Nfl Week 12 | Browns vs. Jaguars Highlights

The Browns got a good battle and a late surge from the injury-depleted Jaguars, but hung on to win 27-25 Sunday and hand the Jaguars their 10th straight loss. The victory improved the Browns to 8-3 in the midst of a tight AFC playoff race, and the Jaguars fell to 1-10. It’s the Browns’ best mark since 1994 and first eight-win season since 1994. They also moved into the fifth of seven spots for the AFC playoffs. “We knew it was going to be tough. It was not going to be easy, and that is what we signed up for coming down here,” Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said. “We knew that. Again, I am always going to point the finger at myself, and we are always going to look in the mirror and say ‘What can we do better?’ because there is a plenty. To know that the guys late in these games playing smart situational ball and find a way to win.”

The Browns headed into the game without Garrett, Ward, Takitaki and defensive Porter Gustin, and lost Harrison to a shoulder injury on the first play of the game when he suffered a shoulder injury while tackling James Robinson. Stefanski said the team would know more about Harrison’s shoulder after he has an MRI. The loss of Harrison was a huge blow for a Browns defense that was already hurting in the secondary with the absence of Ward and others. Harrison was eager to play against the team that traded him to the Browns on Sept. 3 for a fifth-round pick, but it wasn’t to be.

With Harrison out, safety Andrew Sendejo came up big late in the game, breaking up a pass in the end zone to Tyler Eifert with just under four minutes left. Olivier Vernon committed a personal foul on a fourth and 10 from the 24 when he crashed in and hit Jaguars quarterback Mike Glennon in the helmet for a 15-yard personal foul call that moved Jacksonville to the Browns’ 12. A few plays later, running back James Robinson plowed in from the 4 to cut the deficit to 27-25. Glennon tried a two-point to tie the game, but his lob to Collin Johnson in the back of the end zone was caught by Sendejo.

“He does a nice job back there,” Stefanski said of Sendejo. “Really playing hard and playing with great effort. Gets his hands on the ball there. You are right, stopping them on those two-point conversions ended up being a big deal. Really happy for him to make that play, and that is what we need. We need guys in the back end that will make plays on the ball.” It was too close for comfort for the Browns against a team that had lost nine straight games and was without some of its best players, including starting defensive end Josh Allen and starting receiver DJ Chark. It was an up-and-down game for Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield (19 of 29, 258 yards, 2 TDs, 116.7 passer rating). He threw TD passes to Jarvis Landry and Austin Hooper but missed throws in the end zone to a wide open Rashard Higgins and a tightly covered Jarvis Landry. He also threw behind Kareem Hunt on a clutch third-and-inches pass late in the game.

“I thought he played OK,” Stefanski said. “He made some amazing plays with his feet. I know, like all of these quarterbacks, every guy gets out of a game and they are going to want throws back. I know he is like that. He is hard on himself. He is making plays on third down. He is making plays on the perimeter. He is running the show. He is doing a nice job of helping us win.” Hunt was stopped on fourth and inches on the next play to start the Jaguars at the Browns 21 on the late drive that resulted in the Eifert TD catch.

“I am just disappointed. We need to be able to get that, bottom line. It is inches,” Stefanski said. “Like you mentioned, we had a play in the flat and did not make it, but then we should make a play on fourth down. It is inches. That is disappointing. That is something that we will talk about with the team. I say that because our offense has high expectations of themselves. If we get in those moments, they need to convert and they know that, and I can help them out with play calls, also obviously. I just think we have to have the mentality that if we are going for it there, we have to get it.”
Landry, who caught his first TD pass of the season, grabbed a team-high eight passes on 11 targets for 143 yards and his first TD catch of the season. He turned 28 on Saturday. “Critical,” Mayfield said of Landry’s performance. “We are not always going to try and find throws to all of our guys. We have so many weapons. Just letting the ball and the coverage dictate where it needs to go. Jarvis had an incredible day. Not only that, but there were a lot of tight windows and contested catches that he made. The guys is unbelievable. I have said that. He is a great player, a great teammate, and he just continues to always put the team first no matter what. We have seen that week in and week out. For him to have a day like this, we are very happy for him.” The Browns play in Tennessee next Sunday at 1 p.m.

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