Packer Central

What’s Packers-Browns Score? Browns Stun Packers 13-10

The Green Bay Packers (2-0), coming off two impressive victories, and Cleveland Browns (0-2) will battle on Sunday at Huntington Bank Field. Follow along all day for updates.
Bill Huber|
Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs runs with the ball as Browns linebacker Jerome Baker (17) tries to make the tackle.
Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs runs with the ball as Browns linebacker Jerome Baker (17) tries to make the tackle. | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

In this story:

Green Bay Packers

The undefeated Green Bay Packers and winless Cleveland Browns will battle on Sunday at Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland. Can Jordan Love and the Packers make enough plays against the Myles Garrett-led Browns defense to improve to 3-0?

Follow along all day for updates.

Final Score: Browns 13, Packers 10

Fourth Quarter

Browns 13, Packers 10 (0:00 remaining)

Andre Szmyt kicked a 55-yard field goal as time expired and the Packers have been stunned by the Browns.

Packers 10, Browns 10 (0:21 remaining)

Starting with Savion Williams’ kickoff return to the 40, a defensive penalty and surviving Josh Jacobs’ fumble and officiating review, Brandon McManus walked out for a 43-yard field goal to potentially win the game. Instead, Shelby Harris blocked the field goal and Greg Newsome scooped up the ball and returned it to the 47.

Packers 10, Browns 10 (3:01 remaining)

Set up at Green Bay’s 4, Quinshon Judkins bounced off the pile and found some daylight for the tying touchdown.

Packers 10, Browns 3 (3:08 remaining)

On third-and-3, Jordan Love threw it right to safety Grant Delpit. His 25-yard return gave the Browns a first-and-goal at the 4. Suddenly, the Packers 3-0 start is on thin ice.

Packers 10, Browns 3 (3:42 remaining)

A couple defensive breakdowns, some shoddy tackle and two questionable penalty calls on Green Bay’s secondary gave the Browns a first-and-goal at the 1. But a chop-block penalty on first down put the brakes on that, and the Browns had to settle for a 35-yard field goal.

Javon Bullard, who made a superb play on first down, was shaken up when he collided with Quay Walker on third down.

Packers 10, Browns 0 (9:26 remaining)

It didn’t mean points, but Jordan Love’s 34-yard deep strike to Matthew Golden was critical, considering it was third-and-8 from the 4. Love’s two swing passes to Josh Jacobs sailed over Jacobs’ head, so the Packers had to punt. Still, the completion to Golden flipped the field position. If only Golden could have stayed inbounds.

Packers 10, Browns 0 (11:29 remaining)

On third-and-1 and the Browns going nowhere fast, they rolled the dice but Joe Flacco’s bomb landed in the middle of nowhere because of Quay Walker’s blitz. They converted on fourth-and-1, though, as Quinshon Judkins’ run was better than Isaiah McDuffie’s tackle. It didn’t matter, though. On third-and-10, Cedric Tillman made a sensational catch on a deep pass but got open by pushing Keisean Nixon in the face.

Third Quarter

Packers 10, Browns 0 (0:00 remaining)

With the final seconds of the quarter ticking away, the Packers snapped the ball on third-and-1. That was fine. Nobody was open, though, and Jordan Love was sacked for a loss of 11.

Packers 10, Browns 0 (1:12 remaining)

Green Bay’s defense has been great but Cleveland’s offense isn’t helping matters. On third-and-4, Joe Flacco should have hit rookie receiver Isaiah Bond for a gain of about 20 but the ball was too high and went through Bond’s fingertips.

Packers 10, Browns 0 (3:23 remaining)

Finally, the Packers put together a sustained drive. It all started on second-and-18 following a 3-yard loss by Savion Williams and an ineligible-downfield penalty on left tackle Rasheed Walker. A quick screen to Josh Jacobs gained 31, with key blocks by Matthew Golden and Walker and Jacobs breaking one tackle. Next, on third-and-1, Jacobs launched himself forward on a toss for the necessary yard. Emanuel Wilson broke a tackle for a 9-yard run on third-and-3, and Jordan Love threaded the ball to Dontayvion Wicks on third-and-7, with Wicks making the contested catch, slipping a tackle and gaining 16 to the 3. Finally, on third-and-goal from the 3, Love booted to his right, pump-faked and froze the defense. John FitzPatrick, who served as a blocker to start the drive, got lost in the middle of the end zone for the touchdown.

With Tucker Kraft questionable on Friday, FitzPatrick – known as a blocker – was asked about his play as a receiver.

