Browns beat Titans on the road to prove they are legit

Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.

Instant takeaways from Browns’ 41-35 victory over the Tennessee Titans …

1. How to earn respect: The Browns are 9-3 for the first time since 1994 after putting together a magnificent signature victory for the Kevin Stefanski era and also for Baker Mayfield. They beat up Mike Vrabel’s Titans, 41-35, with a supreme effort on offense and defense. The final score was deceiving, as the Titans scored twice in the last 1:23 of the game. Mayfield tossed four touchdowns and the Browns scored on all six possessions in the first half, and the defense forced three turnovers on a Tennessee offense that had committed only five giveaways in the previous 11 games. Stefanski was uber-aggressive in play-calling from the onset and Mayfield was on target without turning over the ball. He lost a fumble on a quarterback sneak with :48 left in the game. This was only the third road victory for the Browns against a team with a winning record in the last 10 years – the first outside of their AFC North division. The win secured the Browns' hold on the first AFC wild card spot and the No. 5 playoff seed. Titans, who humiliated the Browns in the 2019 season opener, fell to 8-4 and in a first-place tie in the AFC South with the Colts.

2. By air, not by land: The Derrick Henry v. Nick Chubb heavyweight bout was overshadowed by the undercard matchup of Mayfield and Ryan Tannehill. The running backs took a back seat as the Browns rolled up the points early. Henry, the NFL’s leading rusher, lost his first fumble of the year and was bottled up for 60 rushing yards. Chubb had 80 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. Mayfield was flawless, completing 25 of 33 for 334 yards and four touchdowns for a passer rating of 147.0. Tannehill was intercepted by reserve cornerback R.J. Stewart and sacked three times, once by Myles Garrett. Tannehill (29 of 45, 389, three TD) added a touchdown with 1:23. The Browns recovered the onside kick but gave the ball back on a Mayfield sneak trying to ice the game. The fumble was returned to the Browns' 13-yard line. Tannehill threw to Cameron Batson from 8 yards for the final score. The Browns recovered the onside kick this time to seal the win.

3. Turnover party: The Titans had led the league with just five turnovers entering the game. The Browns took it away three times (and had another nullified by a defensive holding penalty). The third one was a back-breaker to the Titans. They were driving at the end of the third quarter when Adam Humphries couldn’t handle Tannehill’s pass at the 10. Terrance Mitchell’s hit popped the ball up and Stewart intercepted.

4. That didn’t take long: The Titans chipped at a seemingly insurmountable halftime deficit with two lightning-quick touchdowns in the third quarter. Ryan Tannehill tossed to tight end MyCole Pruitt for a 22-yard touchdown. Henry was stopped by B.J. Goodson on a two-point run. That drive took 2 minutes, 10 seconds. After the Browns’ first punt of the game, Tannehill needed only three plays and 1:08 to score again. A pass to A.J. Brown at the goal line was raked out by Terrance Mitchell, but it bounced to Pruitt and he scooped it for the gravy touchdown. Tannehill converted the 2-point play with a run to close the Browns’ lead to 38-21.

5. Still hot: But the Browns stopped the bleeding with a 43-yard Cody Parkey field goal to go up, 41-21. Mayfield made a clutch throw of 16 yards to Austin Hooper to convert third-and-12 and keep the clock moving. That was Mayfield’s first completion to a tight end in the game.

6. Dream half: The Browns did everything right the first half. I mean, everything. They scored on all six possessions. Mayfield threw four TD passes to four receivers – and two had the soft touch that he’s been lacking on shorter throws. Everything was working so well on offense that Stefanski wouldn’t even sit on the ball in the final two minutes. Chubb scored on a 1-yard run with :55 left in the half for an unfathomable 38-7 lead. The 38 points in the first half were the most in history for the Browns. Not just in their expansion history. Their NFL history.

7. Vrabel schooled: Vrabel made a number of questionable calls in the early going to contribute to his team’s demise. First, he deferred the opening kickoff. Given the nature of both teams’ run-oriented offenses, taking the first lead could lead to control of the game. Vrabel deferred and the Browns moved 65 yards for a field goal and 3-0 lead.

8. Tricky: On their first offensive possession, the Titans tried a tackle-eligible pass to Aaron Brewer, a rookie backup center, on third-and-1 from the Browns’ 42. Linebacker B.J. Goodson broke it up. Then on fourth down, Henry was stopped inches short of the first down by Sheldon Richardson. Vrabel challenged the spot, was wrong, and lost a timeout.

9. Take that: Stefanski responded with some trickery of his own on the Browns’ possession. On third-and-2 from the Titans’ 30, Mayfield handed to Chubb, who flipped a pitch to Jarvis Landry coming on an end-around. But Landry stopped, planted his feet, and toss the ball to Mayfield, who made a good catch of the high throw to the left sideline. Furthering the Browns’ cause, linebacker Rashaan Evans was penalized for roughing-the-passer for a high hit that flattened Landry.

10. Thank you, have another. Later in the first quarter, Stefanski schooled Vrabel on how the tackle-eligible play should be done – in the end zone! On third-and-goal from the Titans 1, Chubb and Kareem Hunt lined up in the backfield. Mayfield play-faked to Chubb and floated the ball to backup tackle Kendall Lamm for the touchdown.

11. Defense working, too: The quick, big lead enabled the Browns’ defense to concentrate on the Titans’ pass offense. It came to play early. Down, 10-0, the Titans committed only their sixth turnover of the season when Henry lost the ball after a handoff and safety Karl Joseph recovered at the Titans’ 21. It was Henry’s first fumble in 375 touches of the ball dating to last season. Henry was held to 15 yards seven carries in the first half.

12. Welcome back: The hamstring injury to KhaDarel Hodge at Thursday’s practice put rookie Donovan Peoples-Jones back into the receiver rotation. Peoples-Jones dropped his first target inside the 5 on the first possession. The next time Mayfield targeted him, Peoples-Jones hauled in a perfect pass after he beat cornerback Breon Borders with a move five yards off the line of scrimmage. The catch and run turned into a 75-yard touchdown and 24-7 Browns lead. You could hear the sound of Titans jaws hitting the ground all the way in Cleveland.

13. Pre-game notes: With receivers Hodge (hamstring) and Taywan Taylor (neck) out with injuries suffered late in the practice week, the Browns made Ja’Marcus Bradley -- promoted from practice squad this week -- active as the fourth receiver. Also, Chubb was selected as game captain.