CLEVELAND — Second-year Cleveland Browns running back Nick Chubb is having quite the week.
After helping lead the Browns (2-2) to a 40-25 victory over the Baltimore Ravens (2-2) at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore last Sunday, which vaulted the team to the top of the AFC North Division standings, he was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week Award winner, and then, Thursday, he received another honor.
Chubb was announced as the winner of the FedEx Ground Player of the Week Award following practice at team headquarters in Berea.
“He is just an all-around [good] guy of who he is,” quarterback Baker Mayfield said of Chubb. “He puts his head down and goes to work. You have to talk to him and dig to get information and get a couple of words out. He is a great guy overall. He really just cares about winning, and he is a great teammate.”
Chubb was disappointed in himself after a Sunday Night Football loss to the Los Angeles Rams at FirstEnergy Stadium and he took out those frustrations on the Ravens.
With the memory of being stopped on fourth-and-nine in the second half still fresh in his mind, Chubb rushed for 165 yards and three touchdowns, including two third-quarter scores and an 88-yard scamper in the fourth quarter that helped seal the Browns’ 15-point victory and highest point total in the 21-year history of the rivalry with Baltimore.
And people took notice of Chubb’s performance, as he was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week on Wednesday morning.
Chubb helped the Browns out of a jam with the touchdown rush, as they faced a first-and-15 from their own 12-yard line after a false start penalty against tight end Demetrius Harris.
Not deterred by the penalty, Chubb caught a pitch from Mayfield, hustled through a hole created by the right side of the line and tight end Pharaoh Brown and raced 88 yards untouched for the touchdown.
Although the Browns failed to convert the two-point attempt, they held a 30-18 lead over the Ravens with 9:35 to play in regulation.
“I did not see anyone else so I pretty much knew,” Chubb said earlier in the week. “It was wide open so I had a good feeling it was going to be a touchdown if I did not get caught.
“It was wide open, so from that standpoint, I knew I had a chance to make a big play, and I saw the safety out of my peripheral, and then, I didn’t see him anymore. After that, I knew. I just thought, ‘Don’t get caught. Get in the end zone and finish.’”