Browns stun Packers 13-10

    Andre Szmyt nailed a fifty-five-yard field goal on the game's final play to shock the Green Bay Packers and give the Cleveland Browns a 13-10 win in Cleveland.

Quinshon Judkins rushed for 94 yards and scored the only Cleveland touchdown to lead an anemic offense.

The defense led the way, sacking Jordan Love five times, Maliek Collins at the top with one and a half.

Cleveland improves to 1-2 on the season with the miraculous win and will travel to Detroit Sunday to meet the Lions.

I am writing this way too late, but due to a work trip and getting home on Monday, I just haven't had the time.

Brownie Bits

1) Cleveland never led this game with time on the clock. Think about that.

They never led until Andre Szmyt's field goal, which settled behind the goal post with no time remaining.

2)  I thought the Browns should have let Andre Szymt go after his awful game against the Bengals, but he came through big time against Green Bay!

Good for him, believe it or not, I want players to do well (usually), and I was happy for him.

3) Keep in mind, Cade York kicked a long game winner once, too, and look at how that turned out.

I'm not saying Szmpt will fail, just that we will see.

4) Grant Delpit's interception with 3:18 remaining set up the game-tying touchdown.

It was the first takeaway of the season for Cleveland and the first turnover for Green Bay on the year.

Delpit was such a ballhawk at LSU, and even though I think he's a good player, Delpit didn't bring that part of his game to the Browns.

Perhaps that's something that could be changing.

5) Green Bay came to town with a vaunted offense, and the Browns just shut them down as the Packers finished with only 230 yards of total offense, which was barely more than the pitiful Browns 221.

I know everyone says if the Browns are going to win games, this is how they do it, but it's tough.

6) Carson Schwesinger was a standout on defense, including a sack that saw him smash Jordan Love like a called QB Waggle in Tecmo Bowl!

This guy's all over the place, and it's hard to believe he wasn't starting for UCLA at the beginning of last year.

7) Bubba Ventrone's special teams received lots of deserved grief in the first two games, but they came through here with Andre Szmyt's kicking and Shelby Harris's huge blocked field goal at the end of the game that allowed the Browns a chance for the win.

8) Shelby Harris seems to have the knack for blocking kicks.

Some of that is luck, but much of it is instinct, and it eventually could keep Harris playing longer than he normally would in his career.

9) Joe Flacco didn't play well, finishing with 142 yards and one interception.

However, the interception was way downfield near the end of the half on a fourth down that Green Bay would have been better off to knock down rather than grab, and Flacco's veteran skills were perfect for the situation at the game's end, when he knew just how much time he needed to hit David Njoku over the middle.

10) Cleveland was out of timeouts, so they had to get the play off, and the clock stopped for Andre Szmyt to try the game-winner.

Flacco gained the needed extra yards and coolly got the team in order for the spike with two seconds to go.

I know some want Dillon Gabriel, and his time will come soon, but there is no chance Dillon Gabriel pulls that off on this day.

Experience sometimes matters.

11) I gripe every week about the passing game, but no one gets open downfield, and the wideouts are so bad that I'll take the bet that both tight ends (David Njoku and Harold Fannin) finish one and two for receptions.

Jerry Jeudy caught one pass of five targets for seventeen yards.

Whoo Hoo.

12) Dawand Jones suffered a knee injury and will miss the rest of the season.

Jones hadn't played well, but his loss means that either aging veteran Corneilius Lucas or second-year player KT Leveston will be seeing lots more playing time.

That doesn't bode well for Joe Flacco's protection.

13) The Browns are 1-2, and I hear some are excited about the win.

While I'm pleased, many say they could be 2-1, and yes, I suppose they could.

I'll look at it this way, as Bill Parcells said, "You are what your record says you are."

They won a game that they should have lost (Green Bay) and lost one that they should have won (Cincinnati).

1-2 is exactly where they should be.

Szmyt Happens. Browns lose to Bengals 17-16

    Rookie kicker Andre Smzmyt missed an extra point in the third quarter that would have tied the game, and missed a thirty-six yard field goal with two and a half minutes remaining in the game as the Cleveland Browns lost their opening game to the Cincinnati Bengals 17-16 in Cleveland.

Joe Flacco threw for 290 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, and rookie running back Dylan Sampson caught six passes for sixty-four yards on offense, while the defense sacked Joe Burrow on three consecutive snaps in the second half to pace the defense.

The now 0-1 Browns travel to Baltimore next week, and based on what I saw from the Ravens in Buffalo, good luck with that!

Brownie Bits

1) The Browns placed all of their chips on the foot of Andre Szmyt, and it backfired, but this is about more than Szmyt.

