Cleveland Browns vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers recap: Deshaun Watson delivers in second half win, after long weather delay

The Cleveland Browns gave a much better effort than the opening week. Instead of being down 24-0 early in the second quarter, they were only losing 9-6 at halftime to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The offense still couldn’t get into a rhythm at first, but the defense showed some more life to keep them in it.

Then, the offense gained traction late in the third quarter, including their first touchdown of the game to tie things up at 16-16. In the fourth quarter, they took their first lead of the season

at 23-19, as QB Deshaun Watson played perhaps his best half as a Brown. QB Baker Mayfield got his chance to try engineering a game-winning touchdown drive.

Then, in a first experience for Browns fans, with Tampa Bay in scoring range at the two-minute warning, lightning and bad weather hit the area, resulting in a two-hour delay. The players came back after 6:00 PM to get the game restarted, and the defense held on for the victory!

Let’s get to the full game recap.

1st Quarter – Browns vs. Buccaneers

The Browns received the opening kickoff, and began with a 9-yard completion from QB Deshaun Watson to WR KC Concepcion. But then Concepcion was stopped for a loss of 6 yards on a jet sweep. On 3rd-and-7, a handoff to RB Quinshon Judkins went nowhere. That’s when the hat trick of penalties for the Browns began: on offense, Cleveland had an illegal formation (declined), then on the special teams punt they were flagged 15 yards for a facemask penalty, and before a defensive snap, DT Maliek Collins jumped into the neutral zone.

QB Baker Mayfield got the Buccaneers into Cleveland territory, but overthrew a deep ball, and then a swing pass to WR Emeka Egbuka went for a loss of 3 yards. A safe dumpoff then got K Chase McLaughlin in range for a 59-yard field goal, which he hit to give the Buccaneers an early 3-0 lead.

Cleveland started the next drive with another 9-yard gain, this time via the ground with Judkins. This time, they secured a first down by sticking with Judkins for 6 more yards. Off of a playaction fake with pressure in his face, Watson found TE Harold Fannin on the left side for 22 yards. A few plays later, a quick screen to RB Raheim Sanders gained 7 yards to set up a 4th-and-1 at the Buccaneers 27 yard line. Fannin lined up for the tush push, but a false start on Cleveland made them bring the field goal unit out. K Andre Szmyt was good from 50 yards out to tie things up at 3-3.

On the next drive, the Browns were fooled by some misdirection, and S Ronnie Hickman missed a tackle, helping lead to a 38-yard run by RB Bucky Irving. After S Grant Delpit had tackles on back-to-back plays, RB Kenneth Gainwell could not hang on to the third down pass from Mayfield. McLaughlin came on again, this time from 45 yards out, to give Tampa Bay a 6-3 lead with four minutes left in the opening quarter.

Two runs to Judkins did not pan out to start Cleveland’s third drive, as they faced a 3rd-and-12. Watson tried to check it down to Fannin, but he dropped it. P Corey Bojorquez came out and got a nice roll on his directional punt for 51 yards, out at the 18 yard line.

The Browns’ defense had Mayfield in a 3rd-and-10 on the next drive and nearly got to him for a sack, but he escaped and ran for 14 yards and a first down. On the next play, though, CB Myles Harden dropped back in zone coverage and picked off Mayfield, returning it 25 yards to the Buccaneers’ 36 yard line.

A swing pass to Junkins was followed by a late hit, which gave Cleveland the ball at the 12 yard line. A good run by Judkins was negated by a holding penalty on RG Austin Barber, and then a completion to WR Denzel Boston set up a 3rd-and-11 at the 13 yard line heading to the second quarter.

2nd Quarter – Browns vs. Buccaneers

RT Tytus Howard was beat quickly on third down, allowing his defender to plow into Watson for a sack. Szmyt came on for a 34-yard field goal to tie the game at 6-6, and it was good.

