The Cleveland Browns reached historic new lows in Sunday’s collapse against the New York Jets. Same old Browns or are there changes on the horizon?
With two minutes left in the game, the Cleveland Browns held a two-score lead over the New York Jets. Nick Chubb found the endzone for the third time in the afternoon, and things looked good. Cade York missed the PAT attempt after the Chubb touchdown, and Cleveland led 30-17. Quarterback Jacoby Brissett came out and gave Cleveland an outstanding performance that put them in a position to win the game, but Joe Woods and the defense fell apart in the final minutes, leaving the door open for the Jets to come back.
On the drive after the Chubb touchdown, the Jets struck fast with a bomb to Corey Davis on a busted coverage by the Browns’ defense that made it a one-possession game. Things would get worse for Cleveland as the Jets recovered the onside kick and quarterback Joe Flacco drove the offense downfield quickly, resulting in Garrett Wilson scoring the game-winning touchdown with 22 seconds left.
Browns Comeback Heroics?
Brissett and the Cleveland offense trotted back onto the field, searching for that week one magic again, but the drive would end in an interception by the Jets defense. There have been some bad losses for the Cleveland Browns throughout the years, but this one is definitely up the top of the list. What seemed to be an excellent bounce-back performance on the offensive side of the ball and seemed to be the first time in decades for Cleveland to start the season 2-0, the collapse by the Browns at the end is what matters most.
Cleveland had a grip on this game for most of the afternoon with an offense that could move the ball downfield strategically and mistake-free for the most part, but they could not stop Flacco and the Jets’ offense. No matter what uniform Flacco is in, he continues to haunt the Browns’ when it comes to facing them after improving his record to 18-3 against them. This is by far the worst loss under head coach Kevin Stefanski, and it will be interesting to see the team’s response against the Steelers.
Highlight Performance Of The Game
The game star was Nick Chubb after he ran for 87 yards on 17 carries with three touchdowns with runs of 4, 7, and 12 yards. Chubb did what he does best and put the Browns in a position to win. Kareem Hunt finished with 13 carries for 58 yards and had 16 receiving yards. Brissett finished the afternoon throwing 22-27 for 229 yards with a touchdown and interception. His favorite target to throw to was Amari Cooper, who had a good day in his home opener for the Browns. Cooper had nine receptions for 101 yards with a touchdown reception.
The defense was shaky throughout the afternoon as they had some highs early and lows later in the game when it mattered most. The defense forced one turnover in the game with a strip sack from Jadeveon Clowney. The secondary has been very inconsistent through the first two weeks, with Grant Delpit being one of the notable players making mistakes that lead to blown coverages. Myles Garrett had another sack this afternoon which moves him 0.5 sacks closer to breaking Clay Matthew’s sack record for the Browns.
Going Forward For The Browns
The team falls to 1-1, which hurts, but there is not a lot of time to dwell on this loss because they have a short week with the division-rival Pittsburgh Steelers coming into town on Thursday night. The Steelers also fell in week two with a loss to the Patriots, so both teams will look to bounce back from their losses on Thursday Night Football and get ahead in division rankings.
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