3 Cleveland Browns that balled out on offense during Monday Night Football victory

The Cleveland Browns snapped a four-game losing streak by beating the Bengals on MNF. Here are three offensive players that balled out in the big win.

Winning is the elixir to cure all ills. And the Cleveland Browns got a heaping dose of that elixir in their Monday Night showcase against the Cincinnati Bengals. Which was sorely needed because the Browns had an immense amount of ills heading into their primetime contest.

With their backs squarely against the wall, the Browns played, by far, their best game of the 2022 season. In a game that was close early on, Cleveland was able to separate themselves by being the more physical and fundamentally sound team. The offense took a while to get going, but once they did it was off to the races.

The Browns were firing on all cylinders in the second half and proved to be too much for Cincinnati to overcome. Here are three offensive players that shined on MNF.

3 offensive players who balled out on MNF

Offensive standout No. 3: Amari Cooper

Monday night’s game versus Cincinnati did not go according to the game script for Amari Cooper. Anyone that had Cooper throwing an interception before he even caught a pass on their bingo card needs to come forward and accept their prize. But credit to Cooper, he was able to put the unfortunate start behind him and go have himself a stellar game.

The ill-fated interception by Cooper came on the second drive of the night. The eight-year pro was able to put the disastrous turnover behind him and get to work. On the Browns’ fourth possession of the night, Cooper made his presence felt, snagging two receptions for 47 yards. The second of which set the Browns up in the red zone, and the drive ended with Cleveland’s first touchdown of the evening.

Cooper caught all three of his second-half targets, including a four-yard touchdown reception that saw the receiver put cornerback Tre Flowers in a blender on an inside sell-to-back pylon fade route. However, it was Cooper’s last catch of the night, a 53-yard diving reception that will serve as the receiver’s highlight of the night.

In total, Cooper caught five of his seven targets for 131 yards and a touchdown. Week in and week out, Cooper proves to be the WR1 that the Browns have been searching for. Expect more of the same in the games to come.

Offensive standout No. 2: Jacoby Brissett

Jacoby Brissett was in his bag on Monday Night. If someone were to tell you that Brissett was going to flat-out outplay Joe Burrow, there’s no way you would have believed them, and then you would probably demand they take a drug test. But that’s exactly what played out in primetime for the whole world to see.

The Bengals’ defense proved to be a tough test, but the veteran quarterback battled through the rough patch and was able to get the offense rolling. In what was a scoreless game, for what seemed like an eternity, Brissett led the Browns down the field on the team’s fourth possession with four completions to three different receivers. From there it was off to the races.

Brissett completed all six of his second-half pass attempts for 125 yards and a touchdown. The interim signal caller also scored a YOLO rushing touchdown on a pylon dive to put the Browns up by three scores. The rushing TD by Brissett was the first touchdown the Bengals had given up in the second half of any game this season.

In a game the Browns had to have, Brissett was the field general that the team needed him to be. He finished the night completing 17 of his 22 pass attempts for 278 and a touchdown. He also ran the ball six times for 12 yards and a touchdown. Brissett’s rushing total should have been 14 yards or so, but you know…two kneel downs in victory formation will do that to a stat line.

But it wasn’t Brissett’s play on the field that people were talking about directly after the game. It was his audible, ‘I almost got you 55’ that ESPN’s cameras picked up when he was trying to get the Bengals to jump offsides that got most of the attention.

Jacoby Brissett was most definitely in his bag Monday Night.

Offensive standout No. 1: Nick Chubb

Not only is Nick Chubb No. 1 on this list, but the running back is also No. 1 in the hearts of Browns’ fans worldwide. Oh yeah, he is also No. 1 in rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, and a ton of other advanced metrics that all point to what we already know…Nick Chubb is the best running back in all of football.

It must be tremendously frustrating for defenses to face Chubb. Defenses can bottle him up for a drive or two, but in the end, water always finds its level. On Monday Night, Chubb did what Chubb does. He takes a defense’s soul.

In the first quarter, the Bengals’ defense held Chubb to seven yards on three carries. Then in the second quarter, Chubb carried the ball eight times gaining 35 yards, including a wildcat touchdown and a two-point conversion.

In the second half, the Browns leaned heavily on Chubb, as they should have. He tallied 14 totes for 65 yards and a touchdown over the final two-quarters of the contest. Statistically, it wasn’t Chubb’s best game of the season, but it was how he demoralized the Bengals’ defense over the course of the game that sticks out. Running by defenders, through defenders, and even leaping over defenders, Chubb again proved he is the best ball carrier in the NFL.

The defense knows that Chubb is getting the ball, the announcers know that Chubb is getting the ball, and everyone watching the game knows that Chubb is getting the ball. But that does not stop the inevitability that is Nick Chubb. 23 carries for 101 yards and two touchdowns. You know…the usual.