‘He’s playing chess’: Inside the Browns’ decision-making on final drive in win over Colts

CLEVELAND, Ohio — If it was up to Wyatt Teller, the Browns’ final drive in their thrilling 39-38 win over the Colts may have played out differently.

He’ll be the first to admit — it’s a good thing that wasn’t the case and the final call is made by head coach Kevin Stefanski.

“It was kind of one of those moments we were all like, what are we doing? Let’s run the ball,” Teller said on Monday. “And then all of a sudden we’re like, ‘Oh, okay. That’s why they’re paid the money and we’re not a player-coach.’ Because obviously he’s playing chess while we’re like, it’s just checkers.”

While Teller wanted to run, Stefanski was thinking the exact opposite: There was no way Cleveland was going to run the ball before fourth down, after improbably making its way to the Colts’ 1-yard line with just 33 seconds to play and trailing 38-33.

Colts safety Darrell Baker Jr. was called for an illegal contact a couple of plays earlier on the drive, a call that negated a strip-sack and recovery by Indianapolis on third-and-4 that would have ended the game. Instead, the Browns had a first down at the Colts 8. Then, another break, again courtesy of Baker. The very next play he was flagged again for pass interference against Donovan Peoples-Jones, moving the ball to the 1.

The Browns at this point had no timeouts left, a key point to remember

On first down, P.J. Walker threw a pass David Njoku in the back left corner of the end zone that hit him in the hands. but was knocked away — a play that probably should have been a catch. Near the sideline after that one several players were begging to run the ball. Right tackle Dawand Jones rose his arms to indicate how close they were to the goal line. Teller pleaded his case to Stefanski.

“I ran over there,” Teller said. “Even though he had the same mindset as me, he was like, ‘We’re going to run 13-blasto or whatever. Don’t worry, Wyatt, we’ll pull you, we’ll get you your hit. Don’t worry.’ But at the same time, it looks risky, but at the same time, P.J. was making smart throws.”

Stefanski, however, held firm — even though it was still a difficult call.

“Those four plays took years off my life,” Stefanski joked. “I’m sure (like) everybody else.”

There was a lot that went into Stefanski’s thought process. He wasn’t exactly set on only trying for a score on fourth down — but this is where that lack of timeouts really came into play. He told reporters after the game he didn’t want to run early on the drive and leave those valuable seconds on the clock ticking down and Browns players still trying to line up.

So instead, they went to Walker two more times first.

On second down, he and Njoku failed to connect again, this time on a shovel pass, and on third down, Walker threw incomplete to Elijah Moore.

Stefanski then got the fourth down call he was looking for.

“I knew our fourth-down call was going to score if we got to it, quite honestly,” Stefanski said. “But I just didn’t feel comfortable with the thought of a first-down, a second-down or a third-down play that was going to not get in and then chew off valuable time. So felt confident in the plays we called and ultimately executed that last one.”

On that final play of the drive, Kareem Hunt took the handoff from Walker, stayed firm on the ground, and pushed his way through the Colts’ defensive line just behind a key pulling block from Teller, who went from the right side of the line to the left to lead the way for the running back.

“I see Wyatt pulling around in there and I’m like, alright Wyatt, it’s me and you,” Hunt told reporters after the game. “I’m just going to put my head down and just try to find a way to fall for a yard.”

The gamble paid off.

The Browns took a 39-38 lead to cap the win, thanks to Stefanski’s decision-making on the sideline, and a key one by Hunt in that moment.

“We got into that goal line run and Kareem, who usually jumps, leaves his feet to jump across the goal line, stayed down, stayed low, and tried to plug himself for an extra yard,” Teller said. “So I appreciate that.”

The other thing Teller appreciated about the call? What it showed about the team’s perception of the offensive line.

“To run the ball on that fourth down, it shows that he had faith in the offensive line,” he said. “It was a little closer than I’d like, but if you execute those plays, those are the ones you remember.”