The Browns game started off interesting. Before the game even started a fight between the Browns and 49ers players ensued which had to be broken up by coaches and staff.
In addition, going into the game the Browns were without their starting quarterback, Deshaun Watson, who has an injured shoulder.
Because of the injury, the Browns promoted P.J Walker from the practice squad to start the game at quarterback.
Although football fans may have thought the Browns did not have a chance to win this week, that message did not appear to be delivered to the Browns players and coaches.
In fact, Stefanski stated, “I don’t pay much attention to what the outside feels about a game. You know I’m aware of the lines. I’m aware of whether we’re a favorite or an underdog, those type of things. But I know the team we have. I felt good about this one. And again, like I told the team all week, we’re not perfect but we’re going to fight like crazy.”
Thus, as a result of the amazing Jim Schwartz led defense, the Browns positive mentality and a little bit of luck, the Browns defeated the top ranked San Francisco 49ers, 19-17 on Sunday afternoon in a game that was not decided until the final seconds.
How Did the Browns Defeat the Top Ranked Team in the NFL?
The game started off with a San Francisco 49ers touchdown drive. After receiving the opening kickoff, the 49ers drove 84 yards in 5 plays to take a 7-0 lead.
The 49ers scored the touchdown when Brock Purdy connected with Christian McCaffrey for a 13-yard touchdown with 12:16 left in the first quarter.
Neither team scored again in the first quarter which included three offensive possessions for the Browns and two for the 49ers.
The 49ers took a 10-0 lead on a field goal by Jake Moody with 7:54 left in the second quarter.
On the next possession, the Browns scored on a 16-yard touchdown run by Kareem Hunt to make the score 10-7 going into halftime.
going touchdown HUNTing#SFvsCLE on FOX & NFL+ pic.twitter.com/Iq2SnJ7aGD
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) October 15, 2023
The Browns added two field goals in the third quarter by Dustin Hopkins to take a 13-10 lead into the fourth quarter.
The 49ers took a 17-13 lead with 10:58 left in the 4th quarter after returning an interception to the Browns 8-yard line. The 49ers then scored on Jordan Mason’s 8-yard touchdown run.
The Browns added two additional Dustin Hopkins field goals to take a 19-17 lead with 1:40 left in the game.
The 49ers then got the ball back and drove down the field 52 yards to get in field goal position to win the game.
However, San Francisco missed the game winning field goal with six seconds left in the game.
Dustin Hopkins, the Browns kicker, was stellar for the Browns today as he made four field goals to put twelve points on the board for the Browns.
In post-game comments, Browns Head Kevin Stefanski emphasized how important Hopkins contributions were.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s huge,” said Stefanski. “And we went backward there for, I think the last one and made him kick a harder one or whatever it was – second to last one. But credit to AB (Andrew Berry) for getting Dustin here. Really felt like we needed a guy and we’re excited we have him.”
In addition to Hopkins excellent kicking, the Browns defense played great. In fact, their pass defense was exceptional. The 49ers only averaged 3.9 yards in 27 pass attempts.
Stefanski attributed the Browns excellent defensive performance to their preparation throughout the week.
“Coach Schwartz and the defensive staff were outstanding all week, really,” said Stefanski. “I go back to our Wednesday practice. I told the team after practice, I said, if you measure a practice by how it sounds, we had the best practice of our season because the energy was off the charts and it was led by the defense. It’s led by Ogbo (Okoronkwo) and Z (Za’Darius Smith) and Dalvin (Tomlinson) and Juan (Thornhill) and all those guys – JOK (Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah) you name them, they brought the energy all week. They were so excited for this challenge and I thought Coach put those guys in position to go make plays.”
And make plays the Browns defense did! After the Browns defense gave up 84 yards on the first possession, they only gave up 131 yards the rest of the game.
Also, key in the victory was the Browns limiting 49ers top playmakers, Christian McCaffrey and Deebo Samuel.
It may be that the Browns learned a little from how Dallas stopped McCaffrey the week before.
In the first four games of the season, McCaffrey averaged 5.7 yards per carry. However, in the last two games against Dallas and Cleveland, McCaffrey has only averaged 3.1 yards per carry.
McCaffrey did have three catches on Sunday afternoon, and one was a 13-yard touchdown.
In addition, the Browns did not allow a reception to Deebo Samuel, although he did have 2 carries for 11 yards before leaving the game due to injury.
Leading the Browns offense on the ground was Jerome Ford who had 84 yards on 17 carries for a 4.9 yards per carry average. In addition, Kareem Hunt gained 47 yards on 12 carries for a 3.9 yards per carry average.
Stefanski was very happy with how Ford and Hunt performed against the 49ers.
“I can’t say enough about Kareem and Jerome. Those guys are running hard, hitting it. It’s not always pretty, but I’m really proud of those guys.”
In addition to the excellent rushing performance, Amari Cooper led the Browns receivers with four catches for 108 yards and Browns quarterback P.J. Walker completed 18 of 36 passes for 192 yards.
Coach Stefanski believed Walker played great.
“I felt proud of him,” said Stefanski. “He battled. He’s going to tell you he wishes he had a couple of plays back like all quarterbacks do. That’s kind of what we talk about. We’re striving for perfection, but it’s hard to attain it. But he made some throws, he made some plays, he ran the show. So that’s what he does. He’s a battler. He’s a tough kid.”
With the victory, the Browns move to 3-2 on the season and will next travel to Indianapolis to take on the Colts on Sunday, October, 21st.
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