The Cleveland Browns had one of the worst endgame collapses in recent memory. After putting up a 13-point lead with under two minutes to go, the Browns allowed the New York Jets to close the gap, recover an onside kick, eventually take the lead, and finish with a terrible interception. Cleveland lost, 31-30, to the Jets in front of their home crowd at the FirstEnergy Stadium.
The Jets pulled off one of the most unlikely victories so far this season, capitalizing on a sequence of Browns gaffes in the last two minutes. Perhaps there was none greater than Nick Chubb's erroneous touchdown.
With 1:55 remaining, Chubb scored his third touchdown, a 12-yard run, to make the score 30-17. He should, however, have stopped short of the end zone. If he had done so, the Browns would have been able to run out the clock because the Jets had no timeouts left. Now, Cleveland is understandably devastated, having blown a chance to go 2-0 for the first time since 1993.
Here are our four takeaways after the Cleveland Browns' Week 2 loss vs. the Jets.
4. Cleveland Browns' passing secondary was terrible
For the second game in a row, the Browns' secondary struggled. There were too many examples of bad coverage to name, but a lot of it was due to Greg Newsome, Martin Emerson and Grant Delpit. It would be one thing if a superstar QB like Patrick Mahomes or Aaron Rodgers were inflicting the damage through the air, but it's Joe Flacco.
After Flacco destroyed this unit, the club should seriously contemplate major cuts. This issue will only worsen against even more superior squads the rest of the season.
3. Amari Cooper, we see you
Four-time Pro Bowler Amari Cooper was targeted ten times and grabbed nine of them for 101 yards and a score of six yards. Cooper, who had only 17 receiving yards in Week 1, was one of the most important weapons Brissett utilized to develop a rhythm, and it worked. He was his old stellar self, apart from a couple of critical miscues.
Cooper's sole missed target in the fourth quarter was the one that led to the game-winning interception. He also lost out on the game-winning onside kick because Jets safety Will Parks beat him to it in the dying seconds.
David Bell, Cooper, and linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah were the three Browns players closest to the Jets' sideline. Cooper took a position a few yards behind Bell and Owusu-Koramoah.
When the Jets kicked the ball, Bell and Owusu-Koramoah stood in the way of Jets players, leaving Cooper and Parks alone on the sideline. Parks jumped in front of Cooper, nearly regaining the ball and knocking Cooper out of bounds.
Bell really got his left hand on the ball as it rebounded after Parks beat Cooper to it. With 1:20 remaining to play, Jets cornerback Justin Hardee recovered the ball at the New York 47 as people tumbled around Bell.
Still, Cooper was really good, and he should continue to be good in the weeks to come.
2. Don't blame Cleveland Browns QB Jacoby Brissett
As difficult as it may appear, the setback should not overshadow the offensive strides made with QB Jacoby Brissett in his second Browns start.
Brissett completed 22-for-27 for 229 yards, one touchdown, and an interception on the last drive, which was tossed to Jets safety Ashtyn Davis. Previously, Brissett kept the offense moving and found ways to get the ball to the team's best players.
Brissett had the sort of performance the Browns needed to easily win games. He moved the Browns into the red zone five times, and they scored touchdowns on four of those opportunities. Three of those touchdowns came from Chubb, and another was a pass from Brissett to Cooper, who showed excellent rapport with the QB all game.
Unfortunately, the outcome was insufficient for a victory. Brissett acknowledged the progress but emphasized that more needs to be done on offense.
Final. pic.twitter.com/ALNX16KwOx
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) September 18, 2022
1. No excuses, Cleveland
The end consequence was a string of breakdowns on practically every play in the closing two minutes.
The first was a 66-yard touchdown pass from QB Joe Flacco to WR Corey Davis, who streaked past a Browns defense that never caught up to him. Then came an onside kick that the Browns should have recovered but didn't. That allowed the Jets to mount a nine-play, 48-yard drive that culminated in the game-winning TD: a 15-yard throw from Flacco to WR Garrett Wilson. That gave the Jets the lead after a successful PAT.
With little over two minutes remaining, RB Nick Chubb scored his third touchdown of the day, giving the Browns a commanding lead. They only needed one more defensive stop to take a 30-17 advantage.
Instead, they provided the Jets with every opportunity to win. New York did not waste any opportunities.
“It's really frustrating,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said in the post-game press conference. “We didn't play a 60-minute game. It's really frustrating. It's frustrating to me, the players in that locker room, and I'm sure it's frustrating to our fans. It's not how we play. We have to finish and do the things that allow you to win games, and we didn't do that.”
The Browns talked all week about how they worked to improve communication difficulties that plagued the defense on a couple of huge plays against the Panthers last week. Instead, they took a major step back in the game's most vital moments.
It's not what you'd expect from a defense that returned nine of 11 starters in the first two games of the season. One of the Browns' major offseason strengths was defensive continuity, but the advantages have yet to materialize.
Stefanski, on the other hand, stated that the onus is on everyone. Brissett threw an interception on the last drive, the offense's one blemish on an otherwise flawless day. The special teams struggled in the fourth quarter. Recall that Cade York failed to convert an extra-point attempt on the last touchdown drive. The unit also failed to recover an onside kick. All of those errors were exacerbated by defensive gaffes.
The Browns are well aware that they have no excuses and that they must work hard to guarantee that no other game concludes in the same manner this season.
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