CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns and the Baltimore Ravens battled to be on top of the AFC North at Huntington Bank Field and the Browns prevailed in dramatic fashion with a 13-10 win as kicker Andre Szmyt hit a game-winning field from 37 yards out as time expired.
The Browns improved to 3-0 at home for the first time since 2020 and only the third time since 1999.
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Here are some takeaways from the Browns win:
Defense Steps Up and Shuts Down Derrick Henry, Ravens
The Ravens were playing without two-time MVP Lamar Jackson, who was inactive with an ankle injury. However, the Ravens came into the game 4-1, having won three-straight games and Tyler Huntley had led the Ravens to two-straight wins in Jackson’s absence.
In those two games, the Ravens scored 24- and 30-points in the two wins. The Ravens came into the game, No. 5 in the NFL, averaging 29.2 points a game. They were No. 3 in rushing, averaging 164.4 yards a game.
Derrick Henry came into the game rushing for 476 yards (4.2 avg.) with seven touchdowns. He also had eight receptions for 62 yards and a receiving touchdown. The Browns held Henry to just 58 yards on 17 carries or an average of just 3.4 yards. His longest run was for 17 yards in the first half, when he gained 41 of his 58 yards. He caught one pass for two yards.
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Todd Monken said stopping Henry was the key.
“That’s pretty cool, man, to hold that guy to that,” Monken said. “I mean, that’s where it starts, right? Stop their O-line and the engine, and Derrick Henry is their engine. He is the guy that makes it go.
“He was when I was there and he is now,” he said. “And for us to do that and to hold them where they were at, man, it’s so cool.”
The Ravens were No. 14 in the NFL in passing, averaging 229.8 yards a game. Zay Flowers was the Ravens leading receiver with 26 receptions. He finished wth six receptions for 66 yards. Tight end Mark Andrews had just one catch for four yards and he came into the game as the Ravens’ second-leading receiver with 22 catches.
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Huntley finished 19-of-31 for 165 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. His QB rating was 86.1. He rushed for 28 yards and was sacked three times.
Huntley came into the game completing 78 percent of his passes with two touchdowns and a QB rating of 109.8.
The Browns defense did not start well as the Browns gave up a long opening touchdown drive to start the game. It was the third-straight game in which the Browns started with a 7-0 deficit. They gave up a 78-yard touchdown drive to the Steelers, an 80-yard touchdown drive to the Jets and then a 66-yard touchdown drive to the Ravens.
On the second series, the Browns gave up a field goal and were down 10-0, with 4:37 left in the first quarter. The defense settled down after that and forced punts the rest of the first half and it carried over into the second half.
The defense gave up 163 yards in the first half, including 111 on the first two drives that produced all of the Ravens’ points.
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In the second half, the Ravens had just a total of 72 yards to give them 235 net yards overall, for the game.
The Browns held the Ravens to passing yards and have now gone 51-straight games without allowing a 300-yard passer, the longest active streak in the NFL and the longest streak by any NFL team since the Colts went 52 games from 2005-08.
It is Browns longest run since a 67-game stretch between 1974-79. The last quarterback to throw for 300 yards against the Browns was Gardner Minshew for the Colts on Oct. 22, 2023.
Carson Schwesinger led the team with 13 tackles and forced a fumble, which led to the Browns lone touchdown. He has recorded double-digit tackles in three games this season and has 10 in his career.
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Schwesinger had the play of the game that was a big part of the Browns comeback win. Schwesinger hit Derrick Henry, stripped the ball loose and Tyson Campbell recovered on the Ravens’ 35.
Schwesinger said he was just trying to do his job.
“That’s what we talked about,” Schwesinger said after the game. “The ball is oxygen. That was big in the offseason for me with trying to get the ball out in the run game. I was able to get one of those and we were able to get on top of it and get the ball, and put the offense in a good position to score and get the momentum going.”
Todd Monken loves what Schwesinger does for the defense.
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“Gave us a chance last week,” Monken said on Schwesinger. “We just didn’t take it from there. We went three and out, then had the unfortunate deal on the snap. But, you know, that’s everything. Those momentum plays and how about the defense as a whole? I don’t know what Derrick Henry had in the first drive, but I think, with 58 yards in 17 attempts. He might add 30 yards on the first drive.”
The Browns scored their only touchdown on the short field when running back Audric Estime scored on a two-yard touchdown. It was the only turnover of the game.
Schwesinger suffered a sprained ankle in last week’s loss to the Jets and did not practice all week until Friday.
In addition to the forced fumble, Schwesinger had a strip-sack fumble last week against the Jets, but the Browns could not do anything with the takeaway.
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In addition to Schwesinger, defensive tackle Maliek Collins recorded three tackles and one sack. He has recorded at least one sack in each of the past three games. He has 3.5 sacks on the season and 40.5 in his career.