“I think it’s showcase when those opportunities do come and then in practice, even though you might not be the first read on a play, run hard, run fast and if the ball does come your way, make that play. That’s what I do every day at practice, whether it comes to me or not. I’m running the route like I’m going to get the ball and trying to win on that route, whether it’s front side or back side. I think that just translates to once I do get it in the game, just be ready to go.”

Packers 3, Browns 0 (11:04 remaining)

Rashan Gary beat two blockers for a third-and-8 sack to force a three-and-out punt.

Packers 3, Browns 0 (12:32 remaining)

Green Bay’s self-inflicted wounds continued. On third-and-1, Jorgan Morgan – now playing left guard as part of a shuffled offensive line – was guilty of his third false start of the game. So, rather than a chance for an easy first round, Love was sacked by Maliek Collins.

Injury updates: In Week 2, right tackle Zach Tom (oblique) and left guard Aaron Banks (groin) were inactive. Both players started on Sunday. Tom aggravated the injury on the first play of the game and Banks was sidelined for the start of the second half by, you guessed it, a groin injury. So, the Packers started the half with Rasheed Walker at left tackle, Morgan at left guard, Elgton Jenkins at center, Sean Rhyan at right guard and Anthony Belton at right tackle.

Halftime

Packers 3, Browns 0

The Packers led 3-0, the expected defensive slugfest playing out exactly as everyone thought. Jordan Love is 10-of-13 passing for 65 yards but the downfield passing game, so prevalent in the first two games, has been nonexistent.

Browns quarterback Joe Flacco is 11-of-16 for 87 yards but Rashan Gary has a third-down sack, Xavier McKinney has an end-of-half interception and Quay Walker has seven tackles.

The Packers, who have a 5-minute edge in time of possession on a hot day, will get the ball to start the second half.

Second Quarter

Packers 3, Browns 0 (0:00 remaining)

Joe Flacco moved the Browns into field-goal range when, on third-and-6, Xavier McKinney missed a tackle and Jerome Ford turned a swing pass into a first down. However, guard Wyatt Teller was flagged for a suspect holding call against Colby Wooden. Moments later, on fourth-and-8, the Browns turned down a 61-yard field goal and Flacco’s deep shot was intercepted by Xavier McKinney.

Jordan Love took a knee to run out the clock.

Packers 3, Browns 0 (2:02 remaining)

Everything is so hard against this Browns defense. The Packers had a nice drive going but Malik Heath was flagged for a false start, setting off a chain of events that included Alex Wright beating Jordan Morgan for one sack and Myles Garrett beating Rasheed Walker for another sack on third-and-22.

On the opening third-and-4, the Packers went fast in hopes of catching the Browns with 12 men on the field. Love was sacked but coach Matt LaFleur won the challenge to give the Packers a first down. On the next third down, a third-and-6, Love fired one to the right to Romeo Doubs, who shook Pro Bowler Denzel Ward at the catch point for a catch-and-run gain of 16. On the third third down, Myles Garrett was offside on a third-and-6 incompletion. On the mulligan, Love faked the handoff to Josh Jacobs, defensive end Isaiah McGuire chased Jacobs, and Love took off around the right end with the help of Tucker Kraft for 10 and into field-goal range. The false start by Heath was the beginning of the end.

Packers 3, Browns 0 (10:52 remaining)

On third-and-7, Rashan Gary forced an intentional grounding but the Browns got a mulligan when Evan Williams was flagged for illegal contact. On the re-do, nobody blocked Gary and he got the world’s easiest sack, giving him 3.5 for the season.

Packers 3, Browns 0 (14:53 remaining)

On third-and-1, Josh Jacobs broke a tackle near the line of scrimmage and gained 4. On third-and-3, Jordan Love faked the handoff to Jacobs and threw a slant to Romeo Doubs against Greg Newsome for 9. A methodical drive demands perfect execution, especially against a top defense. Near the end of the quarter, replacement right tackle Jordan Morgan was guilty of a false start on third-and-4. On third-and-9 to start the second quarter, Denzel Ward broke up a pass to Dontayvion Wicks; Mason Graham was in Love’s face. Brandon McManus made a 39-yard field goal.

First Quarter

Packers 0, Browns 0 (7:16 remaining)

In what figures to be a low-scoring game, the Packers need their big-play defenders, like Micah Parsons, to make their presence felt. Well, on first down, Parsons drew a hold. On third-and-4, Parsons hit quarterback Joe Flacco and Quay Walker broke up the pass.

Injury update: RT Zach Tom (oblique) is questionable.

Packers 0, Browns 0 (9:14 remaining)

The first series couldn’t have gone much worse. On the first play, a completion to Matthew Golden, standout right tackle Zach Tom – who was questionable and a game-tie decision – was injured. On second down, it was a jail-break sack as Maliek Collins beat Elgton Jenkins on a stunt. On third down, Jordan Love didn’t have a prayer as Myles Garrett got pressure against the replacement right tackle, Jordan Morgan.

