The Browns are ready for the regular season.
The Cleveland Browns finished their preseason with a 19-17 win over the Los Angeles Rams. This was the Browns’ dress rehearsal for the regular season, with some starters playing for the first time, including quarterback Joe Flacco. Starters getting the day off included WR Cedric Tillman, OG Joel Bitonio, CB Denzel Ward, CB Greg Newsome, and DE Myles Garrett. Let’s get to the full game recap.
1st Quarter – Rams vs. Browns
The Browns kicked off to begin the game, with QB Dresser Winn coming on to lead the Rams’ offense against some of the Browns’ starters on defense. Cleveland held them to a three-and-out after a breakdown on the Rams offensive line, as LB Carson Schwesinger came through with a free rush to force an incompletion.
QB Joe Flacco took over at the 22 yard line. After a 4-yard run by RB Dylan Sampson, WR Jerry Jeudy couldn’t hold on to a quick pass from Flacco. On third down, Flacco hit TE David Njoku for a gain of 5 yards, resulting in a three-and-out of their own. P Corey Bojorquez got off a beautiful 62-yard punt that the Browns downed at the 5 yard line.
The defense took advantage, as DE Isaiah McGuire pressured Winn in the end zone, and then he threw an errant pass with 5 Browns defenders around Sadly, CB Myles Harden dropped the interception/possible pick six. On third down, DE Alex Wright sacked Winn in the end zone, but Winn was able to just barely get out of the end zone to avoid the safety. After the punt, Cleveland took over at the Rams’ 44 yard line.
RB Jerome Ford had a run for 11 yards to move the chains, and then a few plays later, on 3rd-and-9, Flacco completed a pass to Sampson, who broke a tackle to get 14 yards and a first down. After the play, C Ethan Pocic was injured and helped off the field. A few plays later, Flacco did a quick drop and fired a touchdown to TE Harold Fannin for a 15-yard touchdown to give Cleveland a 7-0 lead.
Cleveland then kept the next kickoff in bounds and was able to get the stop at the 16 yard line to force Los Angeles to begin backed up again. Cleveland got another three-and-out, but McGuire was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct for celebrating after the third down stop. It might be a sign of the league cracking down on celebrations, which was a topic the other day. No worries — the defense forced another three-and-out, with WR DeAndre Carter taking it out to the 20 yard line to begin the next drive.
Flacco completed a third down screen pass to RB Pierre Strong for 18 yards, then hit TE David Njoku for 15 yards into Los Angeles territory heading into the second quarter.
2nd Quarter – Rams vs. Browns
RB Ahmani Marshall couldn’t get the chip on a defender on second down, leading to a 9 yard sack on Flacco.
Cleveland ran the draw after that before punting it away from midfield and a fair catch being made at the 11 yard line. The Rams got one first down via a jet sweep, but were denied any further movement. The Rams sent the punt unit out again, as the ball landed out of bounds at the 21 yard line.
QB Dillon Gabriel came on, as the starters’ time had concluded. Gabriel had a few completions to get Cleveland into the red zone, but they had to settle for a 28-yard field goal by K Dustin Hopkins to go up 10-0.
Winn finally started to get a few completions against the Browns’ reserves. Heading into the two-minute warning, the Rams faced a 2nd-and-goal from the 1 yard line. Cleveland was fooled by the motion man going left, as a receiver leaked out wide open to the right corner of the end zone for a touchdown to make it a 10-7 game with 1:55 to go in the first half. That gave Gabriel an opportunity to lead a two-minute drill.
The kickoff was dribbled in play, and the Rams got the stop at the 14 yard line. Gabriel had two completions to WR Gage Larvadain and WR Diontae Johnson of 11 and 12 yards. Larvadain had another 16-yard catch, followed by 12 yards to WR Jamari Thrash.
Cleveland faced a 2nd-and-4 at the 30 yard line with 40 seconds left and one timeout remaining. A few plays later, they had a 3rd-and-6 at the 19 yard line with 26 seconds to go and no timeouts. Gabriel then threw a beautiful out route to Thrash for 16 yards, who also got out of bounds. On the next play, he finished the drive with a 3-yard strike to Larvadain in the front left corner of the end zone to make it a 16-7 game. Hopkins pulled another extra point, keeping it that way heading into the half.