Cleveland’s defense tried to keep their momentum going, getting Tampa Bay into a 3rd-and-8. Mayfield faced pressure in the pocket and looked like he was going to be brought down, but he evaded it and found WR Chris Godwin beyond the sticks. A holding penalty brought it back, but not getting that sack still hurt Cleveland, as on 3rd-and-18, Mayfield found WR Ted Hurst for 21 yards and a first down.

The defense then got into a 3rd-and-7, but this time when Mayfield tried to escape, he got away from one defender, but couldn’t evade Hickman for the short sack. The Buccaneers punted into the end zone for a touchback.

Howard’s rough day continued, as he was flagged for a hold on the next drive to make it 1st-and-20 back at the 10 yard line. The operation continued to be bad, as Watson was sacked two plays later, and Cleveland had to run it on third down just to get some breathing room. Bojorquez punted to the Buccaneers’ 44 yard line.

On 2nd-and-8, Mayfield completed a 3-yard pass to TE Cade Otton. CB Denzel Ward punched the ball out, but Otton recovered right away. Head coach Todd Monken challenged it, despite the low risk/reward. The challenge failed, keeping it at 3rd-and-5. A hold by the Buccaneers made it 3rd-and-15, and then Mayfield was sacked by DT Mason Graham for a loss of 6 yards. The Buccaneers’ punt was fair caught at the 25 yard line, surprisingly giving Cleveland better field position than where they previously started.

Could the offense respond after sputtering out? After a few runs, they faced a 3rd-and-7. Watson found Concepcion on a crossing route, but he was tackled after 6 yards, setting up 4th-and-1. The offense stayed on the field, and they tried the quick handoff to Judkins. It was nothing but a wall right in the middle, and Judkins had nowhere to go for a turnover on downs at the Browns’ 34 yard line with 2:45 left in the half.

Cleveland missed a few tackles on Gainwell that helped lead the Buccaneers into a goal-to-go situation at the (technically 10.5) yard line with 0:34 left. This time, they stuffed Gainewell for a loss of 2 yards, making it 2nd-and-12. The defense forced a throwaway, setting up a pivotal 3rd-and-12 to try holding the Buccaneers to only three. They held them, as Delpit blanketed his receiver for another incompletion. McLaughlin was good from 31 yards out to put the Buccaneers up 9-6 heading into the half.

The Buccaneers had 126 yards of offense, and Cleveland just 59 yards of offense. Watson didn’t make any mistakes per se, but the results are what they are: another darn-near empty offensive output.

3rd Quarter – Browns vs. Buccaneers

The Buccaneers got the ball to begin the second half, and Mayfield found Godwin down the field for 24 yards off of playaction. Tampa Bay’s fast start continued as Irving got a burst up the left side for 14 yards to the Browns’ 27 yard line. A completion to Ottman made it 3rd-and-1, and Mayfield did a QB sneak to get the first down. A few plays later, on 3rd-and-9, the Browns brought the blitz and Mayfield took off, stiff armed Hickman in the open field, and got the first down. On 1st-and-goal at the 5 yard line, Cleveland brought the heat again, but Hickman lost the grasp again, and then Mayfield found WR Emeka Egbuka for a 5-yard touchdown to give the Buccaneers a 16-6 lead.

The Browns faced a 3rd-and-3 to start the drive, and Monken called a timeout to draw up a quarterback sweep with Watson. The sweep was enough for the first down. From there, Cleveland used a little more pace to mix in quick completions to get far into Buccaneers territory. On 3rd-and-6 at the 16-yard line, Watson lofted the fade to the left corner for Boston. It looked like he had it, but then the defensive back worked to wrestle it away for an incompletion. Szmyt had to come on for a 34-yard field goal to make it a 16-9 game with 3:45 remaining in the third quarter.

Ottman made a tremendous one-hand diving catch to start the Buccaneers’ next drive, good for 13 yards. DE Isaiah McGuire stuffed a run for a loss of 5 yards. Mayfield then airmailed back-to-back throws for his receivers, to the boos of the home crowd as the punt unit came out. Concepcion made the fair catch at the 17 yard line.

