By STEVE KING
FINAL! #CHIvsCLE pic.twitter.com/X3hpN1e1pq
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) September 26, 2021
Early in Sunday’s game against the Bears at FirstEnergy Stadium, after two Browns’ drives into Chicago territory ended on quarterback Baker Mayfield getting sacked on fourth down, my good friend and fellow former Browns beat writer sent me a text.
“Not even Freddie Kitchens made stupid calls like that!,” he wrote.
I was going to contest that statement, but then I thought better of it. It’s not a good idea to agitate an already agitated person.
But I understand his point. For most of the expansion era when the new Browns would do something like that, you would throw your hands in disgust and resign yourself to the fact that this just wasn’t going to be the orange helmets’ day — yet again.
But that was then, and this is now. And now, with these “new” new Browns, you don’t fret about that kind of stuff anymore. You know that these guys are going to get things straightened out and find a way to win.
The Browns did exactly that on Sunday, not just winning but winning big, ragdolling the Bears to the tune of 26-6 before a raucous full house. It would have been more if it hadn’t been for Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski, because of his deep roots in the NFC North from his long time as an assistant coach with the Minnesota Vikings, instructed Mayfield to take the last couple snaps and genuflect at the Chicago 10 to run out the clock instead of trying to score more points.
The 20-point margin of victory in no way, shape or form reflected how one-sided the game was. The Browns completely dominated in all phases, beating — beating up — the physical Bears. That’s what happens when a team, so confident in its own abilities, doesn’t worry.
And that, in turn, keeps its fans from worrying, or at least it should. But don’t you dare tell my friend, because he will know where you got the story and it will just tick him off even more.
DE Myles Garrett (9.26.21)
On the Browns defense’s strong performance today:
“It is awesome seeing everybody getting off and making big plays. It is just like when you are in high schools, everybody is balling and you feel like you can make a play at any time and you feel like you are the star. Everybody wants to feel like that on the field. We are picking for each other, we are working games with each other and helping each other make plays. That is how it is supposed to be. You are supposed to work in tandem, and that is what it looked like today.”
On if his message on Friday was received and if he received more support today:
“I needed to be there myself. There is no excuse that I am getting chipped. I have to go out there and make plays and have to find a way to be effective and produce, as well. They stepped up to the challenge. Knew who was coming in here was a great defense and a budding young quarterback who was hungry. We stepped up to the plate, and we knocked it out of the park.”
On if today’s performance was the best of his NFL career thus far:
“That will be for y’all to tell me. I would say yes until I missed that last sack and gave it to JD (DE Jadeveon Clowney). Me and the statistician are going to have a talk to see if I can get half of that (laughter). It was fun, though. We all on the D line had a great game, and coverage was working, as well.”
On setting the Browns franchise record for sacks in one game:
“It feels good, but knowing that we can be even better. It is tough. That is the worst part about it is had a great game, but there are always going to be the ones you miss or the ones you are close on. Glad to be able to ball out with those boys. Glad to see them stay hungry and go feast, but there is still more to come.”
On if he thinks back to how high his sack total could have been if he capitalized on missed opportunities like the final sack Clowney recorded:
“JOK adding when he is not supposed to and taking half [of a sack] away (laughter). Like I said, guys were hungry and wanted to make plays. He knows he can be a force rushing the passer. He was there with me, and he made plays in the pass game dropping out in coverage and pushing pressure on the quarterback. I think we all did, and that is how it is supposed to look, especially with the guys we have up front and the guys we brought in.”
On if he knew early that the Browns’ defensive gameplan would work and the team would be able to generate pressure:
“After that first possession, I thought so, just seeing how we were getting off of the ball and how the games were working. I knew I flew up the field on the first play thinking it was pass – that is on me. After that, I think we kind of settled in and saw how they planned to use the flow of the game. It kind of came to us easily after the second possession and kind of figured out what they were going to do and how we were going to adjust to that.”
CB Troy Hill on his perspective of DE Myles Garrett’s performance:
“Man, pay that man again. That is the only thing I kept thinking is ‘Pay that man again.’ Go get him some more money at that point. That is dominance at its finest. He makes our job easy back there. You have to love when pass rushers get after it like that. The whole D line was out there. They played together, and they did their thing. I am excited about that.”
READ NEXT: How the Browns got their colors
Key dates ahead Sunday: Oct. 3: Week 4 at Minnesota, 1 p.m. Oct. 10: Week 5 at Los Angeles Chargers, 4:05 p.m. Nov. 2: NFL trade deadline, 4 p.m.
