Jarvis Landry secured his first touchdown catch of the season on a five-yard pass from Baker Mayfield in the first quarter Sunday afternoon in Jacksonville. (Associated Press)
You must have an active subscription to read this story.
Click Here to subscribe Now!
Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
Instant takeaways from Browns 27-25 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars …
1. Sweating in the sun: The Browns sweated out a 27-25 win over the 1-10 Jaguars, but it wasn’t the Florida sunshine that wore on them. The Jags never quit and forced the Browns to possess the ball the last two minutes. The difference in the score was two failed 2-point conversions by the Jaguars in the second half. As usual, it was Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt who saved the day and powered the Browns to an 8-3 record. Chubb rushed for 144 yards and one touchdown, but it was his run-and-lunge for a first down on third-and-12 screen pass that preserved the win with 1:23 to play. The Browns ran out the clock after that. Hunt added 62 yards rushing. Baker Mayfield (19 of 29 for 258 yards, two touchdowns) had his most prolific game in a month, but several misfires in the end zone kept this game close. Nevertheless, the Browns moved to 8-3, guaranteeing only their third non-losing season in 22 years of the expansion era.
2. Game of inches: With a chance to put the game out of reach midway through the fourth quarter, Stefanski made some puzzling calls. He challenged a down-by-contact call on Kareem Hunt. He won that, but Hunt’s run came up three inches short on a measurement. On third-and-inches from the Jags’ 22, Stefanski called a play-fake pass to Hunt. Huh? The short throw was behind him and fell incomplete. On fourth-and-inches, Hunt was ambushed and tried to reach for the first down but came up two inches short at the Jaguars’ 22. On Jacksonville’s ensuing possession, Olivier Vernon sacked Mike Glennon on third down from the Browns’ 24. But Vernon led with his helmet and grazed Glennon’s face mask, giving the Jags new downs. Four plays later, James Robinson was pushed into the end zone on a 3-yard touchdown run. But Glennon’s 2-point pass for James O’Shaugnessy was intercepted at the back of the end zone by Andrew Sendejo, preserving a 27-25 Browns lead.
3. Hammer time: With Mayfield having sporadic accuracy issues, Stefanski wisely chose to pound his running back hammer at the end of the third quarter. Chubb ripped off gains of 13 and 29 yards and Hunt had a blast of 27. After Harrison Bryant failed to come down with a 1-yard toss in the end zone – Stefanski blew a timeout challenging the call – Chubb finished up with a 1-yard run with a right pitch for the touchdown and 27-19 Browns lead.
4. Thanks, coach: Jaguars coach botched a decision that cost his team a point in a tight game. After the Jags’ first touchdown of the second half, Marrone took the PAT off the board after Vernon was called for offsides. He went for two points from the 1-yard line and a pass failed. So that kept the Jacksonville lead at 19-17. That was wiped out on a 45-yard field goal by Cody Parkey on the next Browns’ possession.
5. Tough break: Safety Ronnie Harrison was so happy to be able to play against the team that traded him in September. His joy lasted one play. On the Browns’ first defensive play, Harrison suffered a shoulder injury making a routine tackle of James Robinson. He did not return. On the other side of the field, former Browns linebacker Joe Schobert poked a fumble of Harrison Bryant after a catch by the tight end on the very first play of the second half. The Jacksonville recovery resulted in a touchdown to move ahead, 19-17.
6. Shake the rust: It sure seemed like the game plan in the first half was to exercise the passing game and get Jarvis Landry back in the groove. Landry had his first TD of the year on a short, 5-yard pass off play-action. Landry also made a patented back-end-of-the-ball catch for 23 yards. But Mayfield missed with off-target throws on one possession that could have been touchdowns, missing from 8 yards and then 6. Still, Landry had 91 yards on five catches in eight targets in the first half.
7. Mechanics: Mayfield also missed Rashard Higgins all alone in the end zone on a 5-yard throw off his back foot. He later atoned with a 9-yard TD to Austin Hooper off play-action to give the Browns a 17-13 at halftime. So Mayfield’s two TDs in the first half ended his three-game streak in bad weather without throwing one, and he was able to keep alive his streak without an interception through the first half.
8. Good defense: The Jaguars settled for field goals on their first two scoring opportunities after a pair of really good breakups in the end zone by the Browns. The first was turned in by safety Andrew Sendejo, who made a last-ditch breakup with his left hand, on a 40-yard pass by Glennon. Unofficially, it was Sendejo’s first pass defense of the year on the team stat sheet. The second was administered by linebacker B.J. Goodson on a diving breakup at the goal line. Both times the intended receiver was Keelan Cole. Glennon laid in a nice touch pass of 46 yards to Collin Johnson for Jacksonville’s lone TD in the first half.
9. Scrap it: I blame the first Jaguars field goal on Kevin Stefanski, or whomever called for the Browns to run their first offensive play out of empty formation from the Jaguars 8-yard line. Mayfield was sacked back to the 2, Chubb was stuff for a loss to the 1, and then a Kareem Hunt gave punter Jamie Gillan some breathing room. The Jags got great field position at the 50, however, and converted it into a 53-yard field goal. The Browns opened the Eagles’ game in empty formation, too. That resulted in a David Najoku drop. Idea: Scrap the empty formation.
10. Pre-game notes: With so many players on Covid-19 reserve or already ruled out with injuries, the only pre-game questions were how coaches would replace three defensive starters. Here is how they did it: Adrian Clayborn replaced Myles Garrett/Porter Gustin at defensive end, Malcolm Smith replaced Sione Takitaki at strongside outside linebacker, and Kevin Johnson replaced Denzel Ward at cornerback. The Browns pre-game moves left them without an active fullback. Andy Janovich was still on Covid reserve and Johnny Stanton reverted to the practice squad after being active last game.