CLEVELAND (AP/WJW) — Three minutes into Sunday’s game, the Cleveland Browns, with the help of Nick Chubb, were able to get on the board quickly.
And that’s how the team hoped the rest of the game at First Energy Stadium would go, easily.
Then, with four minutes left in the first quarter, the Browns added to their score with yet another touchdown and perfect kick down the middle of the posts, which lead to a score of 14-0.
However, the Chargers were not to be put out. The team hit a field goal at the end of the first quarter and then scored a touchdown at the start of the second. They did it one more time and the score was brought to 17-14, Chargers up.
But it wasn’t long before Chubb had an answer:
The score was brought to 21-17. Cleveland Browns kicker Cade York could not make a field goal and the score stays the same going into halftime in Cleveland.
Chargers were up 24-21 after a 22-yard touchdown by Ekeler in the third quarter. Bertolet’s extra point was good. Another 3 points were added to the Chargers’ score with a 25-yard field goal. The score was 27-21 with a little over 5 minutes left in the the third, Chargers up.
The Browns put up a fight at the end of the third quarter. With the help of Hunt and York, a Browns touchdown and extra point gave the team a one-point lead. The score is 28-27 at the start of the fourth quarter.
A field goal put the Chargers in the lead at 30-28.
CB Denzel Ward is in concussion protocol and won’t return to the game.
Brissett threw an interception with three minutes left in the game.
With 1:10 left to play, the Browns got the ball back in Chargers’ territory.
A missed 54-yard field goal by Cade York seals the deal. Browns lose to the Chargers 30-28.
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Big arm. Big plays. Big future.
It’s easy to be impressed with Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert’s attributes and potential. So forgive Browns safety John Johnson III for stretching the truth a bit when sizing him up.
“Look at him behind the center,” Johnson said, raising his arm over his head for emphasis. “He’s like 6-9.”
Well, Herbert’s only listed at 6-foot-6, and that’s hardly the most impressive number associated with him.
The 24-year-old QB has passed for an NFL-leading 1,250 yards as he leads the Chargers (2-2) and the league’s top-rated passing attack into Cleveland on Sunday to face the Browns (2-2), whose defensive backfield has been prone to fourth-quarter breakdowns.
The Browns thought they had cleaned up their issues. But the Atlanta Falcons burned them for a 42-yard play in the fourth quarter last week as Cleveland let Olamide Zaccheaus run open to make a catch and set up the go-ahead field goal.
Defensive coordinator Joe Woods is confident his group has ironed out its communication challenges. Now it’s about execution for the Browns, who are allowing a league-worst 12.5 points in the fourth quarter.
They gave up 17 in Week 1 to Carolina, 17 in Week 2 to the New York Jets and 13 against the Falcons.
“It’s one of those things where you just you want to win games by two or three touchdowns, but it doesn’t happen in the NFL,” Woods said. “All of our games came down to literally the last play of the game or the last series.
“You just have to have the mental toughness to understand that is how the games are going to go.”
All-Pro defensive end Myles Garrett is expected to return after he missed last week while recovering from injuries suffered in a car crash.
Garrett, who needs one sack to pass Clay Matthews for the team’s career mark, suffered a left shoulder sprain and a right biceps strain as well as cuts and bruises after he flipped his Porsche while speeding.
Garrett’s absence strained a defensive front also missing Jadeveon Clowney, who missed his second game with a sprained ankle. Clowney tested the ankle this week, but is concerned about coming back too soon and risk missing more time.
“I want to go bad,” Clowney said. “It would be great to have the whole front back.”
Cleveland’s pass rush hasn’t been the same the past two weeks, and without Garrett and Clowney a week ago, the Falcons rolled up 202 yards rushing.
