DETROIT — The Cleveland Browns made the trip up to Motor City, looking to ride the momentum of their first win of the season the week prior against the Green Bay Packers. Going against an explosive Detroit Lions team, the Browns started strong, especially on defense, but a number of errors from both the offense and special teams unit were too much to overcome, leading to a 34-10 loss in Detroit.
FIRST HALF
After receiving on the opening kickoff, Detroit opened the game up with a first down pass, but the defense held them off the next three plays, stuffing a run on the interior and bringing pressure. The Browns' defense held up and forced the Lions to punt on their opening drive.
On the Browns' opening drive, things started with a similar first-down pass, theirs from quarterback Joe Flacco to wide receiver Jerry Jeudy.
The rest of the Browns' opening drive went a little differently than Detroit's. Cleveland has been missing out on explosive plays on offense, but that changed Sunday. Joe Flacco hit Isaiah Bond for a 16-yard gain, followed immediately by a deep pass to Jeudy for a 33-yard gain. In the red zone, the Browns got to the goal line, but a strong Lions’ defense held them there for the first three plays. It took four downs, but after four straight rushes, the Browns were able to punch it in with a rush from Quinshon Judkins, his second career touchdown.
The Browns' opening drive touchdown marked just the second time this season the Browns held a lead in regulation.
The Lions answered back quickly, though. On a five-play drive that took them 65 yards downfield, the Lions moved the ball with a 25-yard pass from Jared Goff to Amon-Ra St. Brown and an 8-yard run from Jahmyr Gibbs, and after a holding call against Denzel Ward, they were on the 8-yard line. A quick Gibbs rush around the defense allowed Detroit to tie it up, 7-7.
On the next drive, things took a turn for the Browns. The offense wasn't generating much on the first two plays, and on the third play, things got messy. On what appeared to be gross miscommunication, Flacco sent a pass in the general direction of wide receiver Cedric Tillman, who ran a hitch route. Flacco didn't hit Tillman short, however, and instead threw it deeper—and the Lions took advantage, picking the pass and regaining possession.
The defense wasn't able to force Detroit off the field on the next drive, but did hold them to a 48-yard field goal, which gave the Lions a 10-7 lead over Cleveland at the start of the second quarter.
A struggling Browns' offense reared its ugly head and stalled out on their next drive, which saw Flacco sacked for a loss of six, and the Browns were forced to punt.
Corey Bojorquez punted it to the 13-yard line, and a nice coverage limited the return to just two yards. That field possession helped the defense hold off the Lions, forcing them to punt in return.
Still, the Browns were unable to move the ball on offense and stalled again inside their own 20. The Browns defense caught a break with a dropped pass from Goff to Jameison Williams, avoiding a potential touchdown and forcing the Lions to punt it away.
Despite things going Cleveland's way on defense, the Browns' offense couldn't catch a break. After a couple of runs by Judkins, Flacco had his second interception of the game. Flacco attempted to hit Jeudy, who seemed to slip on his route, with Lions' cornerback D.J. Reed there to take the ball away. Officials reviewed the call, with a question of whether Reed was able to complete the catch or if the ball hit the ground first, but the ruling of an interception stood.
It took just three plays for the Lions to capitalize on the takeaway, scoring a touchdown on a pass from Goff to St. Brown. That gave the Lions a 17-7 lead with three minutes left in the half.
After the Browns' third punt of the half, the defense attempted to keep the Lions at bay, and while they prevented them from getting downfield for a touchdown, Detroit was able to put more points on the board with a 58-yard field goal from kicker Jake Bates.
Going to the half, the Browns were in a tough position, trailing 20-7. They were also without wide receiver Cedric Tillman, who left the game with a hamstring injury and was ruled out for the remainder.
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SECOND HALF
The Browns received on the second-half kickoff, but once again were forced to punt after a seven-play drive that only saw them gain 16 yards, plus five yards on a holding call against the Lions.
One of the areas of the game that the Browns place high emphasis on each week is the turnover margin. They know takeaways vs. giveaways can change the outcome of the game, and on the Lions' first drive of the second half, Cleveland's defense came up big.
Cornerback Denzel Ward was in the perfect position in coverage to pick off Goff's pass, snagging the Browns' second interception of the season after Grant Delpit took the ball away in Week 3 against the Packers.
The offense wasn't able to find the end zone with the ball back in their hands, but were able to close the deficit a bit thanks to a 34-yard field goal from Andre Szmyt, whose successful attempt made it a 20-10 game.
Cleveland's defense forced a three-and-out to follow, and the Browns were once again looking to score. A 35-yard pass from Flacco to Bond gave the drive some promise, but the Browns weren't able to move the chains after it, opting to settle for a 56-yard field goal. Unfortunately, Szmyt's second field goal attempt was no good, just left of the upright.
Detroit, an aggressive team known for going for it on 4th down, did just that on their next possession. After getting to Cleveland's 24-yard line, the Lions went for it on 4th-and-2, but were held just short of the first down. With the Browns taking over on downs, a case of the drops struck in the worst way.
On two deep balls, both placed well by Flacco, Browns receivers failed to make their receptions. The first drop was from rookie tight end Harold Fannin Jr., the second was from Jeudy. Both passes could have swung momentum back the Browns' way; instead, the drops killed the drive and forced the Browns to punt.
What was bad only got worse on that punt. Bojorquez had an uncharacteristically bad punt, and his 39-yard kick was returned 65 yards for a touchdown. The special teams flub made it a 27-10 game, with the Browns struggling to generate anything outside of their defense.
At that point, 17 of the Lions' 27 points came directly off interceptions or special teams errors.
No matter how hard the defense fought, the Browns could not get out of their own way on offense. After the defense forced Detroit to punt for the fifth time of the day, the offense handed the ball right back to them. On their own 28-yard line, Flacco was strip-sacked by Aidan Hutchinson, who then recovered the ball.
With Detroit turning that fumble recovery into a touchdown, it marked 24 points that came off a Browns turnover or special teams error.
Trailing the Lions 34-10 with four minutes left in the game, the Browns took Flacco out and gave rookie QB Dillon Gabriel the remainder of the snaps at quarterback. The game ended with the Lions taking a knee to run down the clock, sending the Browns home with the 34-10 loss.
The Browns' loss to the Lions puts them at 1-3 on the season.
Cleveland's next matchup takes them across the pond, where they'll face the Minnesota Vikings in London on Sunday, Oct. 5. Kickoff is at 9:30 a.m. ET.