Packers 0, Browns 0 (10:26 remaining)

The Browns gained two first downs before the Packers’ defense took hold. On first down, Lukas Van Ness blew past left tackle Cornelius Lucas for a quarterback hit that forced an incompletion. On third-and-7, the Browns tried to catch the Packers’ off-guard with a handoff to Dylan Sampson, but Rashan Gary wasn’t fooled. Corey Bojorquez’s punt went into the end zone, so not only did the Browns failed to gain a big first down, they blew a chance to pin the Packers inside the 10.

Deep Thoughts, Starring Josh Jacobs and Jordan Love

The Packers want to run the ball with Josh Jacobs. Opponents want to take away Jacobs.

That approach is why the Packers have thrown the ball downfield so much to start the season.

According to Pro Football Focus, Jordan Love has thrown the ball 20-plus yards downfield 20.75 percent of the time. That’s just behind the Ravens’ Lamar Jackson’s deep-ball rate of 20.83 percent.

It runs deeper than, well, just throwing deep. Love, however, is No. 1 by a significant margin in average air yards per target. Love’s 12.47 is almost 3 yards further than the Chargers’ Justin Herbert (9.61), according to league data. So, he’s throwing it deep (or intermediate) early and often.

Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz knows the Packers’ game plan because it’s evident in the numbers. Because defenses are so focused on Jacobs, Love has gone play-action on 36.8 percent of his dropbacks, just behind the Rams’ Matthew Stafford, according to PFF.

“That’s just built into what they do,” Schwartz told reporters in Cleveland this week. “When it’s all said and done, on first and second down they’re a run/play-action team. And when they play-action, they want to take shots. And you look at Love and look at his completion percentage, it’s not eye-popping the way some guys are. …

“And it’s not that he’s an inaccurate passer. It’s reflective of how many deep shots he takes. And they’re very surgical with those. They use their run to set up that stuff. It doesn’t work if you’re not a good running offense, and it goes back to Jacobs. Their run creates their opportunities to push the ball down the field on those first and second downs.”

Limiting Premier Pass Rushers

Since the start of the 2019 season – the beginning of Matt LaFleur’s tenure as Packers coach – there have been 164 instances of a player having at least 2.5 sacks in a game. Mathematically, that means each team should have given up 5.125 of those games.

The Packers have allowed zero.

That’s noteworthy considering this week’s opponent, Cleveland Browns All-Pro Myles Garrett. Garrett has five games of three-plus sacks during that span. He has zero sacks in two career games against Green Bay.

Why have the Packers silenced – well, limited – premier pass rushers?

“I wouldn’t say silencing at all,” offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said. “I would say you just got to make sure you have a plan for them. In the NFL, it’s like whatever you did in the past, the only thing that matters is what you do this week. And we’re going to have a huge challenge ahead of us with Myles Garrett – and not only him, but the entire Browns defensive line. They’re very good, so we just got to take it one week at a time and trust our techniques, trust our schemes, and just do what we do.”

Packers-Browns Inactives

There is big news for both teams. For the Packers, Zach Tom and Tucker Kraft will play.

What Channel for Packers-Browns?

Fox Sports will air Sunday’s game. It is not a national broadcast. If you’re in the Upper Midwest, you’re probably in luck. 

Fox’s broadcast team will consist of Kevin Kugler providing the play-by-play and former NFL fullback Daryl Johnston providing the analysis. Allison Williams will be reporting from the sideline.

Undefeated Packers?

The Packers are coming off two dominant wins over two of last year’s dominant teams. With a 27-13 victory over the Lions and a 27-18 victory over the Commanders – neither of which were that close – Green Bay has stamped its place as a prime Super Bowl contender.

“That’s why we’re 2-0 right now,” left tackle Rasheed Walker said, “and then the goal is to keep it going. But I think we can go undefeated, honestly.”

Undefeated? It’s an absurd possibility but one that sportsbooks are taking seriously. The Packers were +5000 to start the week at FanDuel Sportsbook. Now, it’s +4800.

Micah Parsons likes the bold talk. After all, these are some of the most competitive people on earth. Why should the goal be 13-4?

“To the people, he probably shouldn't say it. To the people,” Parsons said this week. “But personally, I don't see anything wrong with what he said. They always say you should share your dreams in private because people won't understand them. To a million fans out there, they're probably like, ‘Sheed’s full of himself.’ You know how people are. Like, who gives a damn. As long as he plays the way he should play and been playing, I don't care what he says as long as he back it up.

