Cleveland Browns season continues downward spiral in loss to Buffalo Bills
DETROIT — The Browns didn't let the Buffalo Bills rack up a bunch of touchdowns like they did a week earlier against the Miami Dolphins. They still managed to give up a bunch of points.
Although the Dolphins failed to score on six of their first seven possessions, the Bills used seven consecutive scoring drives to run past the Browns in a 31-23 win inside their temporary home of Detroit's Ford Field. That burst allowed Buffalo to turn a 10-3 Cleveland lead early in the second quarter into a 31-16 margin with 1:56 remaining.
The Browns did pull within eight with 19 seconds when Jacoby Brissett hit Donovan Peoples-Jones for a 5-yard touchdown. They nearly recovered the onside kick after that, but Ronnie Harrison Jr. couldn't quite pull it in before the Bills knocked it out of bounds.
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It was a death by 1,000 cuts for the Browns, who only allowed two Bills touchdowns. Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen went 18-of-27 passing for 197 yard with just one touchdown.
However, Tyler Bass made all six of his field goals for the Bills. Buffalo also rushed for 172 net yards, with both Devin Singletary and James Cook running for 86 yards apiece on 29 combined carries.
The Bills were forced to dig themselves out of more than five feet of snow on Saturday to fly to Detroit after Western New York was hammered by a massive snowstorm late in the week. That led to the game being moved out of Orchard Park, N.Y., to Ford Field.
The game drew 52,146, with a healthy mix of both fanbases. That's despite tickets not going on sale until Friday afternoon.
The move indoors also gave the Buffalo offense, top two in the NFL in several categories, a dry and fast track with which to work. Once the Bills got settled in, they went to work, capitalizing on a Browns defense that has now been run over in back-to-back losses to AFC East powers.
Cleveland (3-7) is left to look at a season that's careening away. The Browns return home next week to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who are NFC South leaders despite a 5-5 record.
The following week, Deshaun Watson is scheduled to return from his 11-game suspension and start at Houston on Dec. 4.
Kevin Stefanski's opening drive script again masterful for Browns
The Browns certainly can draw up plays to get themselves off to a fast start. For the second consecutive week, they turned the opening possession into a 7-0 lead.
This time, it was a nine-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a beautifully thrown 25-yard touchdown pass from Brissett to Amari Cooper. It was one of two throws to Cooper on the drive, the other being a 16-yard completion on third-and-11 from the Bills 32.
Cooper's third-down catch was one of two third-and-11 conversions for the Browns on the drive. Brissett also took off for a 22-yard run from the Browns 41 earlier in the drive.
Browns defense shows up for first quarter-and-a-half
A week after Miami scorched the Browns in a 39-17 win in South Florida, Cleveland's defense made life more difficult for the potent Buffalo offense. At least, that was the case early in the game.
The Bills didn't pick up a first down until their fourth possession, when Allen hit Dawson Knox for an 11-yard gain on a third-and-10 play from their own 48. Still, the Browns were able to bow up a bit to hold Buffalo to a second Bass field goal, this one a 36-yarder, to keep Cleveland in front 10-6.
Earlier in the half, Buffalo started at the Browns 32 after a long Nyheim Hines punt return. They gained eight yards on three plays before Bass kicked a 42-yard field goal to make it 7-3 Browns.
Cleveland had a 210-134 edge in total yards at halftime. Buffalo, though, had a 13-10 lead on the scoreboard.
Kevin Stefanski gets cute in red zone, and Browns don't get TD
The Browns had a chance to get off to a great start. Their third possession, early in the second quarter, reached the Buffalo 8, where they had a first-and-goal situation.
On first down, though, coach Kevin Stefanski called a direct snap to Nick Chubb, with Brissett motioning to the right into a receiver position. The play resulted in a 6-yard loss, and set the Browns back for the rest of the possession, which ended with a Cade York 32-yard field goal for a 10-3 lead.
The Browns weren't helped when second- and third-down passes into the end zone went off the hands of tight ends. The first was a laser off Harrison Bryant's hands in the front of the end zone, and the second was off a wide-open Pharaoh Brown in the middle of the end zone.
Browns QB Jacoby Brissett's fumbled snap gives Buffalo momentum
The Browns lost center Ethan Pocic to a knee injury two plays into the game. That put Hjalte Froholdt at center for the remainder of the game, and the snaps became an issue after that point.
The biggest momentum change of them all came midway through the second quarter after the Browns reached the Bills 47, where they had second-and-3. Brissett got under center, but couldn't come up with the snap, which Buffalo's Matt Milano recovered.
The Bills turned that into a field goal to pull within 10-6.
Bills WR Stefon Diggs gets free and Buffalo gets the lead for good
There were two things the Browns could say for most of the first half. One was that they were leading, the other was that Bills star receiver Stefon Diggs hadn't really hurt them.
That changed on Buffalo's last drive of the first half. Diggs had his first two catches of the game for 33 combined yards.
The first was a 28-yard gain to the Browns 29. The second was a wide-open 5-yard touchdown catch in the back of the end zone where there was absolutely no defender near him with 14 seconds remaining.
That gave Buffalo the lead for the first time, as well as for good, at 13-10.
Bills run over Browns in third quarter with Devin Singletary, James Cook to open it up
It was the Buffalo running game, not the passing game, that really helped it to open things up in the third quarter. The Bills outscored the Browns 9-0 in the quarter, with the lone touchdown being a 5-yard Devin Singletary touchdown run to make it 22-10 Buffalo.
At halftime, the Bills had 56 rushing yards on 13 carries. In the third quarter alone, they had 72 yards.
The quarter was capped by a 29-yard James Cook run that set Buffalo up for a 49-yard Bass field goal to push the lead out to 25-10.
Browns kicker Cade York has another field goal blocked
York continued a recent trend that started right before the bye when he had his third field goal try blocked late in the third quarter. This time, it was a 34-yard field goal attempt blocked by Buffalo's DaQuan Jones.
Had York been able to convert the field goal, it would've pulled the Browns within 22-13. Instead, the block turned into a Bass field goal and a 15-point Bills lead.
York also had a 60-yard field goal blocked in Week 7 at Baltimore that could've tied the score. He also had 53-yard kick blocked the following week against Cincinnati.
Contact Chris at ceasterling@theabeaconjournal.com.
On Twitter: @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns can't outscore Bills, continue downward spiral in 2022
