David Bell runs through 'green grass' to 'get to end zone' in Cleveland Browns win

CLEVELAND — David Bell turned around after catch the pass and saw nothing between him and the end zone but green grass. Exactly 41 yards worth of green grass.

"I was surprised," the Browns receiver admitted after the Browns' 31-27 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. "Not a little, I was a lot surprised, to keep it real."

Surprise gave way to instinct for Bell pretty quickly. He knew as quickly as that green grass opened up, it could close in a moment.

So there was only one thing for Bell to do.

"Get to the end zone," Bell said. "It just felt like little league back when I was in second grade. Just seeing that much green grass, I haven't seen that much since I was about 6 or 7."

By the time Bell covered the 41 yards, Cleveland Browns Stadium was a pandemonium palace. The Browns had opened up their third 14-point lead — this one 28-14 — with 12:34 remaining.

Oh, and the play came on fourth down, specifically fourth-and-3. That's a rather sizeable fact in the whole play.

Bell lined up on the outside of three receivers, but motioned between Elijah Moore and David Njoku. On the snap, Moore went inside, Njoku went outside and Bell went to the first-down marker and turned around.

"The way that I caught it," Bell said, "I thought somebody was going to be right on me and I thought they was going to hit me, but once I figured nobody hit me, I just turned around and I just seen nothing but green grass."

Quarterback Joe Flacco turned and looked at Bell, taking advantage of extra time given to him when running back Kareem Hunt picked up blitzing linebacker Foyesade Oluokun. From there, it was a simple pitch-and-catch from a wily 16-year former Super Bowl Most Valuable Player to a still-learning second-year pro.

Behind Bell the whole way to the end zone were teammates celebrating with him. That included his quarterback and his head coach, who was high-stepping his way down the sideline as his receiver ran.

"I thought he was going to score, so I'm glad he did," All-Pro left guard Joel Bitonio said. "But those are fun ones, man, and he works every day. And to get that first touchdown in that situation, fourth down, sometimes you got to go for it. And he did, and it was a big time."

The catch was the only one of the day for Bell, the 2022 third-round pick. It's one of only seven catches — for 86 yards — for the season for him.

However, it's the second time this season Bell has had a big fourth-down catch in a big home win. In Week 6 against the San Francisco 49ers, his only catch was a 6-yard grab on fourth-and-4 to extend a drive that ended up in a field goal that pulled the Browns within two points with less than 3:30 remaining.

Since that catch in the 19-17 Browns win, Bell has only had three catches total. All three have come in the last two weeks, which can prove stressful for some receivers who want the football.

"It wasn't tough at all," Bell said of waiting. "I always practice like I'm the No. 1 receiver whether I'm in practice, and I prepare like I'm the No. 1 receiver, too. So I knew whenever my number's called, I'm going to be prepared. So it wasn't really hard at all. I think just keeping my head down and working and eventually you're going to get to where your goals lead you to."

In this case, they led Bell to the end zone. With a whole lot of green grass on his way there.

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on Twitter at @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: David Bell finds 'green grass' to 'get to end zone' in Browns win