The Browns’ offense didn’t do a thing all game, while the defense kept them in it. In the blink of an eye, at the end of the fourth quarter, Cleveland suddenly scored 10 points in less than a minute, and got a blocked kick for a chance to win it in regulation. Somehow, someway, it happened. Szmyt came on, from 55 yards out, drilled it for the win, 13-10!!! Here is the full game recap:
1st Quarter – Browns vs. Packers
The Browns got the ball first, and began with a nice run by RB Quinshon Judkins, followed by a first down throw to
WR Cedric Tillman. Cleveland did a good job picking up a few first downs, but they got a little conservative in Packers territory, running the ball with RB Dylan Sampson on 3rd-and-7 to only pick up 2 yards. On 4th-and-5 from the Packers’ 45 yard line, Cleveland sent in the punt unit. P Corey Bojorquez’ punt went into the end zone for a touchback, meaning there was only 25 yards of net on the punt.
The defense then came through right away for the Browns, with DT Maliek Collins and DT Mason Graham splitting a sack on second down. Pressure on third down forced QB Jordan Love to dump the ball and punt it away.
When Cleveland got the ball back, a hold by LT Cornelius Lucas put the offense back at a 1st-and-20. A 17-yard pass to WR Isaiah Bond on second down set up a 3rd-and-4, but Flacco faced pressure on third down for an incomplete pass. After Cleveland’s punt, the Packers started with better field position at their own 36 yard line.
DE Myles Garrett began the next drive with a nice run stop for no gain on RB Josh Jacobs. A quick screen to WR Matthew Golden then set up 3rd-and-3. A quick out to Jacobs converted the first down, and then Love kept feeding him on the ground. Even though he wasn’t getting big bursts, Green Bay was moving the chains and draining clock, leading to a 3rd-and-9 at the Browns’ 21 yard line to end the quarter.
2nd Quarter – Browns vs. Packers
On 3rd-and-9, Love tried the out route to his receiver, but CB Denzel Ward made up ground and was able to deflect the ball away to force a field goal try. From 39 yards out, K Brandon McManus was right down the middle to give Green Bay a 3-0 lead.
With the Packers kicking a touchback, Flacco and company began at the 35 yard line. Judkins got started with a 4 yard run, and then another 4 yard run on second down to make it 3rd-and-2. The runs set up a playaction pass to Tillman for 9 yards and a first down, into Green Bay territory. The stretch play to Judkins didn’t work on first down, hit for a loss of two. That set up a fleaflicker tight end screen pass to TE Harold Fannin, which only went for 5 yards. On 3rd-and-7, the line collapsed instantly as DT Rashan Gary was unblocked, getting a 7 yard sack for forcing a punt. After the punt, the Packers took over at the 12 yard line.
On the Packers’ next drive, Love tried to catch the Browns off guard on 3rd-and-4 with a quick snap from under center. LB Carson Schwesinger came in and sacked Love for a loss of 7 yards. After the play, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur challenged that the Browns had too many men on the field. He won the challenge, which explains why Love tried to go quick, and it led to an first down and new life for Green Bay.
Pressure by Garrett on second down set up a 3rd-and-6 situation. On third down, WR Romeo Doubs fooled Ward on the quick comeback to get 16 yards and the ball near midfield. A few plays later, on 3rd-and-7, Garrett jumped offsides, which negated an incomplete pass. On 3rd-and-2, Love kept the ball off of some misdirection, and it fooled Cleveland as he scampered for 10 yards and another first down. A false start by the Packers made it 1st-and-15 with 5 minutes to go in the half. Later, on second down, Love sowed a lack of awareness, leading to DE Alex Smith blasting him for a sack and a loss of 5 yards.
On 3rd-and-15, a dump off to the running back only gained 3 yards. However, an illegal block in the back was called, and head coach Kevin Stefanski opted to accept the penalty to try to back them out of field goal range. It paid off, as Love was then sacked on third down by Garrett and DT Adin Huntington.
