CLEVELAND — On the day after that thrilling Opening Day victory for the Browns down in Carolina, the team says its on its way to getting set for its home opener coming up this Sunday against the New York Jets, but there's still a lot of work to be done and a lot to reflect on from what happened on Sunday.
For instance, what happened in the fourth quarter? The Browns' defense, which had been so solid and really playing at an elite level for the first three quarters — dominating the game, pressuring Baker Mayfield, making plays all over the field and making it look easy — all of a sudden started to make huge mistakes.
The 75-yard pass play to Robbie Anderson was a mistake in the secondary, evoking memories of last year at Arrowhead Stadium. Remember, they had nine-point lead with about nine minutes left to go, and a 75-yard touchdown pass from Patrick Mahomes to Tyreek Hill turned the game around. Really, the same thing happened yesterday afternoon.
When Baker Mayfield found Anderson wide-open, and John Johnson III and Greg Newsome and Grant Delpit all got kind of mixed up in the secondary, the game tilted. Suddenly, a game that the Browns had totally under control started to slip through their fingers, and it went all the way out of their hands when, with 1:13 left to go, they had fallen behind.
I'll say this: They got back back to the destination point, which was the 40-yard line of the Carolina Panthers. What a luxury to know that you've got that kid Cade York with that big leg ready to kick that game-winning field goal from 58 yards away, which incidentally would've been good from about 68 yards away if not even a little bit longer.
The Browns haven't had that for so long, even the Phil Dawson days. I don't know if Dawson had that kind of length, although he was as clutch as they come.
So, they survived the football game. The lessons to be learned are these: No. 1, Jacoby Brissett's going to have to play a lot better. He's got to be a lot quicker — quicker getting rid of the football, quicker making the decisions where that football is going to go. There were big plays that were left out on the field, and it really should've been game, set, and match by halftime.
Point No. 2 is the Browns are going to have to learn (and I know we've said this a lot to you) how to win. When they have a team down, they have to put that team away, whether it's here at home or on the road as yesterday. Too many times, they just seem to be in control of a game, and then crazy things happen and the game slips away.
Yesterday would've been one of their most devastating losses since coming back into the NFL in 1999. Now, it turns out to be one of their greatest wins since coming back into the NFL. They live to tell about it.
Now Sunday, on to the Jets, a team they should handle, a team that will have Joe Flacco at quarterback, and a team that right now the Browns simply are better than. Home opener, lot of excitement.
Put them away and keep then down and win the game. We don't need no heroics at the end of the ballgame.