Jameis Winston hit Cedric Tillman with a thirty-eight-yard touchdown pass with 1:37 remaining in the game to lift the Cleveland Browns to a 29-24 victory over the Baltimore Ravens in Cleveland.
Winston threw three touchdowns, all in the second half, two to Tillman and the other to David Njoku along with three hundred thirty-four yards passing to lead the Browns.
Tillman led the receivers with seven catches for ninety-nine yards for the Browns, who ended a five-game losing skid, and improved to 2-6 with the win.
Cleveland will host the Los Angeles Chargers next Sunday before their bye week.
Brownie Bits
1) The Browns dedicated their win to their former radio announcer, Jim Donovan, who passed away earlier in the week.
I'll have a longer post on Donovan soon but the Browns, a franchise not always known for classy moves, did a very classy thing for the Donovan family as Kevin Stefanski gave the game ball to them following the game.
2) Jameis Winston will make some bad throws on occasion and Baltimore helped him three times with dropped interceptions, one by Kyle Hamilton on the final drive but you could see the difference from the first drive of the game between Winston and DeShaun Watson.
3) There are many differences, Winston's willingness to stand into the pocket, his arm to drive the ball downfield, and his preference of taking snaps under center rather than the shotgun but the biggest difference is that Winston isn't afraid of an interception while Watson seemed to be so afraid of getting intercepted that he was satisfied with the short safe pass and took very few chances.
Life with Jameis Winston, like with Joe Flacco last season, may come with its aggravations but it's going to be more fun to watch than the Browns under DeShaun Watson.
4) I'm not sure how much credit to give Ken Dorsey as the new play caller or with Jameis Winston in for DeShaun Watson, Kevin Stefanski would have been equally as effective but no one can doubt that Winston spread the ball around far more than Watson.
Eight players received passes with six of those finishing with receptions, eight to Elijah Moore to lead the team in catches.
5) The offensive line looked better this week with the return of Wyatt Teller at right guard and Dawand Jones at left tackle for the injured Jedrick Wills.
Some of this is because Jameis Winston gets the ball out so much faster than DeShaun Watson, who always preferred to extend plays, which forced the line to hold their blocks longer, and even the best line struggles to hold their blocks for extended time.
Jones came into camp weighing over 400 pounds and had his struggles but has dropped down to 370 according to the Athletic.
Also, any line that doesn't have Jedric Wills is going to look better.
6) It wasn't all good news for Cleveland as they lost their two top players on defense (outside of Myles Garrett) and it's unknown how long the team will be without their services or even if one or both can return at all.
Jeremiah Owosu-Koahmoah left the game on a backboard after a collision with Baltimore's Derrick Henry and while JOK left the hospital on Monday, his availablilty for Sunday's game against the Chargers is in question.
7) The Browna also lost cornerback Denzel Ward with a concussion, the sixth of the former Ohio State standout's career.
That's a troubling number and it is fair to consider if Ward might decide to question his football career.
Ward is owed over eighty million dollars from 2025-27, which is a lot of money to give up but is a small price to pay for avoiding brain trauma.
8) Cedric Tillman had his second solid game in a row with his two scores, and perhaps Tillman is on his way to being the Browns number one receiver.
I think on a contender, Tillman is best suited as a number two receiver but I've really liked what I've seen in his two games in the starting lineup since the trade of Amari Cooper to Buffalo.
9) Za'Darius Smith has been a name often mentioned as a trade piece to a contender since the Browns awful start and if yesterday's game was considered a showcase, Smith did well as he sacked Lamar Jackson and finished with two other tackles for loss.
10) Finally, many are questioning if this season could have been saved if the Browns had moved Jameis Winston ahead of DeShaun Watson a few weeks ago and that's valid.
But my question is a little different, If Watson didn't suffer a season-ending injury, when would the Browns make the move to play Winston?
Would it have happened at all? What would the record have been when it was finally considered to be bad enough?
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