Fannin began the next drive with a 13-yard catch as he shook a defender and broke a couple tackles. A facemask penalty on the Buccaneers a few plays later got the ball up to the 45-yard line. One play later, Watson zipped an intermediate pass to Boston, who broke tackles as three Buccaneers converged on him. He was off to the races for a 55-yard touchdown to tie the game at 16-16 with 1:23 remaining in the third quarter.

The Buccaneers faced a 3rd-and-8 heading to the fourth quarter.

4th Quarter – Browns vs. Buccaneers

On 3rd-and-8, Mayfield tried to connect with Hurst up the right side, but the rookie couldn’t hang on. The Buccaneers’ punt went out of bounds at the 27 yard line. Judkins broke a tackle on a pass in the flat for 14 yards. He was swallowed up on the next run play for a loss of 3 yards. On second down, WR Jerry Jeudy slipped on his break, leading to an incompletion. Watson opted to just pick up some yards with his feet on third down to settle for a punt.

Bojorquez’ punt was fair caught at the 16 yard line with 12:51 to go. After another long ball overthrow on first down, Mayfield found Godwin coming across for a first down for 14 yards. On the next play, Mayfield slipped a bit, but gathered himself and finally found Johnson for 49 yards on a deep ball, beating CB Tyson Campbell.

A few plays later, on 3rd-and-2, Mayfield tried to force a ball into the end zone. Harden had a shot at intercepting it, but the receiver met him at a collision trying to play the ball for an incompletion. That brought on McLaughlin for his fourth field goal attempt of the game, and he hit again from 30 yards out to but Tampa Bay back on top 19-16 with 9:56 to go.

The Browns began their next drive at the 33 yard line. Cleveland faced a 3rd-and-4, and converted for just the second time of the day on third down when Watson scrambled for 6 yards up the middle. A few plays later, on 3rd-and-3, Watson converted again on third down with the out route to Boston for 9 yards to the Buccaneers 40 yard line.

On the next set, it was 3rd-and-inches. This time, Watson ran a playfake, but had a defender in his face. He still quickly found Fannin, who was pushed forward for a first down. The third-and-shorts continued, this time with a 3rd-and-2 at the Buccaneers 17 yard line. Watson ran a playfake again and saw TE Blake Whiteheart wide open leaking out to the left. Watson found him, and after a little stumble, Whiteheart stayed on his feet for the 17-yard touchdown to give the Browns their first lead of the season at 23-19 with 3:51 to go!

Now, it was up to the defense to try holding the lead. Special teams allowed a return out to midfield, unfortunately, to give the Buccaneers nice starting field position. Mayfield got the Buccaneers into Cleveland territory with a simple playaction pass to Godwin on 3rd-and-1.

The Buccaneers faced a 2nd-and-4 heading into the two-minute warning at the Browns’ 28 yard line with all three timeouts. Time wasn’t a factor for Tampa Bay — it’s just coming down to which team executes.

Or, maybe just a lightning delay. We talked about the potential for bad weather in the fourth quarter, and even though the sun was out, the game was paused due to lightning in the area. During the weather delay, the sun turned to pouring rain. And then, time really dragged out. Players finally returned to the field around 6:02 PM:

Even though the game resumed, it was still raining, with the wind picking up a bit as well, in front of a near-empty stadium now. The Buccaneers ran the ball to set up 3rd-and-short. The ball went to Irving again, who shot through the line for a first down to the 20 yard line.

Mayfield found Hurst on a quick slant to the 13 yard line, setting up 2nd-and-4 with 0:45 left as the Buccaneers called their first timeout. Mayfield tried finding a receiver in the end zone, but a hold on the Buccaneers pushed them back to a 2nd-and-14. Mayfield fired it to Hurst up the left sideline, and it was right in his arms in the end zone, but he couldn’t hang on. On 3rd-and-14, Mayfield faced pressure and tried to escape, but LB Carson Schwesinger chased him down after a gain of three yards. The Buccaneers faced 4th-and-11 with the game on the line at the 20 yard line, 0:22 left.

Mayfield’s throw up the seam was well out of range, and the defense held for the turnover on downs! Watson came out for the kneeldown to seal the win.