KANSAS CITY – Brown threw the first few hits on Sunday but could not hold down the defending AFC champions for long.
Cleveland, with less than nine months to spare, ended the 2020 season at the hands of the Kansas City Chief, taking control of the first half and taking a 12-point lead in the locker room before the Chief’s flying offense. Scored.
“We didn’t play our best when it was important and we didn’t make our best coach when it was important,” Stefansky said. “Against a team like this, you have to play a 60-minute game and we didn’t do that.
“It’s a 60-minute game and you have to play a 60-minute game. You get nothing to play a 30-minute game. Mentally, we lost, we became coaches, we played outside, there’s a great football team out there, I have a lot of respect for them and we We’re turning our attention to Houston. “
Baker Mayfield navigated the air and ground offense most of the time in the first half before hitting some obstacles in the second half. He completed 21 of 28 passes for 321 yards but was stopped on the final throw of the game as Chief CB Mike Hughes stepped forward with a pass aimed at sealing Harrison Bryant.
“You have to go through critical moments,” Mayfield said. “Nothing else matters before those moments. It always comes down to those three, four plays where you look back and say, ‘If we had done this separately, it would have worked.’ I’m having a hard time myself, but go back this week and attack. “
The trio of Patrick Mahoms, Tyrick Hill and Travis Kelsey were too much for the improved defense of Cleveland, which at times made things difficult for Mahomoz but in the end could not get enough stops when they needed to.
Mahoms threw for 337 yards and three touchdowns. Kelsey had two of them, catching six passes for 76 yards. Hill caught 11 passes for 197 yards, a large portion of which is coming to a 75-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
An expensive turnover, a three-out at the wrong time and a big special team slip-up all required Kansas City to take the lead through the midpoint of the fourth quarter.
“You get to play clean football when you take to the streets against a really good football team like this,” said Stefansky. “I’m sure the statistics say you can spin the ball and still win. Our mentality is that we should get zero giftways and we want to take the ball to the defense and we didn’t do that today.”
With 22-10 behind, the Chiefs opened the second half with what the Browns did to start the game. Mahoms ’11-yard touchdown pass limited Kelsey to a 14-play drive that lasted more than half of the third quarter.
Three plays in subsequent possession, the ball returned to Kansas City after a rare failure by Nick Chab. The Chiefs took another lead with a Harrison Butker 43-yard field goal, reducing the Browns’ lead to two in the fourth quarter.
“There’s no reason for that,” Chubb said. “I take full responsibility for it. Changing the pace, it was all up to me. All I can do now is learn from it and don’t let it happen again.”
A 2-yard touchdown run from Karim Hunt gave the Browns a leading, systematic response to the next campaign to get back to the two owners. The speed swing just didn’t last long, as Mahomes came back to the hill, who grabbed it, rotated it and ran for the remaining 75-yard touchdowns.
“During the week I said, you can’t let anyone follow you and no one can follow me,” S. John Johnson III said. “He faltered and did a great play. Leaving plays like that will defeat you. Just go back to the drawing board and fix it.”
A three-out in the Browns offense, P. Jamie Gillan interrupted the snap and decided to run for the loss. Kelsela Mahoms’ second touchdown pass gave Kansas City the lead at 7:04.
The Browns were three-out on the next possession but had another chance to play with 2:49. Cleveland Hunt came to midfield after a 1-yard screen, but Hughes returned the ball for good when he made a noise to Mempfield.
“All of these little things are important,” Mayfield said. “They’re very frustrating because they’re there. When you play the head and team of that caliber, if you don’t execute, you’re going to lose.”
The Browns took a 22-10 lead on their first three assets, which they took in half. Cleveland wrapped up the performance with one of the league’s best offenses in late 2020, averaging 8.8 yards per game on the first three assets of the game and converting several fourth down in the red zone to keep the Chiefs on them. Heel
Chubb scored twice in the first half, the first at the end of Cleveland’s 13-play, 75-yard drive to open the game and the second with 2:55 in the second quarter. The Browns completely fooled Kansas City with their game design, and Cleveland ran untouched for a chub 18-yard score to take a two-possession lead.
The Browns opened the second quarter with a second touchdown of the game, as Jarvis Landry took the fourth and 1 handoff and entered the end zone for a 5-yard touchdown run.
“We were calling some shot plays because they were working and we weren’t taking negative plays,” Mayfield said. “Kevin’s calling plays make him feel comfortable. If we’re not doing negative plays and we’re checking down, moving the chain on those shot plays, he’ll keep doing it.”
Chubby led Brown to the ground with 83 yards and two touchdowns. Hunt added 33 and one point. David Nzoku led the Browns with three catches for 76 yards, while rookie Anthony Schwartz caught three passes for 69 yards in his NFL debut.
The Chiefs got their yards and points in the first half, but the Browns made it a little harder on them than the team’s 2020 match. To reduce Cloveland’s lead, the Browns were forced to score a field goal on the opening drive before scoring on a 5-yard run in the middle of the second quarter.
The Browns played without two main starters for Sunday’s majority game. T Jedrick Wills Jr. lost early in the second quarter due to an ankle injury, while S Ronnie Harrison Jr. was knocked out in the first quarter after a clash with the Chiefs.
The Browns resumed work at FirstEnergy Stadium on Sunday.
