Cleveland's fourth-quarter habit sets up a first-place trip to Pittsburgh
Cleveland beat Tennessee 27-24 on a walk-off field goal, with Deshaun Watson leading another late drive. The Browns travel to Pittsburgh on November 1 with both teams at 5-2 and first place in the AFC North at stake.
- Cleveland beat Tennessee 27-24 in Week 7 on a 32-yard game-winning field goal by Andre Szmyt. m:…0054
- Every Browns win this season has been secured by a go-ahead drive in the fourth quarter. m:…6571 m:…1699
- Deshaun Watson threw for 308 yards, his first 300-yard passing game with the Browns, and marched the offense 55 yards in under a minute to set up the winner. m:…0054 m:…6571
- Cleveland rushed for a season-high 183 yards against Tennessee, with two rushing touchdowns from Judkins and Sampson and one from Watson and Concepcion. m:…6571
- The Steelers host the Browns in Week 8 with both teams at 5-2 and first place in the AFC North on the line; Cleveland won the Week 3 meeting 27-24. m:…1699
The finish
The Cleveland Browns beat the Tennessee Titans 27-24 in Week 7, with Andre Szmyt converting a 32-yard field goal to win the game. The result moved Cleveland to 5-2 and kept the Browns at the top of the AFC North. m:…0054 m:…6571
The drive that set it up was fast. Quarterback Deshaun Watson moved the offense 55 yards in under a minute to put Szmyt in range, capping a game in which Watson threw for 308 yards, his first 300-yard passing game with the Browns. m:…6571 m:…0054
Watson has now engineered a fourth-quarter or game-winning drive in every Browns victory this season, and he became only the third quarterback since the 1970 merger to lead a game-winning drive in each of his team's first five wins of a season. m:…1699 m:…0054
A pattern, not a single escape
Every Browns win this season has been secured by a go-ahead drive in the fourth quarter, a run the team itself frames as growing confidence in late-game situations. The ground game supplied the platform against Tennessee: Cleveland tallied a season-high 183 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns, with Quinshon Judkins and Dylan Sampson combining for 141 rushing yards and two touchdowns. m:…6571
Watson and receiver KC Concepcion Jr. added to that rushing attack, combining for 42 yards on six carries with one touchdown. Concepcion's 129 receiving yards, all in the first half, rank eighth most in a game by a Browns rookie, and Denzel Ward recorded the 20th interception of his career. m:…6571 m:…0054
The rushing production runs deeper than one game. Quinshon Judkins recorded 96 rushing yards and two touchdowns against Tennessee, and Watson has 215 rushing yards through the first seven weeks of the season, the third most among quarterbacks in the NFL per ESPN. Concepcion has added 34 rushing yards on nine attempts this season, giving Cleveland a set of ball carriers beyond its backfield. m:…0054 m:…6571
The pattern has a cost the staff is open about. Cleveland has been outscored in the first quarter in six of seven games this season and has not scored in the first quarter in four of seven. m:…6571
The shape of Cleveland's season is now clear from those two sets of numbers together: outscored early in six of seven games, yet 5-2 overall, because every win has arrived on a fourth-quarter drive. That combination explains both the late-game confidence the team cites and the concern underneath it, since a team that repeatedly needs a late drive is always one stalled drive from a different result. m:…6571
What is at stake in Pittsburgh
The Steelers host the Browns in Week 8 with first place in the AFC North on the line, both teams entering at 5-2. Cleveland won the first meeting between the teams this season, 27-24 in Week 3. m:…1699
Pittsburgh brings its own consistent producer into the rematch: Jaylen Warren has recorded 125 or more scrimmage yards in four games this season. The Week 8 meeting therefore pairs Cleveland's late-game record against a Pittsburgh offense that has moved the ball steadily all year. m:…1699
Cleveland travels to Pittsburgh on November 1 looking to remain in first place in the division and sweep the season series. A team that has won only late will get its clearest test yet of whether it can also start fast. m:…6571
What is still unresolved
- Whether Cleveland can fix its first-quarter scoring before Pittsburgh.
- Whether the late-drive run continues against a 5-2 Steelers team.
- How the division race shifts if the Week 3 result is reversed in Week 8.
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