“So, Sheed, keep talking if you want. Just be careful what other people are going to say if you care about it. If you’re like me, I don’t really care about what people say. We should win every game. That’s the mindset you should have. That’s the mindset I want my left tackle to have is that pound-for-pound, he could compete with the best. Because we’re going to play some dawgs and he got one this week. So, it’s going to be a challenge for him and you should want your left tackle to have that type of confidence.”

Packers Are Favorites

The Packers are 7.5-point favorites at FanDuel Sportsbook but 8.5-point favorites at DraftKings Sportsbook.

Josh Jacobs, who is making a run at history, is the favorite at DraftKings for anytime touchdown scorer at -175, followed by Romeo Doubs at +185. For passing yards, the over/unders are 244.5 for Joe Flacco and 240 for Jordan Love. Micah Parsons and Myles Garrett are +250 to combine for three-plus sacks.

At Hard Rock Bet, the most popular bet by money and bets is Packers money line, with both well over 95 percent.

Grab Your Chips

Elite pass rushers demand extra attention. That is evident with this data provided by Pro Football Focus.

Cleveland’s Myles Garrett is in a league of his own. He is chipped on 42.6 percent of his pass rushes and is double-teamed 75.9 percent of the time. That chip rate is by far the highest faced by any edge rusher.

Green Bay’s Micah Parsons is in the top 13 with a chip rate of 21.0 percent. He is double-teamed 67.7 percent of the time. Interestingly, Rashan Gary is chipped more often (25.8 percent) but double-teamed less frequently (47.0 percent).

When Parsons is on the field, the Packers’ pressure rate is an incredible 70 percent, according to PFF.

“Anytime you have a guy like Micah, the offense pays a lot of attention to him, right?” defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley said. “Whether they’re going to turn a lot of protection to him, whether they’re going to chip him, try to get four hands on him, it creates a lot of one-on-ones for everybody else. So, I think RG’s getting more one-on-ones and, therefore, I think he’s going to have some more production.”

Xavier McKinney Is Bored

Xavier McKinney’s thoughts on the Packers’ defense?

“It’s a little boring right now, but it’s fun,” he said last week. “It’s fun to have guys like that and really just the whole D-linemen, they’re getting there so fast, they’re making our jump hella easy.”

McKinney was tied for second in the NFL last season with eight interceptions. This season, according to Pro Football Focus and Sports Info Solutions, he’s been targeted only four times in the passing game. SIS charged him with two completions for 16 yards. He broke up one pass last week.

“If he is bored and the ball’s not going up and we’re not giving up explosive plays, it means he’s doing an incredible job along with the pass rush,” defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley said. “And if you’re not giving up those big plays, it means we’re probably going to win the game and play really good defense and become a really elite defense.

“But if you do watch, we’ve certainly put him in a lot of other positions and we will continue to do so to get him around the football. But I would never measure him and his first two games by the amount of interceptions he has because of really the lack of balls thrown his direction. But in my opinion, he’s playing as good as he ever has, maybe the best he ever has.”

McKinney isn’t just an All-Pro. He’s the leader of the defense. Hafley thought back to last Wednesday, one day before facing the Commanders. Hafley spotted something on film and called McKinney to talk about the proper check. With no practice time against that look, McKinney got it done.

“That’s the type of player he is, and I don’t care how many interceptions he has,” Hafley said. “He is the best safety in the NFL and what he does for our defense is beyond interceptions.”

CB1: Keisean Nixon

After last season – with Jaire Alexander standing just a few feet away – Keisean Nixon talked openly about being the team’s “CB1” or top cornerback.

The Packers really don’t have such a thing. Nixon lines up at left cornerback, period. Regardless, he’s been a stopper.

Last week, he was targeted five times in the passing game, according to Sports Info Solutions. He finished the game with five breakups. Yes, Nixon was 5-for-5.

“I always knew what I could do,” Nixon said. “I just needed the stage to do it. I get my opps, the ball coming out more now that I play outside, now I can really play my game and do what I want to do.”

The Browns have a premier receiver in Jerry Jeudy, who topped 1,000 yards last year on the way to the Pro Bowl. Unlike Washington, with star receiver Terry McLaurin almost exclusively locked in as the left wide receiver – meaning he barely saw Nixon – Jeudy plays about equally on both sides. So, this game will be a better test than what he faced last week against Noah Brown.

“Can he continue to get better? Sure, just like the rest of our defense,” defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley said. “But I thought he played really good on Thursday night and now he needs to do that going forward. He has to do that over and over and over again, and that’s the sign of a great corner, if you can do that.”

More Green Bay Packers News

Published | Modified
Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.