First drive comes back to bite Browns against Falcons: Ashley Bastock

2 Oct 2022

The Browns took on the Falcons on Sunday afternoon.

ATLANTA -- It was a strange game with a weird ending and a strange beginning that eventually came back to bite Browns.

It was a solid game for Nick Chubb who returned home to his home state with 118 yards and an touchdown on 19 carries. Solid plays from the Browns’ defensive backs including multiple breakups by Grant Delpit and the first interception of the season by Denzel Ward. It was a low-scoring affair even without Myles Garrett and Jadeveon Crumbney.

All of it was irrelevant in the end. Cleveland lost 23-20 and is now at 2-2 on their season. This loss hurts even more because the Browns had only 3 points on the field on their first drive.

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Cleveland was rolling it’s first drive. It was a good mix of different targets, Jacoby Brissett finding Donovan Peoples Jones and David Njoku early for big gains. Nick Chubb gets moving on the ground. Cleveland makes it to Atlanta's 2-yard line.

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The Browns were moving, but the drive eventually stalled. Chubb was brought down on third-and-1 and lost two yards. The fateful play on fourth and-3 was the final. There appeared to be some confusion as players lined up. Stefanski decided to go for the win, rather than kick a field-goal.

Instead of giving the ball to Hunt or Chubb, Brissett spread around the line of play and threw it away. There was no receiver nearby.

The Browns went on to go down 10-0 in the first half, a hole they somehow managed to crawl their way out of, but it wasn’t an easy fight, and the drive came back to bite them. In the age of analytics, it’s understandable why going for 7 is better than 3.

But 3 is still greater than 0, and it’s a sequence that ultimately impacted the outcome of the game.

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