Dawgs By Nature
Well, it was somewhat of a fun first half for the Cleveland Browns, who were leading the Tennessee Titans 17-14. But then, in the second half, a mix of special teams blunders, turnover on offense, and poor run defense allowed the one-win Titans to pull away against the Browns on their home turf in the fourth quarter. Shedeur Sanders tried to engineer a comeback, and it was entertaining watch him the best game of his young career, but he still came up short as Cleveland failed on multiple two-point tries. On the bright side, with a loss, that’s a plus for the Browns’ draft position. Let’s get to the full game recap.
The Titans received the opening kickoff, and sure enough, special teams played an early factor as WR Chimere Dike got the ball out to the Titans’ 47 yard line on the kickoff. Cleveland’s defense smothered the Titans on the first two plays, forcing them into a 3rd-and-11. On third down, the defense somehow didn’t anticipate a screen pass to the RB Tyjae Spears coming, which was wide open for a gain of 24 yards into Cleveland territory.
On the next 3rd-and-6, QB Cam Ward completed a quick pass to his tight end on the left side for another first down, now into the red zone. A few plays later, off of a max protection playaction fake, WR Elic Ayomanor beat CB Denzel Ward on a crossing route and walked into the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown, their first opening-drive touchdown of the season and a 7-0 lead.
Then, RB Jerome Ford on the Browns’ opening kickoff tried to go horizontal across the field for some reason, and was taken down at the 15 yard line. On the first offensive play, RB Quinshon Judkins was blown up for a loss of 4 yards, and then he merely got the yards back on second down to set up a quick 3rd-and-11. RT KT Leveston was beat right away around the edge, and QB Shedeur Sanders was blasted for a sack and forcing a quick punt.
Before Cleveland could get the punt off, a false start by the Browns pushed the ball back to the 7 yard line. P Corey Bojorquez got off a shot punt that rolled to the Browns’ 46 yard line, a net of just 39 yards.
The Titans were rolling and looking in shape to score again, until Ward was picked off by LB Devin Bush when trying to throw a slant pass. Bush returned it 44 yards to the Titans’ 39 yard line.
Sanders started the drive with a quick strike to TE Harold Fannin for 17 yards. A few plays later, facing a 3rd-and-8, Sanders tried directing traffic, but eventually threw the ball away. K Andre Szmyt came on for a 38-yard field goal to trim the Titans’ lead to 7-3 with 1:42 remaining in the first quarter.
After a touchback on the next kickoff, Ward handed...