Defensive end Isaiah McGuire had a sack and now has a career-high three sacks this season and 8.5 in his career. Linebacker Quincy Williams had the Browns third sack.
The Browns played without defensive tackle Mason Graham, who missed his second-straight game with a knee and ankle injury. He leads the Browns with four sacks.
Safety Grant Delpit left with a concussion in the first quarter and did not return. Rookie linebacker Justin Jefferson also left the game with a hip injury and did not return.
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After Slow Start, Deshaun Watson Rallies Offense to Fourth Game-Winning Drive
The Browns started extremely slow on offense, but Deshaun Watson rallied in the second half from a 10-0 deficit with 13 unanswered points in the 13-10 win.
Watson leads all NFL quarterbacks with four game-winning drives.
Watson said the confidence is growing each week that the Browns will be able to make the drive, when needed.
“Most definitely, it is all in the confidence,” he said. “This is what we practice for, we practiced it all offseason and we practice it every week. Once we get into that huddle, I take charge and look at every single one of those guys in the eyes and let them know like ‘hey, opportunities are gonna come let’s finish it, let’s go win, let’s be the legends and all the work we put in is here for us.’
“Yeah it is just a confidence thing, a still peaceful moment that I am in and they feed off the energy that I bring. I just tell the guys again, I told Jerry (Jeudy), ‘hey man be ready on that in cut’, and he was ready for it and made a big play.”
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The Browns defense held the Ravens and forced a punt, in which the Browns started at their own 20 with 1:59 to play.
Watson started the drive with a nine-yard pass to Jaleel McLaughlin, but threw incomplete deep to Denzel Boston. On third-and-one, Estime picked up four yards.
Watson ran for five yards on first down and then on third-and-five threw a crossing pass to Jerry Jeudy, who raced 33 yards to the Ravens’ 29 with 22 seconds to play.
After a four-yard run by McLaughlin and a two-yard run by Estime to the 23, the Ravens called their final timeout with 11 seconds to play. Watson took a snap for no gain and the Browns called a timeout with two seconds to play.
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After a penalty, Szmyt hit the game-winner from 37 yards as time expired.
On the game-winning drive, Watson was 3-of-4 for 42 yards, including the 33 yard pass to Jeudy that set up the game-winning field goal.
The OBR asked Monken after the game about Watson getting up off the mat and leading the offense to the win.
“I don’t know what to say,” Monken said. “I really don’t know what to say. I mean, we go a half feeling like, did we even meet this week, coaching? I mean, did we just take the week off and show up freaking today? I’m joking. But when you put a lot of work into it and you do that, forget the players, as coaches you’re like, ‘boy, we could have just rolled out the same damn game plan last week and done that.’
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“And Deshaun, he knows he can play better,” he said. “We can play better around him, but he’s just got something in him, the ability to make a play when needed,” he said. “We just kind of flatten out some of the other ups and downs that we have. And it starts with me, starts with our offensive staff. And that’s going to always be the case. It’s a we thing, not an individual thing.”
Watson was asked how he and the offense were able to get going after a poor start.
“We just got to keep working,” he said. “It’s the NFL, so days are going to be tough. It’s going to be hard especially when we have a lot of new pieces. We had new running backs that just got here, trying to put in new schemes, and then going against a team that is very dominant, very veteran-wise.
They play a lot of football so they did a good job of just mixing up what they are doing,” he said. “They didn’t really call the same stuff. They were rotating, Jesse Minter did a good job of calling, not repeating calls. You got to keep fighting. A lot of games from now until those two minutes and I’ve learned over the years, so when you put me in that spot, I’m prepared and ready for those moments. I love it and I enjoy it. Hopefully, we don’t have to do it more often and we can kind of put the game away. While we have it, I am ready for it. “
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Watson finished 16-of-26 for 164 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. His QB rating was 79.6. He rushed for 29 yards on eight attempts.
Watson entered the game completing 64.2 percent of his passes for 1,010 yards with seven touchdowns and two interceptions. His rating was 94.1. He had 37 rushes for 167 yards.
Trailing 10-0 at halftime, the Browns got on the board with a 48 yard field goal by Szmyt with 7:48 to play in the opening possession of the third quarter. The Browns had the ball for 7:12, covering 42 yards.
After punts on their next offensive possessions, the Browns scored their only touchdown of the game on a two-yard touchdown run by Audric Estime after the Browns recovered a fumble by Henry on the Ravens’ 35.
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On third-and-four, Watson hit KC Concepcion for a 15-yard completion to the Ravens’ 14. After a pass interference call on Keyon Martin gave the Browns a first down on the Ravens’ six yard line, Estime carried the ball twice for the touchdown to tie the game, 10-10 with 8:33 to play.
The Browns had the ball five times in the first half and produced five punts. Watson was just 3-of-9 for 24 yards and a 42.4 QB rating in the first half. He was sacked three times and rushed for eight yards.
