Coach's Corner: Worst call in Week 6 from Browns coaches
The Cleveland Browns entered Sunday’s matchup against the San Francisco 49ers as 9.5-point underdogs but spoiled the 49ers perfect season with a 19-17 win over the NFC West front runners.
Cleveland’s top-rated defense was once again the talk of the NFL as they held San Francisco to just 215 total offensive yards.
Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson was out again in Week 6 due to a left shoulder contusion, paving the way for Temple Owl great PJ Walker to get his first start as a Cleveland Brown.
While the Browns were able to pull off a 4th quarter victory from the leg of their kicker Dustin Hopkins and a missed field goal by the 49ers, there was one play that could have altered the course of the entire game.
With under 14:00 minutes remaining in the 4th quarter, the Browns called a timeout on 4th and 1 from Cleveland’s 43-yard line.
The Browns special teams unit came out with Corey Boroquez lined up to punt when Harrison Bryant motioned under center, as he had done earlier in the game on the Kareem Hunt touchdown run, in an attempt to get the defense to jump.
The Browns let the play clock hit zero and instead took the 5-yard delay of game penalty.
The unnecessary use of a timeout by Kevin Stefanski at the beginning of the 4th quarter could have been catastrophic for the Browns, considering the possibility of not having a timeout to ice Jake Moody’s potential game-winning field goal with seconds left in the game.
At the end of the day, the Cleveland Browns and their defense came away with a signature win against one of the top teams in the NFL despite being without multiple offensive linemen, their starting quarterback, and their franchise running back.