by The Cleveland Browns created 5 Washington turnovers on their way to a 34-20 victory today at First Energy Stadium. The win moves them to 2-1 and puts them over 500 for the first time since 2014. This stopped an 84-game streak of under 500 ball.
For the first time all season, the Browns were blessed with breaks, and took full advantage of them. They used 21 points off of three Haskin turnovers to come back from two separate deficits.
Then when it looked like the Washington Football Team would begin to mount a late comeback of their own, it was Myles Garrett stripping Haskins to end that as well.
This led to even more points and helped them put the game away at 34-20. Bringing the total to 24 points off of 5 total turnovers from Washington.
Cleveland was smart with the ball and Baker Mayfield didn’t turn it over. He was smart all day and appears to be getting better by the week. Mayfield finished with 156 yards passing on 16 of 23 with 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. He was smart, he was good with the ball, and they won!
Mayfield’s top weapons were once again his pair of talented tailbacks. Nick Chubb went for 108 yards on 19 carries, scoring twice. Kareem Hunt chipped in with 46 yards on the ground on 16 carries and also raked down a touchdown pass late in the first half.
Bakers top target in the air was Odell Beckham Jr, with 4 catches and 59 yards on only 6 targets. Not the guy they traded for, but they are winning right now, so let’s just see where that goes. It was nice to see some great play out of the tights ends as Austin Hooper had 3 catches for 25 yards while Harrison Bryant caught his first career touchdown.
The Browns used the first half to get their defense going by creating 3 total turnovers. Down early 7-0, following a Dwayne Haskins to Dontrelle Inman 17-yard touchdown pass, the Browns began their comeback.
After a Cody Parkey field goal cut the deficit to 7-3, the Browns would use a pair of Haskins errant passes to score 14 more and take a 17-7 lead into the half.
The first touchdown was from Chubb who rumbled in from 16 yards out. He refused to go down as Washington tacklers bounced off him.
Up next following another turnover, it was Mayfield finding Hunt who lined up one on one with a linebacker to score from 9 out. It was a great job out of Mayfield to recognize the mismatch and take advantage of it.
This was big for the Browns, because since 1999, it is typically always them giving up points before the half. They would close the half by forcing their third turnover, but it came with 00:00 on the clock.
The Washington Football Team have been a second half team all season with their best play coming in the final 30 minutes. They would take advantage of two possessions starting near midfield as Haskins led back to back touchdown drives in the third quarter, giving them a 20-17 lead and making Browns fans nervous.
Suddenly trailing 20-17 as the final quarter began, several Browns would step up to help them regain the lead. Mayfield was smart with the ball and continued to be effective on rollouts. This time it was Hunt stepping up as well and helping in out by gaining huge chunks of yards quickly.
Several huge runs by Hunt put the Browns in the red zone and then a goal to goal in which they cashed in. Mayfield found Harrison Bryant from 3 yards out, and put the Orange and Brown back up 24-20. The rookie Bryant, looks legit!
It was the Browns defense striking again, after a BJ Goodson interception gave them the ball back on the Washington side of the field. They wasted no time feeding their stud back Nick Chubb and piling up 7 more points as Chubb rumbled in from 20 yards out. Chubb showed speed, power and technique all in one run. The Chubb score put the Browns ahead 31-20 and totaled 21 points off the three Haskin interceptions.
The Washington Football team is now 1-2 and will look to bounce back next week as they host the Baltimore Ravens. The Browns will look to remain hot as they travel to Dallas.
