CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Browns pulled off a stunning 13-10 win over the Packers, but that’s just what the scoreboard said.
Here are the real winners and losers from the game:
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Winner: The Hand of Dawg
Fans of soccer are familiar with the phrase, “The Hand of God,“ a goal the legendary Maradona scored with his hand for Argentina in the 1986 World Cup against England.
Thanks to defensive tackle Shelby Harris in what was a 10-10 contest, Browns fans witnessed The Hand of Dawg.
A snapshot shows Denzel Ward swooping in like a bird in an attempt to block Brandon McManus’ 43-yard kick.
Instead, it was Harris who perfectly placed his right hand in the path of the kick and caught all of Huntington Bank Field by surprise. Greg Newsome II recovered it, and the rest is history.
Harris explained the science behind his marquee play after the win.
“You gotta look, obviously where they’re kicking the ball…is the ball gonna be tailing to the left, is it gonna be tailing to the right?,” Harris said. “Depending on that, you gotta think they’re gonna try to make it through the middle, so depending on what side of the line you’re on, that determines really what hand needs to get up to block it.”
Winner: Taking a chance
With a little under three minutes left in regulation, Browns kicker Andre Szmyt’s 35-yarder cut the Packers’ lead to 10-3. A turnover was needed from Cleveland’s defense to keep the Browns’ hopes alive.
Safety Grant Delpit answered the call and did exactly that.
Three plays into Green Bay’s series, Delpit left his assignment and jumped a Jordan Love pass to Dontayvion Wicks.
“I was able to bait the quarterback a little bit and jump the route. And got the offense back the ball,” Delpit said.
He read that play, took it back the other way for 25 yards and nearly scored, but was stopped at the 4-yard line. Browns running back Quinshon Judkins would score his first NFL touchdown on a 1-yard run to tie the game at 10.
Love said Delpit surprised him by being where he was.
“I didn’t even see him,” Love said in the postgame. “Really tough play, especially in the circumstances and timing of the game right there. It’s one that we’ll just have to learn from and move on.”
Packers coach LaFleur took the blame for the play call, saying he knew they couldn’t make a mistake like that to give Cleveland good field position.
“That’s a bad play call. We shouldn’t have called that play. That’s on me,” LaFleur said.
Delpit’s pick accomplished two feats: It gave both Green Bay its first turnover of the season, and Cleveland’s defense its first takeaway since Week 16 of 2024.
Winner: Browns rookies
This win doesn’t happen without two of Cleveland’s rookies, Quinshon Judkins and Carson Schwesinger, stepping up when it mattered most.
Judkins
The comeback started with Judkins.
During Cleveland’s series that ended in a field goal, Judkins earned a 38-yard run on the second play to place Cleveland at the Green Bay 28.
Sixty-two of his 94 rushing yards came in the final quarter. And of course, he accounted for the only Browns touchdown.
Schwesinger
Sunday was the rookie linebacker’s coming-out party.
Schwesinger tied with Delpit for the most tackles on the Browns (nine) and accounted for one of the team’s six sacks.
On the final play of the third quarter, Love was forced to roll right. Schwesinger left his zone and capitalized on the opportunity, earning his first career sack.
Loser: Depth
Cleveland’s offensive line endured some shuffling before the opening kickoff.
Left tackle Dawand Jones, who was a right during his first two seasons, replaced the inactive Jack Conklin (elbow) at right tackle.
The Browns’ “swing tackle,” Cornelius Lucas, moved to the left tackle spot.
But Jones suffered a knee injury four plays into Sunday’s game. Backup KT Leveston replaced Jones.
And he struggled. Joe Flacco was sacked twice, and Leveston appeared to be the main culprit.
During the first sack, Leveston gave Green Bay’s Rashan Gary a red carpet runway through the B-gap to Flacco. It looked as though Leveston thought he’d take on Edgerrin Cooper, not knowing David Njoku had him before breaking off to run a route.
Leveston allowed a second sack four minutes after Jones was deemed out for the rest of the game. This time, he tried to stop Gary coming around the edge, but wasn’t quick enough.
The former 2024 seventh-rounder was playing in only his second NFL game. But the NFL is a next-man-up league, and in Week 1 of 2023, when Conklin suffered a torn ACL and MCL, Jones came in as a rookie and didn’t allow a single pressure through 52 snaps.
If Conklin and Jones are out again against the Lions on Sunday, the Browns might want to give Leveston some more help on obvious passing downs.
Loser: Green Bay’s offensive line
You can’t say enough about how Cleveland’s front four performed.
The intensity. The audacity. The “dawg” in them.
Their constant pressure made for a long day for Love, and the Packers offensive line. Even when Love moved elsewhere for space, someone in brown and orange suddenly stopped him in his tracks.
Along with 183 passing yards and one touchdown, Love threw the one pick and was sacked five times. Six different Browns earned a piece of those sacks, with Maliek Collins leading the way with 1.5.
Love entered Week 3 leading all quarterbacks in completed air yards (8.6), and ranked sixth in time to throw (3.02 seconds), per Next Gen Stats.
On Sunday alone, Love only spent 2.56 seconds in the pocket, and only completed 2.5 air yards.
“Give them credit, they are a really good defense. I will say that. They do a lot of really good things,” Love said.
Former NFL rushing champion Josh Jacobs, who also finished 2024 sixth in the league in rushing yards, was held to 30 yards on 16 carries.
“We knew they had (the) No. 1 defense, one of the best defensive lines in the NFL,” Jacobs said. “It’s going to always be a little rough when going against guys like that… they just had a good game plan for us.”
If it didn’t happen already this season, Cleveland’s defensive line has reminded the NFL what it’s made of.
Winner: Redemption
Most kickers would’ve lost their confidence after a shaky start to the season.
Not Andre Szmyt.
He went back to the drawing board after leaving four points off the board in Week 1. In Week 2, he made his only field goal and both extra point attempts.
And in Week 3, he was ready.
Szmyt accounted for seven of Cleveland’s 13 points, including the 55-yard game-winner, which is the longest walk-off field goal in franchise history.
Szmyt went from being a walk-on kicker at Syracuse, to going undrafted and getting cut by Chicago in 2023, to playing in the UFL, to awaiting his opportunity in Cleveland, failing on his first opportunity, then preparing himself for his next chance.
Redemption.
“I just try to stay calm. Like I said, just go back to my process, it got me so far there’s no need to start changing stuff and abandoning certain things. Get settled into it and just believe and trust,” Szmyt said.
Winner: Honoring the Dawg Pound
The team honored 1985 Browns and the 40th anniversary of the Dawg Pound throughout the weekend.
It was a year that saw the rise of the “Dawg Pound” culture that stands strong today, and a resilient 1985 squad that went 8-8 and won the AFC North.
Franchise legends Hanford Dixon and Frank Minnifield did the honors with the pregame guitar smash.
What looked to be a shutout loss before the final few minutes, turned into an stunning fourth-quarter comeback that will go into Browns folklore.
And there might’ve been no better way to pay tribute to the 85′ Browns, than by never backing down.