CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns rallied from a 17-point hole Sunday at Huntington Bank Field and beat the Houston Texans 27-24, with Quinshon Judkins running in a 5-yard touchdown with 53 seconds left and the defense knocking down C.J. Stroud’s final fourth-down throw with one second remaining. The Akron Beacon Journal’s live account of the game reported that the win — Cleveland’s sixth — sends the Browns into their bye week on an upswing instead of a three-game skid.
For most of the first half, there was no sign of a comeback. The Beacon Journal reported that Houston scored on each of its first three possessions: Stroud threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Nico Collins, Ka’imi Fairbairn kicked a 45-yard field goal, and Stroud found Xavier Hutchinson for an 11-yard score and a 17-0 lead with 11:21 left in the second quarter.
The early numbers showed how deep the hole was. The Beacon Journal reported that Houston held a 119-14 edge in total yards and a 6-0 advantage in first downs through two possessions each, and that Cleveland — the only team in the NFL without a score on an opening possession this season, in the Beacon Journal’s account — did not pick up its first first down until a Watson tush-push run with 3:08 left in the first quarter.
Cleveland’s climb back started with an Andre Szmyt 49-yard field goal, then two plays that changed the afternoon, according to the Beacon Journal: Deshaun Watson hit Jerry Jeudy for 65 yards to the Houston 6, and Watson ran the read option in for a touchdown on the next play, cutting the lead to 17-10 with 4:12 left in the half.
The defense took over after halftime. The Beacon Journal reported that Cleveland forced three consecutive three-and-outs to open the second half, and a facemask flag on a Harold Fannin Jr. catch set up a 6-yard counter run by KC Concepcion for the tying touchdown. Szmyt’s 26-yard field goal late in the third quarter capped 20 unanswered points and gave the Browns a 20-17 lead.
Houston was not done. A pass-interference flag on Myles Harden wiped out a Browns interception and gave the Texans the ball at the Cleveland 24, and three plays later Stroud threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Dalton Schultz for a 24-20 Houston lead with 9:12 remaining, according to the Beacon Journal. Szmyt then missed a 54-yard field goal wide left, and a Watson pass skipped off Blake Whiteheart’s hands for an interception — and the Browns still got one more chance.
That chance started at the Texans’ 49 with 1:40 left after a shanked Houston punt, the Beacon Journal reported. A personal foul on Houston’s Kamari Lassiter moved the ball to the 35, Watson hit Fannin for 30 yards to the 5, and Judkins scored on the next play. Houston reached fourth-and-20 at its own 18 in the final seconds before Stroud’s last throw was knocked down.
The result is the one NewsForce247’s morning preview wondered about — see Browns Host Surging Texans Sunday Looking to End Skid Before Bye Week — and it matters in the standings: Cleveland entered the day 5-4 after two straight losses, while Houston had won three of its last four after an 0-4 start, according to the Beacon Journal.
What we know — and what we’re still waiting on: the final score, the scoring sequence and the late-game plays above are confirmed by the Beacon Journal’s live account. The Browns announced during the game that defensive end Derek Barnett was questionable to return with a hamstring injury, and wide receiver Denzel Boston needed help off the field late before walking to the medical tent, according to the Beacon Journal; the team had not issued postgame updates on either player when this story was published.
What happens next is rest. The Browns finally reach their bye week, in the Beacon Journal’s words, before starting a stretch of four consecutive home games — five of their next seven on the lakefront. They will come out of the bye at 6-4, with a comeback win as the last thing anyone remembers.
Photo: Erik Drost, CC BY