Five things we learned from Falcons' 28-16 loss to Browns

CLEVELAND —

The Falcons may have taken the Browns too lightly.

Just when the Falcons thought they’d salvaged the season, they were upset by the Browns 28-16 before a raucous and faithful fan base on Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium.

While the offense was out of sync, the defense was left exposed by rookies - quarterback Baker Mayfield and running back Nick Chubb.

The Falcons, who had won three in a row, dropped to 4-5 on the season. The Browns, who had dropped four in a row, improved to 3-6-1 with the upset.

Chubb rushed 20 times for 176 yards and one touchdown. He also had three catches for 33 yards and a 13-yard touchdown reception. Mayfield completed 17 of 20 passes for 216 yards and threw three touchdowns.

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Here are the five things we learned from the loss:

1. Fourth-and-Saubert: On a fourth-and-goal from the Browns’ 1-yard line, with under 12 minutes to play, the Falcons tried to pass to third-string tight end Eric Saubert in the back of the end zone.

The pass was incomplete.

The Falcons needed a score to start a rally, but failed.

The Falcons added a Matt Ryan to Austin Hooper touchdown with under 4:30 to play, but the two-point conversion was foiled.

2. Costly turnovers: The Browns entered the game leading the league with a plus-11 turnover ratio. Ryan’s fumble with 1:19 left helped the Browns wrapped up the victory and Mohamed Sanu had a costly turnover in the third quarter.

In last week’s win over the Redskins, the Falcons scored right before the half and opened the third quarter with a touchdown drive.

Against the Browns, they failed to score right before halftime after Cleveland took a 14-10 lead with 55 seconds left in the second quarter. Ryan was sacked on Emmanuel Ogbah and Larry Ogunjobi to end the last drive of the second quarter.

Sanu unwisely stuck the ball out while he was 14 yards short of a first down. He fumbled and the Browns recovered.

The Browns added a touchdown after the turnover when Mayfield tossed a 13-yard pass to Chubb. Linebacker De’Vondre Campbell was fooled by misdirection on the play.

3. Run into the record books: Chubb, of Cedartown and Georgia, broke loose for a 92-yard touchdown run.

The score put the Browns up 28-10 with 8:45 to play in the third quarter.

The touchdown was the longest rushing touchdown in Cleveland franchise history.

After starring for the Bulldogs, Chubb was selected in the second round (35th overall) of the 2018 NFL draft.

4. Mayfield on fire: Led by two touchdown passes from Mayfield, the Browns lead the Falcons 14-10 at halftime.

He tossed 28-yard touchdown pass to Rashard Higgins and the 13-yard touchdown pass to Chubb in the first half.

The Browns have dominated the series with the Falcons, winning 11 of 14 previous meetings.

5. Record book: Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones caught a 30-yard pass against the Browns in the second quarter to go over the 10,000-yard receiving mark in his career.

Over 102 career games, Jones entered the game with 9,987 yards. He reached the 10,000-yard mark in his 103rd career game, which made him the fastest player in NFL history to reach that mark – by a large margin – in the league’s modern passing era.

Detroit’s Calvin Johnson crossed the 10,000-yard mark in his 115th game.

Johnson retired from the NFL after the 2015 season with 11,619 receiving yards, which are 30th all-time among NFL receivers, and 83 touchdowns, which ties him for 22nd all-time.

Pittsburgh’s Antonio Brown reached the 10,000-yard mark in 116 games.

Before Johnson set the mark in 2014, Torry Holt held the record of reaching 10,000 receiving yards the fastest, accomplishing that in 2006 in 116 games.

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