Browns running game and patience for longer possessions helped Deshaun Watson turn it around in Baltimore
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
Second thoughts on Browns 33-31 win over Baltimore Ravens …
1. The secret to Deshaun Watson’s second-half turnaround may be rooted in a comment he made after the game. “I think we were caught up in the first half trying to press, trying to get everything back when we were down 14. So, we settled down, and we focused on that,” he said. From the start of the game, the Browns were able to run on the Ravens. But they lost patience when down, 14-0, and got a little pass-happy, especially inside the red zone. They were forced to settle for short field goals on three trips inside the 20. In the second half, the Browns adjusted and relied on their offensive line, Jerome Ford’s running, Watson’s keepers, and shorter throws to gain control of the game and wear down the Ravens’ defense. The Browns established their physicality on a 17-play drive in the third quarter that ate over 10 minutes. And when they got to the red zone, here’s what they did: Kareem Hunt run for 13 yards, Hunt run for 2, Watson completion to Amari Cooper underneath for 6, and a Hunt run of 3 over the goal line behind Wyatt Teller’s pulling block and Nick Harris’ lead block. They punctuated the punishing series with a 2-point conversion run by Watson on a delayed quarterback draw on which Teller pulverized 315-pound nose tackle Broderick Washington to the ground.
2. After going 6 of 20 for 79 yards and a Pick 6 in the first half, Watson got into a rhythm the second half as Stefanski settled things down with the running game. “Sometimes you take some shots early in the game and you don’t hit them, but you got to kind of do that throughout the game and make sure you’re making yourself hard to defend,” Stefanski said Monday. “You got to run by the corners every once in a while.” One of my quibbles with Stefanski is that he is overly intoxicated with “taking shots” and scoring quickly. He doesn’t apologize for being “aggressive.” But the longer possessions on a day the offensive line is consistently winning serves to demoralize and wear down the opponent. They also helped Watson to regain control of his short passing game and it resulted in a 14 of 14 second half by Watson for 134 yards and a short TD to Elijah Moore. It’s instructive that the Browns made up deficits of 15 points and 14 in the second half with no Watson pass traveling more than 25 yards. The second-longest play, of 24 yards, was actually a 4-yard pass to David Njoku on which the tight end carried safety Geno Stone for about 10 yards – another example of the Browns’ physicality and determination.
3. The victory was Watson’s first fourth-quarter comeback win in 12 games with the Browns. (He had 10 with the Houston Texans.) Do you know that Kenny Pickett has six fourth-quarter comeback wins in 21 games with the Steelers?
Almost the entire Browns' offensive team helped to push Jerome Ford to a first down on the winning drive against Baltimore. (Cleveland Browns)
4. After the game, Stefanski said his favorite play was Ford’s 12-yard run in the final minutes aided by a 10-man push that moved the ball an extra seven yards into safe field-goal range for the 40-yard game-winner by Dustin Hopkins. That group effort – which received a heavy jolt by Teller at the back of the pack -- embodied both the team’s relentless effort and physical dominance of the Ravens. “If you want to show a team that you belong, that’s how you do it,” remarked FOX analyst Jonathan Vilma on the broadcast.
5. Ford’s insight on the “scrum run” was interesting. “It was pretty much a run play, power play, and we got up to the second level and kind of got to a stalemate,” he said. “And all I could think of was to hold on to the ball and keep my feet turning. And then out of nowhere, I felt a push. And I felt a bigger push. And I’m just in the pile, the Ravens [are] in there ripping at the ball. I’m just like, hold on to the ball and it’s like I’m holding on and I’m like, ‘Is the play going to be over?’ They’re still pushing it. And eventually went down and you see it on film and it’s like, man, that was a real great play.” Ford now has rushed for 107 yards on the Ravens and 106 on the Steelers (in relief of injured Nick Chubb). Against two of the better run defenses, Ford has averaged 6.45 yards per carry.
6. The Browns’ defense now has 11 takeaways in the last four games. Greg Newsome’s Pick 6 in the fourth quarter was the first interception of his career. Mike Ford also had his first career interception with 43 seconds left in the first half. Ford had quite an eventful game filling in after Denzel Ward left with a neck injury. The core special teams player also had a jolting, legal hit on Lamar Jackson at the Browns’ sideline after a keeper run. In the third quarter, Ford was beat on a slant route by Odell Beckham Jr. that resulted in a 40-yard touchdown and Baltimore’s biggest lead, 24-9. It was Beckham's only reception of the game.
7. First place in the AFC North can be at stake when the Browns (6-3) play the Steelers (6-3) Sunday in Cleveland Browns Stadium. That depends on the outcome of Ravens (7-3) v. Bengals (5-4) in Baltimore on Thursday night. Nevertheless, it will mark only the second time since 1999 that both rivals are three games or more over .500 when meeting this late in the season. In the COVID-affected season of 2020, the Browns were 10-5 when they hosted the 11-4 Steelers in the season finale. The Steelers already had clinched the AFC North title and sent their junior varsity, which the Browns defeated, 24,-22, to earn an AFC wild card berth. The only other time the teams met with such winning records so late was in 1994. The Steelers were 11-3 and the Browns were 10-4. The Browns lost, 17-7.
