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Indianapolis, IN – For the second time in two weeks, the Cleveland Browns overcame horrendous quarterback play, with the help of horrific penalties being called on their opponent, to walk away with a stunning win. This time it was a 39-38 victory at Indianapolis over the Colts in a game in which Indianapolis more or less dominated.
I find it hilarious that the CBS announcer made a point of saying how Gardner Minshew hadn’t won a game in which he passed for 300 plus yard as they held a lead with under 50 seconds to go, and then once again, he lost shortly after that mentioned that.
I also find it hilarious how he mentioned in the second quarter that he hadn’t mentioned Myles Garrett name a single time, and then Garrett promptly went off to take over the game in the final moments of the second quarter.
With all of that being said, and accounted for, let’s get to the stats that jump off the page from this game, and what it means for the Browns moving forward as they are now 4-2 and travel to Seattle next weekend.
Horrendous Quarterback play from the Cleveland Browns for the 5th time in 6 games.
Deshaun Watson and PJ Walker combined to go 16 of 37 for 183 yards and two interceptions. Walker had multiple shots at the endzone on the final drive, and couldn’t make a single throw. He was bailed out by the refs. Just awful. Watson, badly, and I mean BADLY needs to find his pre 2021 magic soon, or the Cleveland Browns are going to blow the best defense they have had since the 1980’s.
Non Existent run game yet again
If you take away the 1 run by Ford for 69 yards, Hunt and himself went for 36 yards on a combined 20 other rushes. Thus, 20 carries for 36 yards. They were bailed out by the massive 69-yard touchdown run, as well as Pierre Strong looking good off the bench with 25 yards on 8 carries. Listen, I’m not saying that Ford and Hunt aren’t crucial to the success of this team, but they will need to step it up outside of just a few big plays here and there.
Amari Cooper held in check
Cooper was held to 2 catches for 22 yards. Cooper has EASILY been the best Cleveland Brown threat all season long, and is the biggest reason they are 4-2 in my humble opinion, however, today was not his day as he had trouble getting open against a rookie corner he should have smoked.
Cleveland gave up a season high in passing and rushing yards against them.
The vaunted Browns defense gave up 305 passing yards to Gardner Minshew and a combined 168 rushing yards. It would have been more if it wasn’t for the strip sacks from Garrett. The Browns had a lot of flashy plays today, but at the end of the day, the most important thing they did was stop the Colts from expanding on their 38-33 lead with under 3 minutes to go, and get the ball back to the offense. Having four turnovers is excellent, thank goodness for it! But not their best overall effort today.
So, if those are the stats to worry about, how about some stats that jumped off the page in a good way in the win? Let’s have some fun and look at those quickly as well.
Jerome Ford a 69-yard touchdown run. Well yeah, not a huge game, but if he keeps breaking off runs like this, then he remains a serious threat. Now, how hurt is he yet again, time will tell.
Dustin Hopkins went 4 of 4 with 3 from over 50 yards, including a ridiculous 58 yarder that proved to be the difference in a 1-point win.
Kareem Hunt with two goal line touchdown runs. Hey, if you don’t think Hunt is the biggest pickup post Chubb injury, then you are crazy. Hunt continues to be in all the right places when they need him to be! They should have given him the ball on first down at the goal line, but again, you would think your quarterback is capable of making a 4-yard pass completion.
4 turnovers by the defense. The announcers made a point of saying how the Browns ranked towards the bottom of the NFL when it came to turnovers, but they promptly turned that around today with 3 fumbles and a pick.
Myles Garrett had 9 tackles,2 strip sacks, one of which led to a touchdown, and a blocked field goal. He also had 3 more offsides penalties on him. Despite the jumping offsides and then stopping while huge plays developed, the overall plus minus for Garrett today was pretty damn good!