Second thoughts: Could the Green Bay win be a season-changer for the Browns?

Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns and NFL analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.

Second thoughts on Browns 13, Packers 10 …

1. The similarities between this improbable Browns win and a Week 6 upset of the San Francisco 49ers in 2023 are eerie … and encouraging. The 49ers rolled into town with a 5-0 record and averaging 33 points a game. Brock Purdy was the early MVP candidate with nine TDs vs. zero interceptions and a league-leading 114.8 passer rating. The Browns were 9 ½-point home underdogs. They held Purdy to 125 yards, sacked him three times and intercepted him once in overcoming a 10-0 deficit to win, 19-17. They got a big break when Jake Moody missed a game-winning field goal attempt. On Sunday, the Browns were 8 ½-point home underdogs against a 2-0 Packers team anointed by some as the NFL’s best. They overcame a 10-0 deficit, caught some breaks and won, 13-10, on a 55-yard Andre Szmyt field goal at the end. In 2023, the win over the 49ers altered the season. The Browns went on to win four of their next five games despite quarterback and offensive inadequacies en route to an unexpected 11-6 playoff season.

2. Joe Flacco was a closer in that season, winning four in a row “off the couch” when the QB situation burned through Deshaun Watson to P.J. Walker and Dorian Thompson-Robinson, before Flacco rescued it. Two years later, Flacco is the starter but so far lacking the magic of his previous stint. Undoubtedly, he will hand over the reins at some point to rookie Dillon Gabriel. The point is, Kevin Stefanski seems at his best in these situations. The win over San Francisco in 2023 was a season-altering triumph. Could the win over Green Bay be the same? Stefanski hesitated before answering. “I try not to think about it that way,” he said. “I just…I’m probably the wrong person to ask. It’s a good question, but you probably ask somebody else. I got the blinders on.”

3. One of the key plays in the Browns’ drive to set up Szmyt’s game-winning kick was the spike to stop the clock with 2 seconds left. It was a flawless example of situational football. There were 12 seconds left with no Browns timeouts when Flacco stepped back into shotgun formation at the Packers’ 45-yard line, facing third-and-2. Flacco put the ball on the money to David Njoku running a skinny slant from the left side. Njoku was brought down at the Packers’ 37 with :08 on the running clock. What happened next was textbook. Njoku got up and quickly handed the ball to center Ethan Pocic. Pocic spotted the ball at the 37, but made sure the umpire touched the ball while the offensive unit rushed to the line of scrimmage. Flacco then spiked the ball to stop the clock with :02 left. Every team practices this play in training camp and probably every Friday in 2-minute drills and then in walk-throughs on Saturday during the season. “As we teach it, the first part is the player with the ball getting down immediately and then standing up and handing the ball to the center, not throwing it,” Stefanski said. “The center is allowed to then look to the side, [and] judge where the ball is spotted. He can spot the ball. You have to then make room, let the umpire touch the ball, and then be set for one count. And you have to be in a legal formation. You know, the receiver’s on the ball. Every player has to be facing forward. So those are all the things that we work on. But you see it around the league. The centers nowadays do a great job. If they spot the ball, they look to the sideline and spot the ball in that play.”

4. Stefanski announced that tackle Dawand Jones’ knee injury suffered on the fourth play of the game requires surgery and will end his season. It’s the third year in a row that Jones’ season ended prematurely with surgeries (knee and broken leg previously). Jones was moved to right tackle for the first time this year in the Green Bay game and Cornelius Jones started at left tackle. The short-term impact of Jones’ loss really puts an urgency on Jack Conklin returning to right tackle. He’s missed two games with an elbow injury and most of the opener after a poke in the eye. The Browns finished the Green Bay game with KT Leveston playing right tackle, and that is not optimal. They also have two veteran tackles who recently were signed to the practice squad, Joshua Miles and Tyre Phillips. The long-term impact of Jones’ injury is this: The Browns undoubtedly now will be in the left tackle market in 2026, either in free agency or the draft – or both. Jones had to prove this year, his third, that he could handle left tackle. That’s impossible now. At worst, Jones could move back to right tackle next year with Conklin expected to enter free agency. That seemed to be the plan, anyways, evidenced by Jones’ move to right tackle on Sunday. Jones will be entering the final year of his rookie contract in 2026 and it’s now harder than ever to rely on him as a dependable starter at either tackle position. So the Browns might have to be in the right tackle marketplace, also.

5. Quinshon Judkins has played in only two games and he’s already first among rookie running backs. His 155 yards on 28 carries (5.5 average) lead Ashton Jeanty (144 yards, 47 carries, 3.1) and Omarion Hampton (142, 42, 3.4). Incidentally, Nick Chubb is at 141, 34, 4.1 with Houston. Judkins has two explosive runs of more than 30 yards. He ran for 31 yards on his ninth carry in the Baltimore game and for 38 on his 14^th carry against Green Bay. Both came in the fourth quarter. “He’s a volume runner,” Stefanski said on Sunday. “Knew that he gets better with touches. He gets his first touchdown, which I’m excited for him, but he’s only going to get better.”

6. Rookie three-way player Adin Huntington’s workload continues to increase. The 290-pound defensive tackle and fullback had six plays on offense, 18 on defense and 11 on special teams vs. Green Bay. That was up from one (offense), 12 (defense) and 10 (special teams) vs. Baltimore, and three (offense), seven (defense) and 14 (special teams) vs. Cincinnati. Huntington pulverized an opening for Judkins on his 1-yard TD run that tied the score at 10-10. Huntington looks like such a weapon on offense, I’m wondering if his role could be expanded beyond short-yardage plays. “Potentially,” Stefanski said. “With young players, you always want to bring them along, but we’re always looking for guys that can give you versatility.” After the game, Huntington said of his lead blocking, “When I'm out there, I know the Lord’s going to bless me. So I just go out there and play full speed. And I just knew if I do my job and do what they told me, [Judkins] was going to score. And we scored. So it's a blessing.” On 18 snaps on defense, Huntington was credited with four tackles, ½ sack and one quarterback hit.