The Browns had one play or more than 10 yards, a 14 yard pass to Jeudy. In the first half, the Browns had 46 total net yards ( 35 rushing, 11 passing).
With the score tied 10-10, Watson led the Browns on a 10 play, 62 yard drive that set up Szmyt’s game-winning field goal as time expired. It is the fourth win of the season that Watson has led a game-winning drive in the fourth quarter.
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Earlier, Watson led the Browns down the field to the Ravens’ 30, but Szmyt missed a 48-yard field goal with 3:40 to play that would have given the Browns the lead then.
Jerry Jeudy with the Offensive Play of the Game
Wide receiver Jerry Jeudy has had a very quiet season, but came through with the biggest offensive play of the game that set up the Browns winning field goal.
On third-and-five, Watson threw over the middle to Jeudy, who caught it and raced 33 yards to the Ravens’ 29 with 22 seconds to play.
“It was a dig route, they went cover two, so the middle was wide open and Deshaun (Watson) delivered a good ball and I just made a catch, and tried to get the most I can and go out of bounds,” Jeudy said.
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Monken was happy for Jeudy.
“I gave him a game ball and he deserves it,” Monken said. “We’re better on offense when Jerry’s a part of it, and I can certainly do a better job of incorporating him in it. And you can see a difference in his juice in practice and on the field. And that credit goes to him, and his decision to say, ‘all right, this is where it’s at. I’m going all in.’
“And what I mean by this, where it’s at with KC (KC Concepcion Jr.) and 12, right? ” He said. “Does that make sense? Like, okay, this is where it’s at. And as a man, he said, ‘I’m going to battle and I’m going to fight, and I want to be a part of this team, and I want to help make plays.’ And it builds confidence for us to continue to play him. And he made a bunch of plays. He’s working every day catching the ball. You can see a difference in that. And like I said, we’re better on offense when we’re able to utilize Jerry and what he can bring in terms of his explosiveness.”
Jeudy had four receptions for 69 yards (17.3 avg.). Concepcion had four receptions for 37 yards, while Denzel Boston had just one catch for 15 yards. Harold Fannin had just one catch for nine yards, the second-straight week he was limited to one catch.
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Jeudy entered the game with just eight receptions for 81 yards and no touchdowns.
Andre Szmyt Bounces Back
Andre Szmyt bounced back after having his streak of 25-straight field goals made on a 47-yard miss with 3:40 to play in the game.
His streak dated back to last season and included a 48 yard field goal in the third quarter.
At the end of the game, Szmyt lined up for a 42-yard field goal, but it was blocked by Keyon Martin, who was offsides. After moving up five yards, Szmyt and delivered the game winner from 37 yards out.
“Obviously, I wanted to make the one before, but (LS) Rex Sunahara snapped the perfect ball, so it makes my job easy.”
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Szmyt connected on two field goals, including a 37-yard game-winner with no time remaining. It was his second game-winning field goal this season and fourth of his career. In the fourth quarter, he missed a 48-yard attempt to snap a streak of 25 consecutive made field goals, the third-longest streak in Browns history for field goals made.
“When you think about it, he misses an extra point against the Jets, so I don’t know how many kicks in between there. What do we have? One field goal, I guess we had an extra point, a field goal, an extra point,” Monken said. “Then he had the miss, right? So, then you get the block, which ends up being like an ice, right? So, it’s like all your rhythm’s off, right? They jump; they get the block. Yeah, we get to move up five yards, but you’ve got to refocus, right? It kind of gets you off a little bit. Like, boy, the last one just got blocked. I know they jumped, but, man, good for him.
“Good for us. Like, right?” He said. “Talk about when you’ve got a kicker that’s now made a couple of game-winners and what that means to your team, because whether he makes it or not, it wouldn’t have meant we won or lost the game based on that. But the way it’s looked at from a kicker’s perspective, it falls squarely at that moment. And that’s so cool for him and for our team. It’s hard to really put into words.”
Extra Points
Quick Contribution: With RB Quinshon Judkins inactive with an ankle injury, RB Audric Estime was pressed into service in his first week with the Browns.
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Estime, who was signed by the Browns on Tuesday, recorded a rushing touchdown. He has four career rushing touchdowns.
“I just had to bounce it and then follow my puller,” Estime said. “I think Burt (FB Michael Burton) was the one who was the puller. So I just followed him and the coaches trusted me. They said, ‘when we get down there, you’re gonna get in the end zone, you’re gonna get into the paint today.’ And I had confidence in myself that I was getting a touchdown today and that’s what happened.”
RB Jaleel McLaughlin started the game and led the Browns with 41 yards on nine carries (4.6 avg.) He caught four passes for 14 yards.
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Besides Judkins, other inactive players were QB Taylen Green (3rd QB), CB Noah Igbinoghene, DT Mike Hall C Parker Brailsford G Teven Jenkins and DT Mason Graham.
Elevated: DT Sam Kamara and DT Chris Williams were elevated from the practice squad.
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