Browns bounce Brady and Bucs in OT!

  David Njoku's incredible one-handed, over-the-head grab and pull of the ball into his torso while leaping into the air and managing to stay inbounds fourth down catch with thirty-two seconds remaining in regulation forced overtime. 

Nick Chubb scored on a three-yard run with nineteen seconds remaining in overtime lifted the Cleveland Browns to a 23-17 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and kept any mild heartbeat of a postseason berth alive.

Chubb finished with 116 yards rushing and Amari Cooper caught seven passes for ninety-four yards including a deep catch late in overtime that set up the game-winning score.

Cleveland improved to 4-7 with the win and will travel to Houston next week with some fellow named Watson starting and making his team and season debut at quarterback.

Brownie Bits

1) The catch by David Njoku to allow the Browns to reach overtime is one that has to be seen to be believed.

2) It's the type of play that Njoku has occasionally delivered in his seasons with the Browns and that the team hoped it would see more consistently after signing him to a long-term contract.

Njoku has so much talent and such tremendous physical attributes that he should be among Travis Kelce as the best in the league at his position.

3) And the forgotten man arrived as Anthony Schwartz suddenly appeared in the first half to score on a thirty-one-yard running play and caught a pass for seventeen yards.

Schwartz has been a disappointment since being selected in the third round in 2021 and for all of his vaunted speed, he hasn't been very good as in his kick-returning appearances either.

Perhaps Schwartz's best role may be to stop depending on him as a contributor among the team's top five receivers on the depth chart and use him as a "Swiss Army Knife" to use the current phrase for multi-dimensional contributors.

4) Myles Garrett may have re-injured his shoulder in the Browns win but he was in the Tampa Bay backfield all afternoon and finished with a sack and a half.

Garrett seemed to be pounding Tom Brady on every play in the final period and overtime and that's the type of impact that Garrett can have on a game when properly inspired.

5) Amari Cooper had a topsy-turvy game that began when a wide-open Cooper dropped a well-thrown ball from Jacoby Brissett in the fourth quarter on a fourth down.

The drop was so out of character that I was more than mildly surprised to see Cooper unable to catch the ball.

6) Cooper more than redeemed himself in overtime with a forty-five-yard catch to the Tampa three-yard line that would set up the winning touchdown.

The acquisition of Cooper certainly ranks at the top of the moves that Andrew Berry has made since taking charge.

7) Speaking of high/low, Cade York smacked another fifty-plus yard field goal and yet shanked a 39-yard try about as badly as a weekend duffer could doink a golf ball.

Such are the travails of dealing with a rookie kicker.

8) The Browns continued their pattern of first-drive dominance as they scored a touchdown on that drive and added a field goal on their next drive.

I'm not sure what it means that Kevin Stefanski has such control over the planned drives and struggles on the fly on play calling thereafter but the data on this is building in a particular direction.

9) I was surprised that Kevin Stefanski didn't go for the two-point conversion after David Njoku's touchdown reception,  not that kicking the extra point wasn't the right call but considering Stefanski's reliance on analytical projections that going for two seemed to be more of what I expected from him.

10)  The Browns now will own a unique note in football annuals.

The win was the first time that Tom Brady led by seven points or more with one minute remaining in the game and lost.

11) Jacoby Brissett was better than the Browns could have expected in his eleven games as the starter.

The Browns' 4-7 record under Brissett wasn't what they needed or hoped for when the handover to DeShaun Watson takes place but give the Browns a win that they literally handed to the Jets and 5-6 would have been more in the range hoped for.

Brissett wasn't great and some of his play showed why he has been a career backup but his play never reached the level of awfulness that cost the Browns games, which is more than they could have asked for.

Jacoby Brissett turned out to be what the Browns needed, a steady hand that may not have won as many games as hoped but blended a team with some class and professionalism that badly needed it.

12) And now we start seeing just what the Browns traded three first-round picks for in DeShaun Watson.

Don't expect miracles right away, although I do expect a win in his game against the terrible Texans but this will be a pre- pre-season of sorts to prepare Watson for what is hoped to be an excellent season next year.

Browns lose 26-23 in Tampa.

Tampa Bay's Chandler Catanzaro booted a 59-yard bomb in overtime (after he had missed from far less at the end of regulation) to leave the Cleveland Browns with a dropped jaw and gaping mouth along with a 26-23 loss in Tampa against the Buccaneers.
The Browns did rally to tie the game in the fourth quarter with two touchdowns but did nothing with the ball in overtime offensively of note before a Jabrill Peppers fumble of a Tampa punt in overtime that would set the game-winning field goal drive into motion.

Baker Mayfield threw two touchdowns without an interception, although he did fumble at a key time and finished with 215 passing yards, while Nick Chubb rushed for the other Cleveland touchdown to go with 80 yards rushing.
The now 2-4-1 Browns travel to the waiting and rested (off their bye) Steelers in Pittsburgh next week.

Brownie Bits

1) Ok, no I did not think the Chandler Catanzaro kick had a chance after his earlier miscues.
However, I don't blame the Buccaneers from trying it and so many were laughing about before it was good.
The weather was not a factor, the kicker had a career-long of 60 yards, If I was Dirk Koetter, I would have tried it too.

