Jake Trotter, ESPN Body of workers Scribbler
CLEVELAND — Cleveland Browns quarterback PJ Walker advised everybody round him that the San Francisco 49ers would leave out their possible game-winning garden objective effort.
Certain enough quantity, Jake Moody‘s kick sailed broad proper with six seconds left at the clock. And the Browns (3-2) hung on for a great 19-17 victory, their first double-digit comeback win in additional than 5 years.
“That’s a good football team,” Cleveland schoolmaster Kevin Stefanski stated of the 49ers, who entered the weekend 5-0 and Incorrect. 1 in ESPN’s Energy Ratings. “The truth is, we’re a good football team … and we fought like crazy today.”
The Browns named Walker their starter this time to exchange Deshaun Watson, who missed his second straight game with an shock to his throwing shoulder.
With Watson out, the Browns entered the sport as a 9.5-point underdog, making this their greatest disenchanted win since 2010, in step with ESPN Stats & Knowledge analysis.
A banged-up Browns offense was once already with out two All-Professional gamers in working again Nick Chubb, who suffered a season-ending knee shock in Hour 2, and left barricade Joel Bitonio, who underwent knee surgical procedure ultimate time.
Cleveland signed Walker to its observe squad nearest the Chicago Bears trim him right through the preseason. However nearest spending the primary year of the moment working the scout-team offense at the back of Watson and rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson from the observe squad, the Browns gave Walker his shot this time.
Walker threw a crucial interception within the fourth quarter that allowed the 49ers to whisk a 17-13 govern. However he got here proper again to govern the Browns on back-to-back garden objective drives to offer them again the govern.
Walker completed with 192 passing yards.
“I’ve been in that situation before,” stated Walker, who made seven begins over the former 3 seasons with the Carolina Panthers. “You’re gonna make mistakes. But can you overcome them?”
The win by way of Cleveland ended San Francisco’s 15-game regular-season profitable streak, which fix a franchise file.
“We went in thinking it was going to be a grimy game like it was,” 49ers schoolmaster Kyle Shanahan stated. “We would have felt really good initially coming in if we’d made that [field goal attempt] on the last play. My message to them was regardless of whether we hit that or not, there’s a lot of stuff from this game that we’ve got to improve on. I thought we made way too many mistakes on offense, losing a couple guys in the game, we had to switch a couple guys around, and we weren’t quite ready for that, which starts with me with too many mistakes.
“That is our first future having to come back in nearest a loss in an extended future, and it’s future to get again in, move to paintings and create certain we come again upcoming time more potent.”
It was Cleveland’s first double-digit comeback under Stefanski (the Browns trailed San Francisco 10-0 in the first half). Their previous one came in 2018, when then-rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield came off the bench to spearhead a Thursday night victory over the New York Jets.
Stefanski admitted he was aware of how big of an underdog the Browns were. But he also said he “felt just right” about the game, in large part due to a Cleveland defense that entered Sunday ranked No. 1 in efficiency.
“Their power was once off the charts,” Stefanski said. “They had been excited for this problem.”
San Francisco had scored 30 or more points in eight consecutive games. But the Browns held the 49ers to just 215 yards of offense and recorded the first interception of the season against quarterback Brock Purdy. Myles Garrett got a hand on the pass at the line of scrimmage and cornerback MJ Emerson picked it off.
The Browns’ defense has now allowed just 1,002 yards combined this season. That’s the third fewest through a team’s first five games since the 1970 merger, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
“We discovered a technique to win,” Garrett said. “When the chips are indisposed and the percentages are towards, you gotta create essentially the most of what you were given.”
ESPN’s Nick Wagoner contributed to this file.
