Three takeaways from Cleveland Browns upset win over Green Bay Packers

It may have not been pretty, but Cleveland fans everywhere will agree that it doesn’t matter how it got done. The Cleveland Browns finally got a win. 

Week 3 brought a daunting matchup for the Browns as they faced a 2-0 Green Bay Packers team that was off to a hot start this season. Beating two talented NFC teams to start the season off, while also gaining a huge defensive piece in Micah Parsons should’ve had the Packers feeling confident coming into Northeast Ohio this week. 

On the other hand, the Browns had just about the opposite start to the season. Two losses to AFC North teams in the Bengals and Ravens, partially due to discouraging offensive performances, should've had almost all Browns fans nervous about this contest. 

Yet, sometimes games in the NFL don’t always go how they seem they should, and the Browns pulled off quite the unexpected upset. No matter how it happened, a win is a win, but let’s look at three takeaways from the Week 3 matchup. 

The quarterback play was less than ideal

Joe Flacco hasn’t had the strongest of starts to this season, and before the game there were plenty of people questioning if he should still be the starter. Ending the game with only 142 passing yards and an interception, without any passing touchdowns probably won’t tame those questions much. 

While you don’t want to make excuses for a former Super Bowl MVP who is entering his 18th year in the league, conditions haven’t been optimal for the 40 year old. Flacco has been protected by a broken up offensive line, with multiple injuries plaguing the offensive front. 

Flacco has had magical moments with this Browns team, and with the win today, maybe there is hope that he still has flickers of magic the rest of the season. According to Daniel Oyefusi of ESPN, “Stefanski says he’s sticking with Flacco at QB for week 4”. 

Browns defense dominant again

On the other hand, the Browns' defensive unit looked unstoppable once again. Five sacks, one interception and a blocked field goal are just some of the highlights from this defense this afternoon. 

Myles Garrett and the rest of the defensive line showed why they are one of the best in the league, as they held Packers star running back Josh Jacobs to just 30 rushing yards on 16 carries. There are no signs of this extremely talented line stopping anytime soon. Fortunate for Cleveland fans, unfortunate for opposing team’s backfields. 

Potentially the biggest play of the game came from the defense late in the fourth quarter, when big man Shelby Harris perfectly got a hand to the ball, blocking McManus’ potential lead taking attempt. 

The Browns defense was the reason why this team stayed in the game all day, and eventually had a chance to get the win as time expired. 

Complementary football... finally

Finally, to win a game like today’s, you have to trust your guys to take care of business. 

After the blocked field goal, the Browns offense had an extremely efficient drive to set up a game winning moment. Regardless of the poor performance, the offense executed moments in the final drive to perfection.

With 12 seconds on the clock, Flacco found David Njoku in the middle of the field to get the team into field goal range. As the clock was winding down, the offense moved quickly to set up and spike the ball, leaving kicker Andre Szmyt with just enough time to get an attempt off. 

Sure, Andre Szmyt deserved criticism after his poor kicking performance in Week 1, but head coach Kevin Stefanski trusted Szmyt when it came back down to the wire. 

Sending Szmyt out to kick a game winning 55 yard field goal as the clock expired made everyone hold their breaths, yet he did exactly what Stefanski trusted him to do. 

At the end of the day, no matter how poor the performance felt, for the last five minutes of the game, the entire team came together and took care of business. 

Next Sunday the Browns have a chance to go .500 through the first four weeks of the season, as they head to Detroit to face the Lions.