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CLEVELAND − This time, it was someone else’s defender who fell down, not the Browns. This time, Amari Cooper caught the pass.
This time, the Browns were able to flip the recent script, beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23-17 in overtime to snap a two-game losing streak. The game-winner came on a 3-yard touchdown run by Nick Chubb with 19 seconds left in overtime.
The Browns got the ball to the Buccaneers 3 when Amari Cooper beat Tampa cornerback Carlton Davis for a 45-yard catch-and-run two plays before. Davis fell down which left Cooper, who dropped a big fourth-down pass in the fourth quarter, wide open for the easy catch from Jacoby Brissett.
To get to overtime, though, the Browns needed some late-regulation magic. Some serious late-game magic.
David Njoku made a sensational one-handed catch in the end zone on a fourth-and-10 play from the Buccaneers’ 12 with 32 seconds remaining in regulation. That allowed the Browns to tie the game at 17-17 and force overtime.
Brissett was 23-of-37 for 210 yards with a touchdown and an interception on a end-of-half Hail Mary. He’s scheduled to hand the starting job over to Deshaun Watson on Monday, when Watson is to return from his 11-game suspension for personal conduct policy violations.
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Brissett and the Brown outdueled Tampa Bay’s Tom Brady, who may have been making his own final appearance in Cleveland. The 45-year-old Brady, Brissett’s former New England teammate, was 29-of-46 for 249 yards with two touchdowns.
Brady guided the Buccaneers to the Cleveland side of the 50 on the first overtime possession, but a holding penalty torpedoed the drive. He was sacked by Garrett on third-and-9 from the Tampa 31 on the second possession to set up the Browns’ winning drive.Browns WR Anthony Schwartz makes an appearance … in the end zone
Anthony Schwartz had been essentially absent from the Browns’ offensive game plan since the season opener. Over the nine games between the opener at Carolina and Sunday’s game, he had just one catch and saw his offensive snaps diminish significantly.
That changed on the Browns’ first possession. Schwartz didn’t just make a play, he made a huge play.
On first down from the Buccaneers 31, Brissett handed the ball off to Kareem Hunt going to the left. Hunt, though, flipped the ball to Schwartz coming back around to the right.
There was no one, really, in Schwartz’s way. Brissett took care of the one, Antoine Winfield Jr., and Schwartz scored to give the Browns a 7-0 lead with 4:15 into the game.
