Happy victory Monday. That was a complete team win and much needed. Tom Brady coming into this game was 218-0 when leading by seven points with two minutes or less left in regulation. Now he’s 218-1. Currently the Browns have a 4.8% chance to make the playoffs and are ranked twelfth in the AFC. The top seven teams make the playoffs. Ahead of the Browns are, 7. Jets (7-4), 8. Patriots (6-5), 9. Chargers (6-5), 10. Colts (4-6-1) and 11. Jaguars (4-7). I know its wishful thinking talking about the playoffs right now, but with QB Desaun Watson returning for the last six games, anything is possible.
After the total destruction by the Bills last week, I didn’t see this one coming. When WR Anthony Schwartz has a great game, you know you’re not planning to do doughnuts in a golf cart at FirstEnergy Stadium. Tampa isn’t the best team in the league; however, they have a very good defense and Tom Brady at quarterback. The Browns played well enough to win in all three phases of the game. After allowing 56 yards rushing in the first quarter, the Buccaneers ended up with 96 for the game. Because of the Browns run defense, Tampa went away from the run. This allowed DE Myles Garrett to make a difference late in the game and in overtime. The Browns even lost the turnover battle and still won. For the fourth time this season, RB Nick Chubb had twenty or more carries (26) and the Browns won.
Besides a missed field goal, the special teams played well. RB Jerome Ford had two kick returns for 67 yards (33.5 average) and WR Donovan Peoples-Jones had five punt returns for 75 yards (15.0 average). The last time the Browns had comeback win when trailing by seven or more points was against the Titans on October 5, 2014. The most important thing about yesterday was QB Jacoby Brissett goes out with a win. In eleven games he was 236 of 368, (64.1%) 2608 yards, 12 touchdowns, six interceptions and QBR of 89.1.
Now the Browns turn to Deshaun Watson at quarterback and his first game will be against his former team the Houston Texans. Talk about drama. No one knows how he’s going to play after almost two years of not playing in an NFL game. Let’s all hope the Browns have turned a corner and will continue to do the little things in games to keep winning. Please no repeat of what happened after the last win over the Bengals. Stay safe and Go Browns.