CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Fans started lining up in anything and everything on wheels Saturday morning to get into the Muni Lot Sunday morning before packing FirstEnergy Stadium in time for kickoff.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski got his wish – a packed house and they brought the noise.
The Browns delivered with a 31-21 victory over the Houston Texans that saw them lose a leader, Baker Mayfield show his grit, improvement in the special teams unit but the defense leaves much to be desired.
Here are our takeaways from win No. 1 on the young season.
1. Any injury is difficult to see, but Jarvis Landry going down on the second play of the game with an MCL was especially tough considering what he’s meant to the organization since his arrival in the 2018 offseason from Miami. Landry's streak of 111 consecutive games with at least two catches, which ranks fourth all-time behind Tim Brown (147), Jerry Rice (146) and Antonio Brown (125), ended Sunday. He will have an MRI Monday and fingers crossed its nothing significant.
2. Baker Mayfield might be the toughest quarterback the Browns have had since Bernie Kosar. I realize Tim Couch took a beating and kept coming back for more, but Mayfield played through broken ribs last year and Sunday through what we will call a separated left shoulder. Although Mayfield didn’t specify the injury, he did reveal the left shoulder needed to be popped back in. Mayfield started the day with 9 straight completions, and he ended it with 10 more in a row after the injury. Now that’s impressive.
3. Mayfield’s second interception of the season wasn’t his fault – a fact Stefanski and Mayfield acknowledged after the game. Both tried to avoid overly criticizing rookie receiver Anthony Schwartz, who just about everyone said played a “perfect” game Week 1 at Kansas City, but his effort against the Texans clearly was far from it. It cost the Browns 7 points.
4. With Mayfield in pain, Stefanski turned to old reliable – the run game, and it didn’t disappoint. Nick Chubb ripped off 43 yards, Kareen Hunt 13 more before Mayfield finished off the 75-yard drive with a 5-yard TD run on their ensuing possession to restore order and tie the game at 14. Chubb had 55 yards and a score in the second half and Hunt 19 more. As Stefanski said, he was trying to keep Mayfield from getting hit again.
5. Chubb just runs and scores touchdowns. He scored in eight straight games dating back to 2020, which is the longest active streak in the NFL and the second-longest in club history. Chubb tied Marion Motley for sixth all-time on the Browns all-time TD list with No. 31 Sunday. With two rushes of 20-plus yards Sunday, he has 36 of those since 2018, most in the NFL.
6. Receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones didn’t get a target after fumbling on a 14-yard catch that led to Houston’s first touchdown of the afternoon. Stefanski wouldn’t say it, but we’re pretty sure that was by design. The Browns mean business and mistakes like that won’t be tolerated by Stefanski.
7. Demetric Felton is going to be a weapon. And he comes with the spin button too, which he showed off on his 33-yard touchdown catch and run. Mayfield mentioned after the game how he has been encouraging the rookie running back/receiver to learn Landry’s portion of the playbook, and with Landry potentially lost for some time, Felton better study up.
8. Mike Priefer’s special teams unit earned a post-game shout out from Stefanski and deservedly so. Felton started the game with a 26-yard kickoff return and averaged 20.5 yards on two returns. He also had 22 yards on three punt returns. Jamie Gillan dropped a punt inside the 20 and averaged 40 net yards. Chase McLaughlin made four PATs and a 30-yard field goal. A solid step in the right direction.
9. The defense had a few moments, but boy are they a work in progress. They allowed Houston to convert 7 of 13 on third down and through two games they’re letting opponents convert over 61% on third down (16 of 26). The cold hard truth: that’s not going to get it done. Defensive end Myles Garrett admitted all the new pieces have yet to come together on his side of the ball but he’s “looking forward to when we click.” That clicking needs to come soon.
10. Former Mayfield mentor Tyrod Taylor had the Texans offense humming in the first half and his departure due to a hamstring injury clearly was a factor. Houston had 180 yards of total offense in the first half and just 122 in the second with rookie backup Davis Mills. Taylor completed 10 of 11 passes for 125 yards, including a 22-yard touchdown pass and 15-yard TD run but his injury spared the Browns defense a much rougher afternoon.
10. Safety Grant Delpit delivered what Garrett called “a hell of a hit,” when he drilled Texans rookie backup QB Davis Mills and separated him from the football on impact in the fourth quarter. Delpit was credited with a sack and forced fumble on the play. He finished with five tackles, including one for loss.
11. Sunday’s game was a brutal bruiser for both teams. As many as 15 players suffered injuries with Landry and Taylor among the headliners who did not return.
12. It wasn’t pretty, and the game was closer than many of us expected, but the bottom line is the Browns won. Let’s be honest, for as sloppy as it was at times, the pre-Stefanski Browns probably would’ve lost that one. Also, under Stefanski, the Browns have yet to lose two in a row within a season.