Cleveland Browns Week 14 studs and duds: Joe Flacco makes history

There's no place like home. The Cleveland Browns lost two games in a row on the road but headed back to Northeast Ohio this weekend to host the Jacksonville Jaguars. That led to a win as they improved to 8-5 on the year as well as 6-1 in Cleveland Browns Stadium.

The game was sloppy with each team turning the ball over several times but when they needed a stop, Cleveland's defense came up big. Their offense also deserves some praise since they were able to put up 31 points with their fourth starting quarterback of the season. Now, let's take some time to look back at the game with these studs and duds.

Cleveland Browns stud: David Njoku, TE

As good as David Njoku has been throughout his career, there’s one thing he hadn’t accomplished before Sunday — multiple touchdowns in the same game. This year, getting into the end zone has been an issue for the Chief as he came into the game with 509 yards on 53 receptions but had just two touchdowns. By the end of the first half, he doubled his touchdown total.

Njoku got the game started on the right foot when he hauled in a 34-yard touchdown on the opening drive. Lined up in a jumbo formation with two extra offensive linemen, Joe Flacco faked a hand-off to Kareem Hunt which fooled the defense. No one went with Njoku who was able to walk in without being touched.

He scored again in the second quarter, this time taking a pass and running it 30 yards to the house. In the first half alone, Njoku had six receptions for 91 yards and two touchdowns. That in itself gave him his second-highest reception total in a single game this season in addition to the most touchdowns he had in one game. He was shut out in the second half but still did enough to deserve praise for the win.

Cleveland Browns stud: Corey Bojorquez, P and Pierre Strong, RB

When a team is playing a backup quarterback, they need help from their defense as well as the special teams. Cleveland has had that all season and while the defense gets a ton of praise, the special teams unit is often overlooked — or at least the punt team is. Cleveland’s seen Dustin Hopkins get plenty of love for his field goals but their punter is having an All-Pro season and that has flown under the radar.

Corey Bojorquez entered this game with an average of 50.2 yards per punt and made that look like nothing in the first quarter. Following the Browns opening drive, the game became all about field position and the Jags nearly had an advantage after pinning the Browns deep and forcing a three-and-out. Bojorquez had to kick it from his own 10 and absolutely drilled a 75-yard punt.

Oftentimes, when a punter does this, the coverage unit is unable to close on the return man. That wasn’t the case thanks to Pierre Strong, Jr. The backup running back chased down Parker Washington, stopping him at the Jacksonville 18 for just a three-yard return.

This was the second time in a row that Strong made a play on punt coverage. He was also the one who initially hit Washington on the first punt when Bojorquez kicked it 57 yards. Washington gained six yards on that return but it could have been worse if Washington didn’t slow him down, allowing Grant Delpit to push him out of bounds.

Bojorquez wound up punting the ball eight times for 412 yards. That's an average of 51.5 while also pinning the defense inside the 20 three times.

Cleveland Browns dud: Geron Christian LT, James Hudson, RT

When an offensive lineman has his name called multiple times in a game, that’s not a good sign. It’s even worse when it happens twice on the same drive. That happened for Geron Christian on Sunday and each time it was for a penalty that negated a first-down.

Jacksonville had just cut the lead to 14-7 thanks to a fumble from Amari Cooper and the Browns offense was in need of a positive drive to flip the momentum back. They initially thought they were moving it when Joe Flacco hit David Njoku on a screen pass on second-and-two for 10 yards. That one was called back though with Christian lined up wrong.

They still fought back despite losing the yards and on third-and-two, Kareem Hunt ran it for just enough yards to move the sticks. They didn’t get to move them despite his run since Christian was flagged once again. This time, it was a hold that moved them back 10 yards. An incomplete pass on third-and-12 led to another punt.

While Christian struggled on one drive, James Hudson found himself with a few issues throughout the day. Starting in place of Dawand Jones, Hudson was flagged three times for a false start, including one on a third-and-one. It's hard to be too rough on them considering the Browns are down to their fourth and fifth tackles but it still wasn't an ideal day from either.

Cleveland Browns stud: Martin Emerson, Jr., CB

With a 7-0 lead, the Cleveland offense just had to punt on their second possession following a three-and-out. This could have flipped some of the momentum, especially if Jacksonville was able to move the ball into scoring range. It looked for a while that was going to be the case as well, with the Jags moving the ball 40 yards.

A false start pushed them back and they eventually had a third-and-nine from the Cleveland 44. Trevor Lawrence had a matchup he liked with Zay Jones being covered by Martin Emerson. The wideout had a step but Emerson ended up closing the gap and broke up the long pass, forcing a punt. Unfortunately, the offense had another three-and-out but they were still up 7-0 thanks to Emerson.

When the Browns took the field again, Emerson continued to show out. The Jags were forced to punt after a three-and-out with Emerson again forcing the kick. This time, it was a third-and-eight and Lawrence hit Jones but he managed just two yards before Emerson took him out with a punishing tackle.

He wasn’t done there either as he continued to dominate the first half. Cleveland had just taken a 14-0 lead with David Njoku’s second touchdown grab and the Jags were trying to get back into the game. Again, Lawrence aired it out for Jones but Emerson came down with it for the interception, getting his team the ball back at their own 25.

Emerson again picked off Lawrence with under two minutes to go. Cleveland had just surrendered seven points following a fumble from Amari Cooper. They even had to punt it away thanks to two penalties negating first downs. This interception was huge since it took away the confidence Jacksonville’s offense was starting to feel. For Emerson, it was his first multi-pick game in the NFL and increased his total on the season to four.

Cleveland Browns stud: Joe Flacco, QB

Just as he did last week, Joe Flacco led the Browns down the field in a hurry for an opening-drive touchdown. The veteran threw for 66 yards on 4-of-4 passing — similar to the stat line he had against the Rams on that first drive. He hit Jerome Ford twice for 18 yards and found Cedric Tillman for a 14-yarder as well before capping the drive off with a 34-yard touchdown to David Njoku.

That pass came on their lone third down of the drive, which was a third-and-one following an eight-yard reception from Ford. Cleveland caught the Jaguars off guard with a jumbo formation featuring six offensive linemen. With Michael Dunn as an eligible tackle and Nick Harris at fullback, Kevin Stefanski dialed up a play-action pass and no one was anywhere close to Njoku.

From there, the Browns had three consecutive three-and-outs but the defense kept forcing punts. Flacco then got back into a rhythm when he hit Amari Cooper for a 17-yard gain to end the first quarter and started the second with a dart to Elijah Moore for 20 yards. Again, he capped off this drive with a touchdown to a wide-open Njoku who took it in from 30 yards out.

Not all was simple as the offense had a few turnovers in this one with two being charged to Flacco. First was a pick where he threw the ball to where Cedric Tillman should be — but Tillman wasn’t there after running into a defender. He lost a fumble in the second half as well, leading to a touchdown that made it 21-14.

Despite those issues, Flacco came up when needed. The best example was a fourth-and-three in the fourth quarter. With no desire to punt the ball back to the Jaguars, Cleveland went for it on fourth-and-three and Flacco hit David Bell in stride. Bell then took it 41 yards to the house for his first career touchdown.

Flacco ended with 311 yards and three touchdowns. He even set franchise history in the process with his three scoring passes going for more than 30 yards apiece. No Cleveland quarterback had ever accomplished this feat before Flacco did on Sunday. It was a day to remember as he secured his first win with the Browns.

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