It's about Andrew Berry not signing a proven challenger to Dustin Hopkins in training camp, and when Hopkins gave the team little choice other than releasing him, the unproven Szmyt was handed the job by default.

The Browns cannot afford to miss mandatory kicks; likely, Szmyt will likely be released this week, and hopefully someone with experience will be the replacement.

2) Joe Flacco did throw two interceptions, but both were passes that were dropped by receivers Jerry Jeudy and Cedric Tillman and into the arms of a waiting Bengal.

Neither can be placed on Flacco, and both Jeudy and Tillman were at fault for both picks.

3) Jerry Jeudy finished with six catches for sixty-six yards, but dropped a fourth-down pass to end a drive and added the previously mentioned interception.

The Browns are paying Jeudy like a number one receiver, but on a good team, Jeudy would be a number two or an excellent third option.

4) The Browns played rookie tight end Harold Fannin a great deal, and although Fannin had one drop as well, the Bowling Green product finished with seven catches for sixty-three yards.

Fannin's catches were the most ever for a rookie tight end in week one of an NFL season.

5)  The Browns struggled running the football, finishing with a mere forty-nine yards on twenty-four attempts, with rookie Dylan Sampson leading the team with twenty-nine yards.

For a team that proclaims the need to run the football this season, that number was disheartening.

6) The offensive line may not have helped the run game, but they did a solid job protecting Joe Flacco, as they allowed only two sacks, an acceptable number, considering the Bengals' pass rush includes an elite rusher in Trey Hendrickson.

7) Myles Garrett sacked Joe Burrow on two of the three consecutive sacks of Joe Burrow in the fourth quarter, but Burrow did one small thing that was just as important as Andre Szmyt's missed field goal in the Cincinnati win.

On the third sack, just as Garrett arrived in the pocket to grab Burrow for the sack, Burrow lunged forward and got the football out of the end zone (barely), avoiding the safety that would have given the Browns a one-point win.

8) Stat of the day: second half offensive yards- Browns 216, Bengals 7.

9) Greg Newsome played well at the corner in place of Martin Emerson, knocking down two passes, and Newsome shared coverage time with Denzel Ward on Jamarr Chase, holding the Bengal standout to only two catches for twenty-six yards.

10) Many are optimistic after this game, but I'm not.

Almost everything they needed to do to win, they did, and they still didn't complete the task.

The schedule gets tougher, and the team struggled to run the ball.

I'm afraid this might be the high point for a while.

Browns cut Dustin Hopkins

    The Cleveland Browns trimmed their roster to the required fifty-three men by the Tuesday deadline, with a few interesting names ending their time in Cleveland.

Keep in mind that the Browns are in the second position on the waiver wire, so further roster refinements are likely, but these are the moves for the time being.

The biggest name to leave was kicker Dustin Hopkins, who kicked for the team for two divergent seasons.

Hopkins was excellent for the Browns in 2023, hitting 33 of 36 attempts and going 8 of 8 from 50 yards or more, but was atrocious in 2024, missing 9 of his 27 field goal tries and missing 3 extra points.

Hopkins was given a three-year contract following the 2023 season, so he'll cost a little to go away, but when he missed two preseason extra points, the writing was on the wall for the veteran.

As the kicker for now (and this can always change) is Andre Szmyt, who kicked for the UFL's St.Louis Battlehawks last season, and while I wouldn't be surprised to see the Browns look at a veteran kicker, UFL booters have had success (Detroit's Jake Bates) last season, and the Browns could decide to go with Szmyt.

Cleveland also made a trade, sending a seventh-round draft pick in 2028 to the Los Angeles Rams for tackle KT Leveston.
Leveston was the Rams' seventh-rounder in 2024 from Kansas State, but missed the entire season with an injury to his ankle.

I was surprised to see the Browns release running back Pierre Strong, which leaves the team with only two backs on the roster (Jerome Ford and rookie Dylan Sampson). I expect the Browns to add a running back from the released players tomorrow.

Comebacking wide receiver Diontae Johnson may have reached the end of the line with his release, as undrafted rookie Gage Larvadain beat Johnson out for the final spot at wide receiver.

Larvadain impressed the Browns in camp, and when the Browns signed Isaiah Bond late in the preseason, the battle became Larvadain against Johnson for one spot rather than two..

The Browns also released two veterans from the defensive line, with Sam Kamara and offseason addition Julian Okwara.

Kamara was beaten out by undrafted free agent Adin Huntington, while Okwara suffered a preseason rib injury, damaging his chances of making the roster.

There will likely be more changes tomorrow after the waiver claims are processed.