BEREA, Ohio — The Browns win over the Cincinnati Bengals was a big moment for them and many on the team credited the importance of the timing—entering the bye week with a victory to build upon. Now, as the team prepares for the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, carrying that momentum is top of mind.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski gave a message to his team after the win against the Bengals: "This is what it could look like if we do this consistently."
Stefanski's team, for the first time all season, had played well in all three phases of the game. The offense was firing on all cylinders, the defense was aggressive in coverage, tackles and takeaways, and special teams didn't suffer a total meltdown.
"I think players understood that and I think guys really looked at it as, wow, that is right. We did do this right. We did correct this from the week before, the week before that. And this is how it all comes together," quarterback Jacoby Brissett said. "All of our plans kind of play off each other, what we do on offense is predicated on what the defense thinks and stuff like that and special teams and so forth. I think guys kinda saw it all come to fruition and hopefully just doing that again."
The importance of that understanding and seeing what a solid game of football could like like for this team is immeasurable. Stefanski used that win as a way to stress the magnitude of communication not just between players on the same side of the ball, but as a unit.
With the Browns having so many close games this season—five of their eight games all within three points or less—playing a full game of complementary football in every phase has proven to be the toughest task, and now is the most important point of emphasis heading out of the bye and onto Miami.
“It's vitally important. It's the greatest team game there is. You need all three sides of the ball. To play these team games to get a team win, you really have to play together," Stefanski said. "I think our team has been in situations where we know if we've fallen short we just needed one more play from this side or one more play from this player or whatever it is. We know the margins are so small in this game. That's why it's so important to play that complementary football and understand that it's going to take all three sides of the ball.”
So as the Browns practiced Wednesday in preparation for Sunday's game against the Dolphins, they did so with that understanding—that the Monday night game against the Bengals has to be where they start from, and keep the momentum going as they aim to play another good game across the board this week.
"We just got to keep it going. I know that week, we had a great week of practice. Every day was a great day. Just have to carry it over to this week. Have a great day today and keep building on top of that," said running back Nick Chubb. “[The Dolphins] have a great offense, very explosive, a lot of great guys over there. Great quarterback, great O-line, great everything. We have to do what we do on offense. That’s score points. That’s the biggest thing. We have to score points and stop them on defense.”
Watch live and local news any time:
Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.
You can also catch News 5 Cleveland on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV NOW, Hulu Live and more. We're also on Amazon Alexa devices. Learn more about our streaming options here.