3rd Quarter – Rams vs. Browns
The Browns got the ball to begin the second half, and QB Shedeur Sanders came on as the Browns’ third quarterback. His opening drive was uneventful, though, going three-and-out. The Rams were able to get one first down before having to punt. Sanders went three-and-out in his second series too, as an uneventful third quarter continued.
The Rams then had the first sustainable drive of the third quarter, eating up about five minutes of clock before having to kick a 45-yard field goal. That cut the Browns’ lead to 16-10 with 2:20 to go in the third quarter. Sanders’ next drive didn’t amount to anything again. On 3rd-and-8, he didn’t find anything and held onto the ball too long as he was strip sacked. Cleveland recovered and had to punt it away.
4th Quarter – Rams vs. Browns
The Browns’ defense forced another three-and-out, and after the punt, Cleveland would give Sanders an opportunity to lead a drive starting from their own 48 yard line. Sanders continued to struggle, being sacked on the first two plays for losses of 2 and 24 yards, leading to yet another punt.
Bojorquez got off another beauty, punting 62 yards and the Browns’ special teams stopping the return man at the 7 yard line. The Rams got a first down, but then DT Adin Huntington continued to make his claim for a roster spot as he notched back-to-back sacks.
Los Angeles then got off a massive punt for distance (74 yards) to the 4 yard line — Larvadain couldn’t find the ball, so he had gotten out of the way, allowing for the generous roll. After a commercial break, though, the refs sorted through penalties, and the Rams ended up having to re-kick it. This time, Cleveland started at the 35 yard line, a big difference.
Cleveland did a couple of run plays to begin the drive for a first down. On his first pass attempt, he again just kept stuttering backwards before taking a 6 yard sack. He finally got a completion to the tight end to set up a 3rd-and-10, but faced pressure again. He spun out of trouble and nearly made a heroic find to the running back, but it was a little behind, bobbled, and dropped, leading to another punt.
The Rams took over at the 23 yard like with 6:07 to go, needing a touchdown. The Rams utilized the ground game to move the chains, getting gains of 9, 18, 6, and 3 yards into Cleveland territory. On 3rd-and-1, they bootlegged, but the pass attempt was incomplete, setting up fourth down. They went for it, and despite great coverage, the receiver made a Houdini catch for a 26 yard gain and a first down. A 15-yard strike a few plays later set up 1st-and-goal at the 3 yard line. RB Jordan Waters punched it in for the touchdown from 3 yards out to put the Rams on top 17-16 with 2:03 to go.
Sanders hadn’t been able to move the ball all half, but could he come in the clutch for a game-winning drive? It turns out that he wouldn’t even get the opportunity, as QB Tyler Huntley came on for the Browns (Sanders was shown being visibly upset on the sideline). It looked like Huntley was picked off on the first play by a great, diving effort from the defender, but the officials flagged the defender for defensive holding to put the ball at the Browns’ 40 yard line at the two-minute warning.
Flags continued to help Cleveland, as two offsides penalties got the ball to the Rams’ 48 yard line. On the next play, WR Cade McDonald was drilled and the Rams flagged for hitting a defenseless receiver, pushing the ball 15 more yards to the Rams’ 33 yard line. Cleveland moved the ball forward a little bit more and decided to drain clock and bring on K Andre Szymt for a game-winning field goal try. From 37 yards out, he drilled it right down the middle, ballgame!
Preseason Game 3 Quick Hitters
- Obviously, the most concerning thing in the final preseason game would involve injuries, and we’re hoping that C Ethan Pocic leaving early with a knee injury was precautionary.
- My other big concern is with the kicker position, as K Dustin Hopkins hooked another extra point. Do we have to worry about kicker again in the regular season?
- It was fun to see QB Joe Flacco and QB Dillon Gabriel operate. But I think we got a little bit of a reality check with QB Shedeur Sanders, who was sacked often in the second half. He didn’t know where to go with the football and showed that first instinct to bail, a step back for the rookie.
- QB Joe Flacco: 9-of-10 for 71 yards, 1 TD.
- QB Dillon Gabriel: 12-of-19 for 129 yards, 1 TD.
- QB Shedeur Sanders: 3-of-6 for 14 yards.
Category: General Sports
