The Cleveland Browns went in to Arrowhead Stadium yesterday trying to play spoiler. The Kansas City Chiefs put their undefeated season up against the lost identity Browns. So, what was the worse that could happen?
After looking like a bad high school football team in their first three drives, Cleveland finally got rolling with under four minutes left in the first half. The Browns stingy defense also played with a bend, but don’t break attitude. Just five days before Halloween, the Browns used trickery to put themselves back in the game with a nice looking flea flicker from Jason Campbell to Josh Gordon. Would Brandon Weeden made that throw?
This game was a tale of two halves for the orange-and-brown offense. For once, Cleveland did not go three-and-out to start a half. The Browns drove straight down the field. After a touchdown strike to Fozzy Whittaker, the Browns pulled within three points making it 20-17. It was at this point where fans were saying aloud simultaneously, “We’ve got ourselves a football game!” And, rightfully so, Cleveland had Kansas City on their back heels. The momentum was in full swing.
Late in the fourth quarter, the Cleveland defense continued to get big stops and forced the Chiefs to punt from their own end zone. The situation at the time was the Browns trailed by three, about five minutes left in the game, had two timeouts left, and were about to get the ball at midfield or better. What could possibly go wrong for a team that has a .460 winning percentage since their return in 1999?
If someone would have told me that Davone Bess would be the main reason that the Browns would lose to the Chiefs, I would have thought they were crazy. But, as fate would have it, Bess fumbled away the punt and gave the ball back to the Chiefs. Bess had the worst game of his six year career. He was credited with three drops (could have been 4), three receptions for 27 yards, and one crucial fumble that all but sealed the game. Bess took over punt return duties after speedster, Travis Benjamin was injured earlier in the game.
What was impressive about Campbell (22/36 for 293 yds and 2 TDs) and the Browns offense was the fact that they put themselves back in the game with hardly any running game. Cleveland ran the ball just 15 times for 57 yards.
At the end of the day, the Browns lost their third straight game and head home with a 3-5 record. If anything else, this game showed that life goes on after Weeden. Barring any injury, Campbell will be the starter the rest of the way.
Ryan Ruiz is the Cleveland Browns Beat Writer for The Inscriber: Digital Magazine. You can follow him on Facebook: Ryan (BrownsWriter) Ruiz and Twitter @ryanpruiz24. Ryan is also a Browns correspondent for The Sportsfix. Tune in every Friday at noon on www.thesportsfix.net. Email Ryan at [email protected]
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