The Packers punted down to the 20 yard line with 2:02 remaining in the half. A handoff to Judkins made it 2nd-and-7 at the actual warning. Would Cleveland go conservative in this stretch like they have the past tow weeks? Flacco found Tillman for 10 yards, as Cleveland once again took much of the play clock. A 5-yard dumpoff to Njoku cut the distance in half, but then Flacco couldn’t connect on a longer ball to WR Jamari Thrash. On 3rd-and-5, he found WR Jerry Jeudy for 17 yards with pressure in his face, down to the Packers’ 45 yard line.
Cleveland burned their first timeout with 0:51 to go. Unfortunately, a few plays later, a phantom hold call backed Cleveland out of field goal range, making it 3rd-and-16 instead of what would have been a first down to RB Jerome Ford on a pass play. Flacco hit Njoku quickly for 8 yards, making it 4th-and-8 at the 43 yard line with 0:12 left. With the field goal range being too long, Cleveland essentially ran a simulated punt of a throw that was intercepted by the Packers, sending the game to halftime.
3rd Quarter – Browns vs. Packers
The Packers began the second half at their own 26 yard line. Green Bay fooled DE Isaiah McGuire again with the quarterback run by Love to set up 3rd-and-1. However, a false start pushed them back, and then Collins and McGuire combined to sack Love on third down for a loss of 5 yards and forcing another punt.
WR DeAndre Carter fair caught the ensuing punt at the 29 yard line. Cleveland only went backwards with another three-and-out. Flacco found nothing on first down or third down, and it led to a 10-yard sack on third down and a quick punt down to the Packers’ 28 yard line.
Green Bay started their drive with a direct snap play that S Grant Delpit stuffed for a loss of 3 yards, and then a penalty on second down set up 2nd-and-18. That’s when the Packers got the best play of the day, as a quick screen to Jacobs broke free for 31 yards into Cleveland territory.
Green Bay continued chipping forward, setting up 3rd-and-3 at the 31 yard line. The handoff caught Cleveland off guard, as RB Emanuel Wilson picked up 9 yards and a first down. A couple more run plays set up 3rd-and-7 at the 19 yard line. Love was able to zip a pass between two defenders for 16 yards, setting up 1st-and-goal at the 3 yard line.
The defense tried to hold strong, stopping Jacobs on first and second down for no gain. On third down, though, on the playaction fake, Love had time and waited, eventually finding TE John FitzPatrick for a 3-yard touchdown to give the Packers a 10-0 lead with 3:23 to go in the third quarter.
The Browns couldn’t respond. A 13-yard pass to Njoku got one first down, but then on the next 3rd-and-4, Flacco had a shot at Bond down the left sideline, but the pass was too tall and incomplete. At their own 46 yard line, the Browns punted, but with it being a touchback and then DB Donovan McMillon being flagged 15 yards after the play for unnecessary roughness, the Packers got to start at the 35 yard line.
Then, it was Love and the Packers who goofed on offense to end the third quarter. After gains of 7 and 2 yards, they could have let time expire to end the third quarter. Instead, they snapped the ball as the clock was hitting zeroes, and Love looked like he had no clue it was going to happen. He rolled out, pumped, and instead of throwing it away, took an 11 yard sack from the oncoming Schwesinger.
4th Quarter – Browns vs. Packers
Green Bay punted to start the fourth quarter, and Cleveland began at the 25 yard line. Cleveland tried to go hurry-up, including a pass to TE Harold Fannin for 7 yards, to set up 3rd-and-1. They put all the big men in and tried a playfake, but pressure came and Flacco had to throw it away. Now, the Browns went for it on 4th-and-1, and Judkins lunged forward to just barely move the chains.
After a few incompletions by Flacco and an offensive pass interference penalty, Cleveland got it back to a 4th-and-5 at their own 40 yard line. Cleveland opted to punt it, and this time, Bojorquez got off a nice one with a roll to the 2 yard line. Would the Browns’ defense be able to come up with a big play? Love’s first down pass was a playaction fake that was incomplete, but Garrett was on the sidelines for the first two snaps. The second down play was a handoff to Jacobs for 2 yards, setting up 3rd-and-8. Love had time and found Golden down the right sideline wide open for 35 yards and a first down.
