Takeaways from the Browns’ 33-32 loss to the Chiefs game Aug. 26 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City:
Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski chose to play his starters for the first quarter. Chiefs head coach Andy Reid decided to give two-time Super Bowl winning quarterback Patrick Mahomes and other starters the day off, so the final score isn’t a true picture of how the Browns and Chiefs compare.
That being said, the Browns showed reasons on both sides of the ball to be excited about what they accomplished in training camp and the four preseason games. On the down side, Cade York missed another chance to kick a game-winning field goal. This time his kick from 43 yards with 57 seconds to play was blocked.
*Deshaun Watson played the first quarter and put two touchdowns on the board. He completed five of 10 passes for 92 yards and one touchdown.
Three passes by Watson stood out. On the Browns’ second offensive play, Watson stepped up confidently and threw a dart, hitting Donovan Peoples-Jones in stride for a 21-yard gain.
A takeaway by the defense gave the Browns the ball on the Kansas City 16. The Browns moved the ball to the 10 and then Watson threw a fade for a touchdown to tight end David Njoku in the back right side of the end zone, just like they do in practice every day.
The Browns got the ball one more time in the first quarter, and one play was a display of what the coaches expect to see from Watson when games start to count. The Chiefs put on a pass rush and flushed Watson out to the left. As Watson ran forward, the Kansas City defenders didn’t know whether to stay in coverage or move up to stop Watson. They chose the latter, and Watson made them pay with a deep pass near the left sideline to Amari Cooper for a 53-yard gain. The pass set up a two-yard touchdown run by John Kelly.
• York kicked a 40-yard field goal with 4:19 to play to move the Browns ahead, 32-30. The kick was worth much more than three points the way preseason has gone for him. But then, once again, he failed in the clutch. The kick that was blocked with less than a minute to play and the game on the line seemed to be going to the left.
“I saw it not go through the uprights,” York told reporters after the game. “That’s all I saw.”
York badly missed his first attempt on an extra point wide left after Thornhill’s touchdown. The Chiefs were called for a running into the kicker penalty. The penalty appeared to occur on York’s follow through and not affect the kick. York was shaken up on the play and limped off the field with a shin injury.
It was a terrible start for the second-year kicker after missing two field goal attempts in the final two minutes with a chance to beat the Eagles on Aug. 18. He also missed a field goal attempt in the Hall of Fame game and one against the Commanders.
York shook off the injury and was three-for-three on PATs before the go-ahead field goal. He woud not use the shin injury as an excuse for the blocked kick.
“It ended up being fine,” he said. “It was just scary when it happened. I ended up kicking through it.”
York said he doesn’t want any pats on the back or words of encouragement from coaches or teammates.
“To be honest, I don’t want any pats on the back,” York said. “I hate pity. Pity ticks me off. I want to be a weapon. I know how good I am. That’s been the most frustrating thing the last month. I’m struggling with that.
Real games start soon. I want to take a running start into the season and just start coming through all the time.”
The blocked kick puts more pressure on the Browns to resolve their kicking issues before the season opener Sept. 10 against the Bengals.
“I’ll talk to all the players,” Stefanski told reporters after the game. “Certainly, I’ll talk to Cade. He wants to make it. He wants to come through with his team. That’s why he works so hard every day in practice.”
All NFL rosters must be trimmed to 53 by 4 p.m. Aug. 29. General manager Andrew Berry appeared on the television broadcast of the game with the Chiefs and expressed strong support for York. But that was before the blocked kick. Berry owes it to the other players on the team to at least look at the waiver wire for another kicker.
• Nick Chubb did not play in the game, as expected. The star running back hasn’t played in the preseason since the first summer game of 2019. Jerome Ford did not play because he suffered a hamstring injury Aug. 8 and is still unable to practice.
The Browns are trying to lock in a third running back, or maybe a second back to begin the season if Ford isn’t ready for the opener. Jordan Wilkins, a veteran with five years experience with the Colts signed by the Browns earlier this month, hurt his chances by fumbling two handoff exchanges from Watson. The Browns lost the ball the first time. The turnover resulted in a Kansas City field goal. Wilkins recovered the second fumble.
• The Browns picked off three passes and returned two of them for touchdowns. Juan Thornhill, the former Chiefs safety now starting at the same position for the Browns, picked off a pass from Shane Buechele and returned the ball 34 yards for a touchdown. Buechele was on the Kansas City practice squad last season.
Rodney McLeod intercepted a pass from Buechele that cornerback M.J. Emerson deflected the next time the Chiefs had the ball. Before the half ended, Caleb Biggers, scrapping to make the 53-man roster or at least the practice squad, intercepted a pass from Blaine Gabbert and returned it 27 yards for a touchdown and a 29-16 Browns lead at halftime.
Not to dismiss the alert plays made by the Browns defensive backs, but neither Buechele nor Gabbert will see the field in the regular season unless Mahomes is injured.
• Sometimes life isn’t fair. Jakeem Grant missed all last season with a torn Achilles. The Browns return specialist returned the opening kick against the Chiefs and suffered what appears to be a season-ending knee injury… Linebacker Jordan Kunaszyk suffered a knee injury and did not return…Cornerback Denzel Ward was knocked out of the game and is in concussion protocol.
