CB Kahlef Hailassie, G Javion Cohen, T Jack Conklin, WR Jamari Thrash and TE David Njoku
Injury report – Wyatt Teller (knee-did not return); James Hudson (shoulder-did not return); Jedrick Wills Jr. (knee-did not return); DE Myles Garrett (feet/lower body).