Davone Bess gets some redemption after disaster in Kansas City
By Peter Smith
Nov 3, 2013; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns wide receiver Davone Bess (15) scores his second touchdown of the game as Baltimore Ravens cornerback Corey Graham (24) defends during the second quarter at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
After the game against the Kansas City Chiefs, perhaps the worst of his career, Cleveland Browns wide receiver Davone Bess did not shy away from questions, but basically came away sounding like a coach. He needed to look at the tape and work to get better. Evidently, that came in the form of extra work on his hands after practice. When the opportunities arose against the Baltimore Ravens, Bess answered the bell, caught the ball and got the Browns into the end zone.
Against the Chiefs, Bess had a fumble on a punt return against the Chiefs that they were able to recover. The Browns were down at the time and it made the field just too long for them to get back into the game. Bess also was credited with an astounding four drops, which had him in the league lead. Three of the drops were pretty bad while the fourth was not really on him, but only served to make his day look that much worse.
Bess only had two passes thrown to him. Both of them were for touchdowns. The first came in a crucial situation as the Browns faced 4th-and-goal from the 1 yard line. Campbell was able to find Bess in the end zone for the touchdown and allow the Browns to take a 7-0 lead.
A better play was later in the game when the Browns were threatening to score again at the 20 yard line. Campbell found Bess on a pass with some space to operate. Bess kept moving the ball down the field before he encountered a defender, performed a shake and bake move that left Lardarius Webb crumpled on the ground as he ran to the right. He picked up a block and was able to get into the end zone in the right corner of the end zone which enabled the Browns to go up 14-3 at that point in the game.
In the fourth quarter, which is when Bess had the final drop of the game on fourth down, which killed the chances of the Browns. The Browns were faced with a fourth down play in which they needed a yard to go with about 2:30 left to go in the game, but were playing with a lead this time. Head Coach Rod Chudzinski took a time out after letting the clock run down and sent the offense back out there. Jason Campbell took the snap, dropped back and did not see anything. He rolled out to his right to extend the play and got rid of the pass and threw it back to the middle of the field and found Bess in almost exactly the same manner as he did last week against the Chiefs on the fourth down play. This time, Bess caught the ball and extended the drive he was unable to secure last week. The situation was almost identical, but he came up and made a big play.
Bess had a terrible game against Kansas City. It could have very well been the worst of his professional career, which prompted fans suggesting he be cut, benched, or worse. A week later, Bess did not have a ton of opportunities, but came through in a big way when he had opportunities. Three targets, three catches, two touchdowns, and a first down. This has not been a great season for Bess, but he had a good day against the Ravens.