CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The Browns won their second straight and improved to 2-1 with a dominating 26-6 win over the Bears Sunday.
Here are some of our ‘Top Takeaways’ from FirstEnergy Stadium.
1. Stand down the run Joe Woods out of Cleveland fan club. His defense, led by Myles Garrett, lowered the boom on Justin Fields and the Chicago Bears. They allowed a franchise record low 47 net yards, including 1 net yard passing, and just 1 of 11 third down conversions. Granted the Bears offense resembled Browns horror shows circa 2009-2017 but credit where credit is due. They handled their business and did exactly what they should’ve done against Fields and Da Bears.
2. Bears coach Matt Nagy is owed an apology from everyone that criticized him for not starting Fields Week 1. Clearly Fields has much to learn about playing in the NFL and maybe his head coach realized that during the offseason.
3. Fields was beaten to a pulp Sunday and kudos to him for being able to walk off the field. He got hit 15 times by Browns defenders and was sacked nine times. We’d like to tell the former Buckeye that it only gets better from here but having watched so many former Browns sacrificial lambs over the years, we’ll recommend he pick up a flak jacket instead.
4. What else can you say about Garrett’s record setting day? His 4.5 sacks broke Andra Davis’ 2003 4.0 sack record. After begging his teammates for some help on Friday, he led the way on Sunday, and they responded with nine sacks on the day. Back to Garrett, he was also credited with seven tackles, four for a loss and six QB hits. He has 19.0 sacks in the month of September – most in the NFL since 2017. He now has 47.0 career sacks which are the most among all No. 1 overall picks in their first 54 games and third-most by a first pick in their first five years, passing Dwight Freeney for fourth-most in a player’s first 54 games.
5. The Garrett-Jadeveon Clowney 1-2 punch worked like a charm. Clowney registered a pair of sacks – his first since the 2019 season. He registered five QB hits and two of his three tackles went for a loss.
6. Kareem Hunt is a joy to watch and credit him with jump starting the offense, which was sputtering in the first half. Hunt totaled 75 combined yards on the ground and through the air in the second quarter which keyed the first touchdown drive of the afternoon. Baker Mayfield said after the game Hunt ran “angry” and had a “look in his eye.” When the dust settled, he finished with 81 rushing yards, including a 29-yard touchdown run that saw him plow his way through multiple Bears defenders, and 74 receiving yards giving him 155 on the afternoon.
7. Mayfield likely won’t put Sunday’s game on his ‘Best Of’ highlight reel but his touchdown throw to tight end Austin Hooper at the end of the first half was a thing of beauty. Mayfield threw for 246 yards completing 19 of 31 passes. He was sacked five times, including twice on fourth down on their first two offensive series, but most importantly came out of the game no worse for the wear concerning his sore left shoulder. In 24 games at FirstEnergy Stadium, Mayfield has completed 490 of 790 passes for 5,765 yards with 34 touchdowns and a 16-8 record as a starter. He’s 13-6 in the regular season and 14-7 including playoffs under Stefanski.
8. Odell Beckham Jr. might have been gassed by the end of the game, but he looked like himself catching five passes for 77 yards, which included some fancy footwork on the sideline. Ironically his first reception went for 13 yards and a first down on the second offensive play of the game. Most importantly, Mayfield wasn’t zeroing in on him all afternoon and force-feeding the football.
9. If you had Chase McLaughlin banging home that 57-yard field goal before the snap, congratulations you were likely the only one in the building besides McLaughlin, Kevin Stefanski and Mike Priefer. Give McLaughlin his props. He has been perfect through three weeks – 9-9 on PATs and 5-5 on field goals. It’s one thing to pop through chip shots but for him to step up and drill one from 57 to tie the game at 3 and another from 52 was impressive to watch. According to the Browns, McLaughlin tied Don Cockroft for the third-longest field goal in franchise history. Steve Cox holds the top two spots with makes of 58 and 60 yards in 1983 and 84 respectively.
10. Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah took advantage o his first NFL start and if he continues to play like he did Sunday, it won’t be his last.
Owusu-Koramoah was credited with a half sack, a QB hit, tackle for loss and two pass breakups.
11. Don’t look now but it appears the Browns finally found a punt return game. Demetric Felton’s 103 punt return yards were the most by a Brown in a single game since Travis Benjamin recorded 154 on Sept. 20, 2015.
Felton is averaging 11.7 yards per punt return this season, which is a vast improvement for Priefer’s unit.
12. Credit the Browns for absolutely nailing the throwback uniforms. They looked spectacular. The singular white stripe makes the orange pop much more than the traditional Oreo stripe does on the helmets and we would not object to such a modification becoming permanent in the future should it be considered.
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