Joe Flacco to Jerome Ford: 5 significant offensive plays from a Browns playoff season
BEREA — The Browns season is a week into the rear-view mirror. However, there remain memories from that remarkable season that will last for some time in the minds of those who witnessed it.
Today, it's time to look at five plays by the Browns offense that resonated long after the specific games in which they happened had concluded. They were plays that had you turning to those around you to ask if what you saw had really happened.
Some were legitimately spectacular plays. Others were routine plays, just made at the most high-stakes moments of the game.
What isn't on this list are probably two plays that actually, to many, define the season for the Browns. There's the Week 2 run in Pittsburgh by Nick Chubb that resulted in a season-ending knee injury, followed the next week by Deshaun Watson's seemingly innocent red-zone run against Tennessee that resulted in a shoulder injury that led to a month of uncertainty.
Those plays, without a doubt, had as much impact on the season as any of the ones that followed. But, in some ways, those two unfortunate plays also made the five that follow all the more unbelievable, because they were all part of a run to the playoffs few saw coming.
To start the list, it's time to go back to the night on which the Browns clinched the playoffs.
1. Joe Flacco hit in the face, then hits Jerome Ford for TD against New York Jets
This may have been about the high-water mark for the Browns this season. The game itself, in Week 17 against the New York Jets, definitely was that. The ball was at midfield with 1:41 left in the first half when quarterback Joe Flacco took the shotgun snap and almost immediately found Jets defensive lineman Quinnen Williams in his face. In some ways, that was literal, as Williams' hand struck Flacco in the face. Flacco, though, was able to maintain his poise and rolled to his left. While he initially looked as if he was going to run, about three yards shy of the line of scrimmage, he noticed running back Jerome Ford breaking free and threw him the ball. Ford caught the ball while going backward at the Jets 38 and turned around to find green grass instead of green jerseys. It wasn't until Ford was at the 15 that the first of what was at least three Jets defenders tried unsuccessfully to tackle him. Jets linebacker C.J. Mosley finally accomplished that, but it came after Ford had crossed the goal line to help give the Browns a 34-14 lead. The Browns went on to win 37-20 to clinch a playoff berth.
2. David Bell coverts fourth down against San Francisco 49ers
David Bell did not have a lot of catches in his second season, just 14 total. However, when it came to fourth-down catches, he was about as reliable as one could ask a receiver to be. He was targeted three times on fourth down during the season and caught all three. Two of those catches went for touchdowns, and the other one was this catch with less than seven minutes remaining in what turned into a Browns 19-17 Week 6 win over the 49ers. The Browns were faced with a fourth-and-4 at the 49ers 40, and trailed 17-13. P.J. Walker, who started in place of an injured Deshaun Watson, delivered a pass to Bell just beyond the first-down marker. Bell needed to come back for the ball, but he was able to make the catch for 6 yards and a first down. The Browns turned that into the first of two field goals by Dustin Hopkins in the quarter to make it 17-16 with 3:21 remaining. The Browns got the ball back after the defense forced a three-and-out, leading to Hopkins' game-winner with 1:40 remaining.
3. Amari Cooper gets the record against the Houston Texans
Amari Cooper had several big days during the course of the season, especially once Flacco took over in December. None were bigger than the day he had in Houston on Christmas Eve in Week 16, when he broke Josh Gordon's 2013 single-game record of 261 receiving yards by going for 265 yards on 11 catches. Cooper, though, really wouldn't have gotten the record had the Browns defensive reserves not allowed the Texans a couple of quick fourth-quarter scores to turn a 36-7 score into 36-22. That opened the door for Flacco and Cooper, whose days were thought to have been over when the Browns were up 29, to come back on the field. That allowed Cooper to come up with the record with less than 3:50 remaining when he made a 13-yard catch on fourth and 7 from the Houston 26. Cooper was on the right side of the formation and ran a simple 13-yard out. Flacco was able to perfectly place the pass where Derek Stingley Jr., who was defending Cooper, couldn't get his hands on the pass. From there, it became a simple pitch and catch, with Cooper catching the ball, getting his feet in and etching his name in the Browns record book.
4. Jerome Ford gets help from friends against Baltimore Ravens
Arguably the most memorable offensive play of the Browns' game-winning drive in Week 10 at the Baltimore Ravens had all the aesthetic pleasantry of a multi-car pile-up. With 1:24 remaining and the Browns trailing the Ravens 31-30, Ford took a first-down handoff from Watson from the Baltimore 39 and ran through a hole on the right side of the offensive line. At about the Ravens 33, All-Pro linebacker Roquan Smith made first contact with Ford. At about the Ravens 31, the entire Browns offensive line came to their teammate's aid. At some point shortly after that, right guard Wyatt Teller recounted after the game, center Ethan Pocic let out a loud, "Push," in the pile. That pile proceeded to leave bodies strewn across its path until Ford was finally brought down to the ground at the Ravens 27, capping a 12-yard gain. After three more plays, Hopkins kicked a game-winning 40-yard field goal as time expired for a 33-30 win. That was the last time Watson played this season, as he was placed on injured reserve the Wednesday after this game because of a broken bone in his shoulder that required surgery.
5. Amari Cooper and the 3 Bears (alternate headline: How did Joe Flacco manage that one?)
Flacco has been a gunslinger his entire quarterbacking life. He boasts a big arm and he's not afraid to show that arm off, even if it mean risking — and, more than occasionally, throwing — interceptions. The Browns unfortunately were on the wrong end of that at the worst possible time with his two pick sixes in the playoff loss to Houston. They seemed to be on their way to a similar fate in Week 15 at home against the Chicago Bears when three Flacco picks had them staring at a 17-10 deficit with 3:18 remaining. That was, however, when Flacco's let-it-fly mindset managed to roll a 7 instead of snake-eyes. The Browns were at their own 49 when Flacco executed a slight play-fake to Pierre Strong before firing a laser to Cooper on a mid-range crossing pattern. Cooper, it should be noted, had three Bears defenders around him at the time. However, the Pro Bowler made the catch at about the Chicago 27, turned up field and stayed inbounds while running into the end zone for the game-tying touchdown. Hopkins later made the go-ahead field goal, which turned into the game-winner when Bears quarterback Justin Fields' Hail Mary pass was intercepted.
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: What were the Cleveland Browns' best offensive plays from 2023 season?