2) Baker Mayfield looks like a different guy than the guy that entered the game against the Jets.
Not in production, that will vary according to the opponent from week to week, that happens with rookie quarterbacks.
No, the guy that ran around showed so much enthusiasm looks a little beaten down already and that
is a worry.
Now that could be playing under the perpetual mess that comes with Hue Jackson and I'm sure the staff and Jackson isn't helping either, but the only time that I saw that flash from Mayfield was after the hit on him,

3) And about that hit?
For a league that has called some of the weakest, nickel and dime hits into roughness penalties, how on earth do you pick that flag up?
It looks even worse on replay than it did in live action, but Mayfield was clearly beginning his slide and gave himself up (Penalty one) and the contact was just as clearly helmet to helmet (Penalty two).
It's crap like that and others that make the Browns and Browns fans think the referees are against you.
It brings to mind the old question- "Are you ignorant or corrupt"? Neither answer is acceptable.

4) One of the things that I wondered about most with Baker Mayfield entering the draft was his speed/size.
The concern was that it's different dashing around and making plays at Oklahoma than the NFL, the speed of the game is different and could he get away with that?
The fumble at the end of the first half showed just that. Mayfield had the first down, but the strip of the football caused the ball to go backward and out of bounds, short of the first down.
There is a major difference between being elusive/quick and being fast as Ryan and I talked about during the game.
Ryan brought up the example of Aaron Rodgers, who isn't a guy that is fast enough to rip off 15 yard runs very often, yet is elusive in the pocket to avoid pass rushers.
Mayfield hopefully will learn those differences.

5) Jarvis Landry stepped up huge with a great game with several terrific catches during his ten catch afternoon, but Landry took a pounding in being targeted fifteen times.
It makes me wonder how good Landry could be with any type of threat outside of himself in the receiving corps.

6) The Browns did get production from the defensive line in sacking Jameis Winston four times and harassing him all game long, but what I really liked most from Myles Garrett (along with his two sacks) was the effort shown by Garrett.
In the overtime, you can clearly see Garrett on his knees between plays, unable to even stand, yet summoning more effort on the next play.
The Browns need to find a way to get Garrett out of the lineup on occasion to keep him fresher, but what a tremendous effort that showed a lot of heart.

7) Really, the defense played well for the most part, if you choose to overlook nine penalties called on them.
Forcing four turnovers, the aforementioned sacks and even when dog-tired in overtime, the defense pushed the Buccaneers back to what was thought to be a punting situation.
Jamie Collins has picked up his game in the absence of Joe Schobert and Emanuel Ogbah did his best Clyde Simmons (Clyde is the Browns DL coach currently) impersonation with a sack and a half along with two passes batted down.

8) Demarious Randall finished with eleven tackles and it seemed that at times he was covering the Buccaneers main threat in Mike Evans.
I like Randall much better at safety than at corner, but he played a strong game as even though Evans finished with over one hundred yards, he did not catch a touchdown and Randall even broke up a pass intended for Evans in the end zone.

9) Jabrill Peppers looked to have finally broken out as a punt returner with a late punt return of 32 yards that allowed the Browns to start a touchdown drive deep in Tampa Bay territory and I thought OK this is it, he'll finally begin to have some confidence in returning and who knows where that will lead.
Then Peppers coughed up the football on a return in overtime and it all went to Hades or Ann Arbor if you prefer.
Peppers was quite contrite about the fumble and blamed himself for the loss, so that will help a little with the fans, but after he had improved his play in the last few games, I hope that this doesn't cause his recent run to end.

10) 14 penalties.
14!
Do I need to write more?

11) And then there is Hue Jackson, who passed up a short to a medium field goal try at the end of the first half that ended in the Mayfield fumble and passed up another field goal try for a fourth-down gamble on Baker Mayfield's sneak attempt that came up short.
Jackson's post-game comments on helping the offense and coordinator Todd Haley makes me think these two questions- Doesn't Jackson have enough problems with his own job performance that he might be better suited guarding his own doghouse? And if Jackson is such a superior play caller to Haley, should we ask just who was the guy calling the plays for the two seasons/one win Browns?
Answer: The guy who proclaimed himself the head coach four times in his press conference.
That guy. The head coach.

12) Rookie Desmond Harrison had his hands full with veteran Jason Pierre-Paul, who sacked Baker Mayfield only once but seemed to be around him constantly.
Harrison might be a terrific tackle eventually, but he still has plenty to learn and facing an experienced pass rusher will often have disastrous results.

13) I mentioned that this game was almost a must win when you look at the schedule.
They didn't.
Now, comes the tough part, at Pittsburgh, who has seemed to have righted their ship and I'm sure will be motivated after their tie with the Browns, Kansas City, who seems to be way out of the Browns pay grade, Atlanta, a better version of the score a lot, give up a lot Buccaneers before the bye.
By that time, the trade deadline will have passed and what the Browns are will not change very much.
Assuming the Browns lose all three of those games and they will be underdogs in all three, that leaves the Browns at 2-7-1 at the break.
Is that finally enough for the Haslam family to realize Hue Jackson is a major problem?
I think that it is more likely than not, that is the exact decision that will have to be made.