Then the Browns discovered the difference between a howitzer and a pistol as with ninety seconds to go, Baker Mayfield was unable to move the ball downfield and the Browns fell short in Los Angeles 47-42 at the upside-down frying pan in Los Angeles.
Baker Mayfield threw for 305 yards and two touchdowns with Nick Chubb rushing for 161 yards and a touchdown with help from Kareem Hunt with 61 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
The Browns fall to 3-2 with the defeat and return to the banks of Lake Erie next Sunday to meet the only remaining undefeated team in the league in the Arizona Cardinals.
Brownie Bits
1) Yes, Baker Mayfield did step up his game with a good effort, and with the announcement earlier in the week of a partially torn labrum in his shoulder, it's understandable that Mayfield is going to have problems throwing the ball more than ten yards downfield.
2) Mayfield's numbers were and are good for the game but all of his big plays were catch and runs.
I know that shouldn't matter when you are scoring points but when you need to drive the field with 90 seconds and no timeouts, you need to get yardage in large sizes.
Mayfield cannot seem to do that and hence why the Browns have such a rotten record in these situations.
3) The defense that had looked so stout in Minnesota was not so in Los Angeles as Justin Herbert, a quarterback that can throw deep and accurately threw four touchdowns and just under 400 yards against a Browns defense is becoming very shorthanded at the cornerback position.
4) Considering the importance of cornerback depth, I was surprised that Cleveland didn't get involved in trading for Pro Bowl corner Stephon Gilmore from New England.
Gilmore does carry a high price tag and is a free agent at the end of the year but he only cost the team that traded for him (Carolina) a sixth-round pick.
I'd think for that, the Browns should have made a run at Gilmore.
5) David Njoku hasn't always been what the Browns had hoped for when they used a first-round pick on him five years ago but his seven-catch, 149 yards, and a 71-yard score on a catch and run showed how tantalizing his potential can be.
Njoku's physical tools allow him to run over or away from defenders and should Njoku play at the level that he did against the Chargers, he will make a lot of money in the off-season either from the Browns or someone else in free agency.
6) Now about the ill-fated third and lone draw play to Kareem Hunt on the next to last drive that forced a Browns punt and resulted in the game-winning touchdown drive by the Chargers.
It didn't make a lot of sense to me and Kevin Stefanski admitted so after the game.
If you get the first down on this play, the game is likely over and if you are stopped the Chargers will stop the clock anyway, so such a conservative call for the normally aggressive Stefanski is once again surprisingly close to the vest.
7) The Browns did get hosed on a late pass interference call when Mike Willians grabbed A.J.Green on a fourth-down pass play that somehow was called on Green.
The ball should have been turned over to Cleveland rather than the Chargers continuing to drive.
A truly awful call.
8) Nick Chubb was his typical hard running self as he slashed through the Chargers for 161 yards including a 52 yarder for a touchdown.
9) Give both teams credit for smart play near the end of the game.
The Chargers Austin Ekeler slid down deep in Cleveland territory rather than score to give the Browns more time to win in the waning seconds of the game.
And then the Browns defense took Ekeler on a running play that was designed not to score then threw him into the end zone for a touchdown.
That play gave the Browns a chance to win rather than the Chargers running the clock down for a walk-off field goal attempt.
10) Jamie Gillan has taken a large step backward as the Browns punter and he had two awful punts in the loss.
Gillan is 28th in the league in punting and has at least one really bad punt in each of the first five games.
11) The Browns fall to 3-2, splitting their two road games and the Cardinals next in Cleveland.
The secondary is losing depth with Greg Newsome already out and Denzel Ward getting injured against the Chargers and the Cardinals will throw the ball around as the Chargers did.
It will be outside rather than the dome that Arizona usually plays in and grass always slows speed.
But the beaten-up Browns secondary will have many Cardinals receivers to cover and I expect another high-scoring game.
This time, I think the Browns have enough to win a close game.
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