CLEVELAND, (92.3 The Fan) – Baker Mayfield vs. Kirk Cousins was a slugfest.
Just not the one we were expecting.
What was supposed to be an offensive shootout turned into a puntfest – 13 of them between the teams to be exact.
Here are our top Takeaways from Sunday’s 14-7 win at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis that pushed the Browns to 3-1 to start the season for the first time since 2001.
1. The Vikings went down the field like a hot knife through butter to open the game, then the door got slammed in their face. Minnesota converted three third downs and a fourth down during a 14-play, 75-yard march to open the game to take a 7-0 lead on Kirk Cousins’ 12-yard touchdown to Justin Jefferson. Jefferson had three catches on the drive but just three more the rest of the way.
2. The Browns defense was phenomenal after that opening drive. Cleveland’s D forced six punts, turned it over on downs twice with fourth down stops and collected their first turnover since Week 1. Joe Woods’ game plan was spectacular. The pressure from the front four combined with corner and safety blitzes had Cousins seeing blurs of orange, brown and white all afternoon. Takkarist McKinley picked up his first sack as a Brown while Myles Garrett ended up splitting a sack with Denzel Ward giving him an even 6.0 on the season. Cousins’ final line: 20 of 38 for 203 yards with a touchdown, interception and 66.0 rating.
3. Kevin Stefanski didn’t return to Minnesota to kick field goals. He went for it on fourth down twice and then passed on a PAT for a 2-point conversion try following a penalty. Stefanski is consistently aggressive, for better or worse, that is for sure.
4. Baker Mayfield wasn’t particularly sharp and arguably played his worst game as a Brown. Some credit goes to the Vikings secondary, but Mayfield’s passes were off the mark all day. The most egregious misses – not seeing a wide open Demetric Felton and running into a sack on a third-and-short, hitting Joel Bitonio in the back on a simple screen to Kareem Hunt and then missing a wide-open Odell Beckham Jr. for a touchdown deep late in the fourth quarter that would’ve sealed the victory. Mayfield completed just 15 of 33 passes for 155 yards and a 59.5 rating.
5. Where would the Browns be without Kareem Hunt and Nick Chubb? Hunt is the undisputed offensive MVP through four games. His 30-yard run on a third-and-20 draw to run out the clock late in the first half allowed the Browns to get in position to kick a 48-yard field goal to go to the locker room up 11-8. Hunt accounted for 69 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries, and he caught a pair of passes for 17 yards. Chubb pounded away at the Vikings all day. When the rubber pellets settled, 21 carries, 100 yards for Batman. the dynamic duo accounted for 191 yards of the 327 yards of offense.
6. The Browns offense had allowed sacks on each of the last three times they went for it on fourth down before drawing a holding penalty before the half to get a fresh set of downs, opening the door for their first score of the afternoon to give them an 8-7 lead. It's hard not to appreciate Stefanski’s aggressiveness and belief in his players but sometimes taking the three is a good thing.
7. Former Browns and current Vikings defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson, who finished with five tackles and two passes defensed, gave his former team a gift by pulling a Chris Webber and trying to call a timeout they did not have after Hunt’s touchdown run. Stefanski elected to put the ball at the 1 and go for 2 instead of kicking a PAT. Mayfield found fullback Andy Janovich for the conversion.
8. It’s time to sit Jedrick Wills Jr. so he can get healthy. He shouldn’t have played Week 2, or Week 3 and his ankle is not healing. Three weeks in a row he’s had to be replaced because of the injury. This is not a criticism of him. Credit and respect for doing what he can to try and play on it, but the Browns’ “tough it out” approach is blowing up in their face and an injury that wasn’t supposed to linger according to Stefanski is now lingering. He gave up a sack on fourth-and-4, although Jack Conklin was just as guilty by allowing pressure on Mayfield, but it was Wills’ man who dropped the QB for a loss of 11. Wills was called for a false start and later a hold.
9. Greedy Williams answered the critics who were worried about him replacing the injured Greg Newsome II in the starting lineup with a six-tackle performance that saw him break up a pass and collect an interception on a deep ball intended for Vikings receiver Adam Thielen with 6:08 remaining in the game. It was Cousins’ first interception thrown this season. Considering how much Williams has been through with injuries and the team drafting his replacement in April, how can you not be happy for him?
10. Chase McLaughlin continues to answer any questions that were had about his ability to make big kicks. He’s yet to miss a PAT or field goal this season and he banged home his third kick from over 50 yards in two weeks – this one from 53 that expended the lead to 14-7, and ultimately the final score.
11. Most importantly the Browns won a game they used to lose. Mayfield wasn't at his best and couldn't make the big play, but the defense did, over and over. This one was ugly, but it still counts. The Browns are 3-1 for the second time in as many years for the first time since the 1994 and 1995 seasons. In the end, it could go a long way in the growth of this team going forward.