Rain started to fall as the Packers now faced a 3rd-and-11. The swing pass dumpoff fell incomplete, leading to a punt for a touchback, now with 9:26 to go. Judkins started with his best run of the day, going for 14 yards. Judkins followed that up with another big run, this time for 38 yards, down to the Packers’ 28 yard line.
A couple plays later, Fannin broke multiple tackles to rumble forward for 13 yards, to the 14 yard line. A few plays later, facing 3rd-and-9, Flacco immediately threw the ball in the direction of Tillman, who was held, giving the Browns a fresh set of downs with 1st-and-goal at the 8 yard line. A handoff to Judkins picked up 3 yards. On 2nd-and-goal from the 5, he got 2 more yards. On 3rd-and-goal from the 3 yard line, Flacco went for Jeudy, but it was off his fingertips. Green Bay was flagged for pass interference, putting the ball at the 1 yard line.
The first down play was an attempt to get C Luke Wypler open on a playfake, but that was incomplete. On second down, Judkins got the carry, bur it went for no gain. On top of that, a chop block by the offense was called, leading to a 15 yard penalty and pushing the ball back to the 16 yard line. A swing pass to Ford was blown up for a loss of 4 yards, setting up 3rd-and-goal from the 20 yard line as clock continued to drain. A short dump to Ford set up fourth down and a field goal try for K Andre Szmyt. From 35 yards out, he connected, making it a 10-3 game with 3:42 to go.
A penalty on the Packers’ kick return meant they began at the 18 yard line. Golden got the ball in his hands in a jet sweep that went for 4 yards, as Cleveland called their first timeout with 3:25 to go. Green Bay did a jet sweep to Golden going the other direction now, setting up 3rd-and-3 after another timeout was burned. Out of no where, then, Love threw it right to Delpit for an interception! Delpit returned it 25 yards to the 4 yard line.
Flacco tried to hit Tillman in the left corner on first down, and pass interference was called on the defense, putting the ball at the 1 yard line again. Judkins got the handoff, and this time he got in for the touchdown! That was followed by the all-important extra point, which Szmyt hit to tie the game at 10-10.
It’s a new ballgame with 3:01 to go! On the downside, the Packers returned to the ensuing kickoff to the 40 yard line. On first down, Love lobbed the ball up the left side, and CB Myles Harden was flagged for pass interference as he wasn’t looking back at the ball. Now the ball was at the Browns’ 40 yard line. That was followed up by a playaction fake and a pass to the tight end, who found an opening for 18 yards heading into the two-minute warning, in field goal range at the 22 yard line, and Cleveland only having one timeout left.
The first play was a handoff to Jacobs, and he FUMBLED! However, the officials never really ruled the fumble on the field, despite LB Devin Bush punching it out and possibly recovering it in the pile, and the review let the call on the field stand. Jacobs ran again on second down for a loss, setting up 3rd-and-10. A false start backed up the Packers by 5 yards, making it 3rd-and-15. Jacobs got the carry again to drain more clock, and set up McManus for a shot to (practically) win the game. Instead, Cleveland BLOCKED the kick!
The Browns recovered at their own 47 yard line with 0:21 left and no timeouts. A 5 yard penalty on Green Bay got them closer, and then a 3 yard pass to Thrash kept it going. Flacco’s second down pass was not open, and thrown away. On 3rd-and-2, A 7 yard pass to Njoku set up the spike with two seconds left, and Szmyt was marched onto the field at the 38 yard line. The Packers used their final timeout before the kick. From 55 yards out, for the win, he NAILED IT!!! Unbelievable.
Quick Hitters
- QB Joe Flacco: 21-of-36 for 142 yards, 1 INT.
- RB Quinshon Judkins: 18 carries, 94 yards (5.2 YPC).
- DE Myles Garrett: 0.5 sack
Next up, the Browns go to Detroit to take on the Lions.
