Cleveland Browns get that familiar feeling as they lose to Atlanta

ATLANTA — It felt all too familiar for Nick Chubb.

The fourth quarter was close. The Browns, with him doing most of the work, get their running game moving.

It ended with a familiar result. The Browns allowed one defensive slip-up to open the door for Atlanta Falcons to hand them an embarrassing 23-20 loss.

Chubb stated, "At the end the day we have to find the way to win." "We had many opportunities to kick it into the end zone from red zone. We had many chances to win the game, but we didn't. We can learn from this and move on.

It's not impossible to see the Browns moving forward at 4-0. They are only two plays away from this reality.

The problem with the Browns is that instead of being 4-0, they are 2-2. Instead of celebrating the quick start that nearly everyone expected, the Browns are once again lamenting how it all ended.

The Browns only care about the end. They know that it only takes one or two plays to change the outcome of a league game.

Jordan Elliott, a defensive tackle, said that the NFL is a game with margins. It's very small margins. … We gotta continue to iron out things, and we'll do that."

Next Sunday's home game against the Los Angeles Chargers is the first step in moving forward. Although they are in many ways in disarray, Justin Herbert, one of the league's most promising young quarterbacks, will be the starting point. Next, it's the New England Patriots team with Mac Jones injured. However, there is arguably one of the most respected coaches in league history still on the sidelines.

The Browns won't be able to get that far ahead after that. They're not moving any further than what they need to do to correct the mistakes they made against Falcons.

Jeremiah Owusu–Koramoah, linebacker, said "Back to basics". "Set edges, fit gaps, get takeaways. We had a negative-1 turnover margin against Atlanta. Just have to make sure that we focus on those things that we've focused on since camp — getting the ball out, interceptions, fitting our gaps and do the basics."

Sunday's loss will be the Browns' biggest negative. There are other positive and negative lessons to be learned.

Donovan Peoples Jones, David Bell offer more receiving assistance

The Browns' receivers were treated to the Amari Cooper Show. Cooper, a four-time Pro Bowler, had produced back-to-back 101 yard receiving games against both the Steelers and the Jets.

Cooper was helped by the cavalry on Sunday. He was only targeted four times, which is fourth on the team. There was one catch of 9 yards to show for his efforts.

Donovan Peoples Joness converted nine team-high targets into five catches, totaling 71 yards. David Njolu tied for the most catches, with five catches for 71 yards. Njoku was two yards behind him in yardage.

Cooper laughed, saying, "I can't take credit" for Donovan's efforts. "But, no, he is a very well-prepared player and he works hard. He does it all on his own. He's always available for any opportunity that presents itself. You can see that he is always ready to make plays when opportunities present themselves.

David Bell, a rookie, had the best game of his rookie year beyond Peoples-Jones. Bell was targeted three times and caught two passes for 35 yards.

Even though it doesn't feel like it, Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt dazzle

Sunday's total of 118 yards was compiled by Chubb on 19 carries. With 9:51 remaining, the Browns held a 20-17 lead thanks to Chubb's 28-yard touchdown run.

Kareem Hunt ran for 49 yards on 10 carries. This is a solid average of 4.9 yards per carry.

It was a day when neither running back nor the other seemed to provide the "wow." That's what makes both special — their ability to make the "wow" seem almost mundane.

This is a trait that only the very best possess. This would be the Browns running backs.

When it's most needed, Cleveland Browns run defense vanishes

All the talk prior to the game was about Atlanta’s skill players in passing. All the talk when the game was over was about the Falcons' running game, specifically about a running back — Caleb Huntley — who was on the practice squad last week.

Huntley finished with 56 yards rushing and a touchdown on 10 runs, which included eight carries during a fourth quarter scoring drive. Tyler Allgeier had 84 yards on 10 runs, including a 41 yard run that set up a tie field goal at 7:19.

The Falcons ran for 202 yard on 35 carries. This included 172 yards on 25 second half runs.

Jacob Phillips, linebacker, said that they don't want this to be them. "We don’t want that to become our identity that people could run on us, so obviously, we came back, and we were able make an adjustment on both the front and limit these plays. We did a great job of not pointing fingers, took it on our chin, and we were able get better in the next series regarding the run game."

Contact Chris at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com.

Follow @ceasterlingABJ on Twitter