Alan Kornspan
Believeland Media
The Cleveland Browns took a 3-0 lead over the Dallas Cowboys early in the first quarter at Huntington Bank Field on the shores of Lake Erie.
However, unfortunately for the home town fans, that would be the only time the Browns would lead in the contest.
After the Browns took the early lead, the Cowboys answered quickly, and then did not look back on their way to a dominant 33-17 victory.
In the post-game press conference, Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said that he was disappointed in how the Browns performed against the Cowboys.
However, Stefanski was optimistic about getting things turned around for next week's game against Jacksonville.
“The good news is we have a game next week down in Jacksonville,” said Stefanski.
“We have to get back at it, we got to take a look at the tape, we have to own it, we got to figure out ways to do better.”
“There was a lot that was not good enough, that's me, that's our coaches, we'll get it fixed.”
In particular, Stefanski mentioned that the Browns had too many penalties and that the offensive line needs to do better at protecting the quarterback.
Although they have a lot to improve on, field goal kicker Dustin Hopkins continues to be a bright spot for the Browns.
Hopkins got the Browns on the scoreboard first when he connected on a 51-yard field goal with 9:33 left in the first quarter.
After the Browns took the early lead, on the next drive the Cowboys came right back to regain the lead on a 21-yard touchdown pass from Dak Prescott to Brandon Cooks with 6:55 left in the first quarter.
The score remained 7-3 until the Cowboys put together an 11 play 78-yard drive which culminated with a 3-yard touchdown run by former Ohio State Buckeyes star running back, Ezekiel Elliot.
Leading by 11 points, the Cowboys added a 57-yard field goal by Brandon Aubrey with 2:06 left in the first half to take a 17-3 lead.
Aubrey then added a 40-yard field goal with 51 seconds left in the half to give the Cowboys a 20-3 lead heading into halftime.
The Browns had a rough start to the season in the first half as they only amassed one first down.
Statistically, the Browns were outplayed both on offense and defense in the first half. In fact, the story of the first half statistically was quarterback play.
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott had a 104.5 passer rating in the first half as he was 14-21 for 156 yards and a touchdown. In contrast, Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson had a first half passer rating of 25.7 as he was 7-15 for 36 yards.
As the second half started, the Cowboys picked up where they left off in the first half.
After the Browns went three and out to start the half, the Cowboys went up 27-3 when former Texas Christian University star and 2022 USFL MVP, KaVontae Turpin returned a punt for a touchdown with 12:59 left in the third quarter.
The Browns then responded with a 12 play drive, going 75 yards for a touchdown. The Browns scored when Watson found Jerry Jeudy open in the end zone for a six yard touchdown pass to make the score 27-10.
The Cowboys added a 50-yard field goal by Aubrey, his third of the contest, to go up 30-10 with 1:27 left in the third quarter.
Aubrey then added his fourth field goal of the game with 11:51 left in the game to put the Cowboys ahead 33-10.
The Browns made the final score 33-17 when former University of Cincinnati star, Jerome Ford, scored on a two yard touchdown run in the last minute of the game.
The Browns will next travel to Jacksonville to take on the Jaguars next Sunday at 1pm EST.
Comments