Myles Garrett comes up big again to help Browns beat Colts 32-23 for their first 4-1 start since 1994

CLEVELAND, Ohio — It wasn’t a strip-sack this time, but Myles Garrett came up big again Sunday to help the Browns beat the Colts, 32-23, at FirstEnergy Stadium for their fourth straight victory and their first 4-1 start since 1994.

They’re tied with the Ravens at 4-1 and just behind the 4-0 Steelers in the standings with their big showdown in Pittsburgh coming up next Sunday.

The last time the Browns started 4-1, they finished 11-5 and made the playoffs, beating New England in the wild-card round and then losing to Pittsburgh in the Divisional Round.

The Colts, who were No. 1 in surrendering just 14 points a game, fell to 3-2.

With the Browns clinging to a 27-20 lead and the Colts gaining momentum, Garrett produced another game-changing play, hitting Philip Rivers in the end zone and forcing him to throw the ball away for an intentional grounding call that went down as a safety for a 29-20 lead. Never mind that the Colts had three players trying to block Garrett on the play.

That made it a two-score game for the Browns and took the wind out of Indy’s sails. The Colts were pinned at their 4 by punter Jamie Gillan, who had a great day.

But the Browns’ offense stalled on the ensuing drive, thanks in part to Jarvis Landry’s second drop of the day, this one on a crucial third down at the Browns’ 43.

Gillan unleashed a 51-yard punt to start Indy at its 13, and a few plays later, Sheldrick Redwine picked off Rivers for the Browns’ second pick of the day, with 11:24 left in the game.

Redwine was in the game at that point because the player who had the first interception, Ronnie Harrison, was in the locker room being checked for a concussion.

Unfortunately for the Browns, they weren’t able to cash in on Redwine’s pick.

Baker Mayfield was picked off for the second time in the game with 7:05 left, and was hit after the throw by Justin Houston. He looked to be in pain on the bench and went to the medical tent afterward to have his shoulder checked. After the game, he underwent X-rays on his ribs.

While he was in the tent, the Colts marched down and kicked a field goal to close within 29-23 with 2:50 left.

It was too close for comfort, but D’Ernest Johnson took a handoff from Mayfield and ripped off a 28-yard run to move to the Browns to the Colts 29 and help preserve the victory. Cody Parkey finished it off with a 46-yard field goal to produce the final margin with 21 seconds left.

It marked the Browns’ first game without injured running back Nick Chubb. They also lost starting right guard Wyatt Teller to a calf injury in the first quarter.

Mayfield, working against the Colts’ No. 1 ranked defense, completed 21-of-37 attempts for 247 yards with 2 TDs and 2 INTs for a 72.7 rating.

Browns running back Kareem Hunt rushed 20 times for 72 yards and caught a TD pass.

Rivers completed 20-of-32 attempts for 225 yards with 0 TDs and two INTs for a 57.4 rating.

A bizarre sequence of events in the 3rd quarter

Harrison, starting in place of Karl Joseph (hamstring), picked off Rivers with 12:15 left in the third quarter, and returned the ball 47 yards for a touchdown to make it 27-10. It marked Harrison’s fourth career interception and first touchdown of his career.

But the euphoria was short-lived when the Browns left Isaiah Rodgers slice through them for a 101-yard kickoff return for a touchdown that cut the deficit to 27-17 with 12:00 left in the third.

“That was outstanding,” Stefanski said about the interception after the game. “Again, we needed it. …. We can’t let happen what happened on that kickoff there, it coming back for a touchdown….But Ronnie’s pick was huge.”

Mayfield then took a sack and recovered his own fumble, but was picked off on the next play on a pass over the middle by linebacker Bobby Okereke. It was his third pick of the season after going two straight games without one.

Fortunately for Mayfield, the Colts only got a field out of the mistake, thanks in part of Myles Garrett chasing Rivers and forcing an incompletion.

First-half highlights

The Browns led 20-10 at the half after scoring on all of their first-half possessions.

They opened the scoring with a 24-yard Cody Parkey field goal with 10:24 left in the first quarter. The play before, Mayfield overthrew Beckham in the left side of the end zone. Key play on the drive was a 32-yard catch by Jarvis Landry, who took a hard shot to the side from Zaire Franklin, and crawled to the sidelines. But he returned later in the drive, on that third-down overthrow to Beckham.

The Colts came back with a 4-yard touchdown run by a wide-open Jonathan Taylor around the left side on fourth and 2. The defense was in disarray on the play, and Taylor walked right in to make it 7-3 Colts with 6:00 left in the first. Key play was a 36-yard pass from Rivers to Marcus Johnson vs. Andrew Sendejo.

Mayfield answered by finding Kareem Hunt for a 2-yard TD pass in the back right of the end zone to put the Browns up 10-7 with 14:06 left in the half. Once again, Mayfield overthrew Beckham in the end zone after a play-fake to Hunt. But he made up for it by escaping a collapsing pocket, rolling right and splitting two defenders to hit Hunt with the TD.

Indy came back with a 32-yard field goal to tie it at 10 with 10:15 left in the half, thanks in large part to a 34-yard strike to Ashton Dulin over Sendejo. Olivier Vernon hit Rivers on third down to force Indy to settle for a field goal.

Rashard Higgins, active for the first time in three games, caught a 15-yard TD pass with 5:58 left in the half to put the Browns up 17-10. Of course, Hollywood walked the red carpet while his teammates snapped photos. It was his first TD catch since the game winner against the Bills last season on Nov.10.

Mayfield helped make the TD possible by scrambling for 16 yards on third down to the Colts’ 15. Beckham also made a great 26-yard catch in tight coverage that withstood a Colts’ challenge.

Harrison made a third-down breakup to force the Colts to go three-and-out on their next drive, and the Browns responded with a 12-play, 64-yard drive that ended with a 36-yard Parkey field goal that made it 20-10 with 13 second left in the half.

Next

The Browns travel to Pittsburgh on Sunday to face the 4-0 Steelers, who defeated the Eagles on Sunday.

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