The Browns tossed the initial not many punches Sunday in any case couldn’t keep the safeguarding AFC Champions down long enough.
Cleveland, somewhat less than nine months eliminated from seeing its 2020 season reach a conclusion on account of the Kansas City Chiefs, controlled the principal half and took a noteworthy lead into the storage space before the Chiefs’ high-flying offense ejected. Kansas City scored pretty much every time it had the ball in the subsequent half to overturn the Browns, 33-29, on a refreshing season-opener at Arrowhead Stadium.
“We didn’t play our best when it mattered and we didn’t coach our best when it mattered,” Stefanski said. “Versus a group like this, you must play an hour long game and we didn’t do that.
“It’s a 60-minute game and you have to play a 60-minute game. You don’t get anything for playing a 30-minute game. Mentality-wise, we got beat, we got out-coached, got out-played. Great football team over there, I have a lot of respect for them and we’re turning our attention to Houston.”
Cook Mayfield explored an offense that had its direction through the air and on the ground for a large portion of the main half prior to hitting a few knocks in the second. He finished 21-of-28 passes for 321 yards however was captured on his last toss of the game, as Chiefs CB Mike Hughes stepped before a pass planned for Harrison Bryant to seal it.
“You have to execute critical moments,” Mayfield said. “Nothing else matters before those moments. It always comes down to those three, four plays where you look back and say ‘if we’d have done this differently, it would have worked.’ I’m going to be hard on myself, but go back and attack this week.”
The threesome of Patrick Mahomes, Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce was simply a lot for Cleveland’s patched up protection, which made things precarious on occasion for Mahomes in any case couldn’t get sufficient stops when it required them.
Mahomes tossed for 337 yards and three scores. Kelce had two of them while getting six passes for 76 yards. Slope got 11 passes for 197 yards, a huge lump of which coming on a 75-yard score in the final quarter.
An expensive turnover, a not well planned three-and-out and a major extraordinary groups goof was all Kansas City expected to start to lead the pack by the midpoint of the final quarter.
“Anytime you go on the road against a really good football team like this team you’ve got to play clean football,” Stefanski said. “I’m sure the stats say you can turn the ball over and still win. Our mentality is we’ve got to have zero giveaways and we’ve got to take the ball away on defense and we just didn’t do that today.”
Following 22-10, the Chiefs opened the subsequent half by doing to the Browns how the Browns dealt with the Chiefs to begin the game. Mahomes’ 11-yard score pass to Kelce covered a 14-play drive that took the greater part of the second from last quarter.
Three plays into the resulting ownership, Kansas City got the ball back after an uncommon bungle from Nick Chubb. The Chiefs chipped into the lead much further with a Harrison Butker 43-yard field objective, cutting the Browns’ lead down to two heading into the final quarter.
“No excuse for that,” Chubb said. “I take complete blame for that. The momentum shift, all that, was on me. All I can do now is learn from that and not let it happen anymore.”
The Browns conveyed a reverberating, precise reaction on the accompanying drive to construct the lead back to two belongings because of a 2-yard score run from Kareem Hunt. The energy swing simply didn’t keep going long, as Mahomes returned directly with a hurl to Hill, who got it, turned and ran the rest immaculate for a 75-yard score.
“During the week I said, you can’t let somebody get behind you and somebody got behind me,” S John Johnson III said. “He scrambled and made a great play. Giving up plays like that will get you beat. Just got to go back to the drawing board and get it fixed.”
A badly planned three-and-out from the Browns offense went from awful to more awful when P Jamie Gillan bobbled the snap and picked to go for it for a misfortune. Mahomes’ subsequent score pass to Kelce marked Kansas City to its first lead with 7:04 to play.
The Browns went three-and-out on the following belonging however got another possibility with 2:49 to play. Cleveland got to midfield after a 19-yard screen to Hunt yet gave the ball back for great when a scrambling Mayfield was picked by Hughes.
“It’s all the little things that matter,” Mayfield said. “It’s very frustrating because they’re there. When you play the Chiefs and teams of that caliber, if you don’t execute, you’re going to lose.”
The Browns scored scores on their initial three belongings to take a 22-10 lead, which they’d convey into the half. Cleveland murmured alongside the sort of effectiveness that made it one of the association’s best offenses during the second 50% of 2020, averaging 8.8 yards per play on the game’s initial three belongings and changing over various fourth downs inside the red zone to keep the Chiefs behind them.
Chubb scored twice in the principal a large portion of, the main coming toward the finish of Cleveland’s 13-play, 75-yard drive to open the game and the second with 2:55 to play in the subsequent quarter. The Browns totally tricked Kansas City with their play plan, and Chubb ran immaculate for the 18-yard score to offer Cleveland to a two-ownership lead.
The Browns opened the second quarter with their second score of the game, as Jarvis Landry took a fourth-and-1 handoff and turned his direction into the end zone for a 5-yard score run.
“We were calling some shot plays because they were working and we weren’t taking negative plays,” Mayfield said. “Kevin’s calling plays he feels comfortable with. If we’re not making negative plays and we’re taking check downs, moving the chains on those shot plays, then he’s going to keep doing that.”
Chubb drove the Browns on the ground with 83 yards and two scores. Chase added 33 and a score. David Njoku drove the Browns with three gets for 76 yards while tenderfoot Anthony Schwartz pulled in three passes for 69 yards in his NFL debut.
The Chiefs got their yards and focuses in the primary half, however the Browns made it a little harder in them than the groups’ 2020 matchup. The Browns constrained a field objective on the initial drive before Mahomes scored on a 5-yard run halfway during that time quarter to cut into Cleveland’s lead.
The Browns played without two vital starters for most of Sunday’s down. T Jedrick Wills Jr. was lost from the get-go in the second quarter to a lower leg injury while S Ronnie Harrison Jr. was launched out in the primary quarter following a post-play encounter on the Chiefs sideline.
The Browns are back in real life Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium for their home opener when they face the Houston Texans.
“We have to turn around and play the 1-0 Houston Texans at our place and the guys have to have a great week of practice and that is where our mentality really will be moving forward,” Stefanski said. “We have to flush this one very quickly.”
Topics #Browns #Kansas City
