In a thrilling matchup on Sunday, the Cleveland Browns stunned the Green Bay Packers with a dramatic last-minute victory, highlighted by a crucial blocked field goal and a game-winning 55-yard kick. Suffice it to say, fans were NOT prepared for such an unexpected deviation. It furthered lauded the Browns’ resilience as they endured a ridiculous amount of penalties.
And perhaps worst of all, as ESPN’s NFL reporter and Packers beat writer Rob Demovsky pointed out, the Browns didn’t lose 14 penalties. That was the most penalties in a game by Cleveland since Week 3 of the 2010 season. Even facing this much adversity, the Browns proved that they know how to seize important opportunities to their advantage.
With under 25 seconds left in regulation, the Packers were clearly poised to leave in front. That set up kicker Brandon McManus for a potential game-winning 43-yard field goal. If it’s successful, we’ll have Green Bay leading 13-10. Shelby Harris had different plans. He batted McManus’s kick down, and Greg Newsome picked it up.
Here, Harris breaks down his approach on the block, describing the necessity of reading the trajectory of the kick.
“You got to look, obviously where they’re kicking the ball. Is the ball going to be tailing to the left, is it going to be tailing to the right? Depending on that, you got to think they’re going to try to make it through the middle,” – Shelby Harris
It was the Browns’ turn to take advantage. Andre Szmyt, who had beaten out incumbent kicker Dustin Hopkins during training camp, drilled a 55-yard field goal as time expired. All Szmyt’s remarkable kick did was win the game—or Cleveland. It shocked the Packers, who came into the game as 7.5-point favorites.
Thinking about his winning kick, Szmyt explained that he focused on his normal routine during the game.
“Like I said, just go back to my process. It got me so far, there’s no need to start changing stuff and abandoning certain things. Get settled into it and just believe and trust.” – Andre Szmyt
This loss was doubly painful for Packers’ head coach Matt LaFleur. He took responsibility for the 14 penalties that cost his team a chance to win.
“One thing that we have to get corrected is, when you have 14 penalties in a game, it’s going to be tough to overcome that,” – Matt LaFleur
LaFleur went on to discuss the urgency for better coaching and players’ discipline within the organization.
“We’ve got to do a much better job of coaching the fundamentals, the details, and then we’ve got to lock in at a higher level in regards to some of the controllable penalties, whether it was false starts or offsides or whatever you have. But ultimately, this is a total team sport. I thought we played well enough defensively to win the game and didn’t do a good enough job on offense and on special teams.” – Matt LaFleur
Defensive player Jeremy Parsons owned up to two offside penalties during one game, saying they were “unacceptable.”
This game has absolutely changed the narrative for the Browns. They shocked the world in being the first underdog of four or more points to win outright in both Weeks 1 and 2 prior to Sunday. Conversely, the Packers need to refocus after this loss, and the penalties are something that needs to be corrected going forward.
The game’s waning minutes were a high point filled with amazing individual talent display, but a low point with much to critique on both sides. The Browns will look to build on this momentum as they head into their next matchup, while the Packers face significant challenges in correcting their mistakes.
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