CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Browns defense picked up where it left off a week ago, unfortunately, and this time the offense was unable to keep the game within reach.
The high-powered Arizona Cardinals offense scored more than 30 points for the fifth time in six games this season, and the Browns offense never found a rhythm as they lost, 37-14, on Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium.
The Browns suffered consecutive regular-season losses for the first time in the Kevin Stefanski era to drop to 3-3. The Cardinals are 6-0 and the NFL’s only undefeated team.
“We are a 3-3 football team and we played like it,” Stefanski said after the game. “We were very average, and it’s my responsiblity to get it fixed. ... We have to come back in here Thursday night (against Denver) and find a way.
“I think anytime you lose, and we’ve lost these last two games, we have a bunch of areas we need to address,” Stefanski said. “.... We need to get to the bottom of all of this, and then give the guys an opportunity to go play and go succeed, and I don’t think I did that tonight.
“... We’re a 3-3 football team, which means we’re average across the board.”
Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray completed 20 of his 30 passes for 229 yards and four touchdowns. Arizona wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins scored twice on his three catches for 55 yards on a day when the Browns defense offered little resistance.
The Cardinals put up 352 yards and 37 points with their head coach and playcaller, Kliff Kingsbury, watching from home after testing positive for COVID-19.
Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph and assistant head coach/special teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers split head coaching responsibilities for Arizona.
Arizona essentially put the game out of reach with 2:56 left in the third quarter after Baker Mayfield was strip-sacked by J.J. Watt, appearing to re-aggravate a shoulder injury he has been dealing with since Week 2 against the Texans. Murray fittingly found Hopkins wide open for a 9-yard touchdown pass in the back of the end zone to go ahead 30-14.
The Cardinals put a bow on the win when Murray drove the Cardinals 93 yards in the fourth quarter, capped by a 14-yard touchdown to A.J. Green.
The drive came after Mayfield returned without missing a play, but the Browns offense was unable to respond, failing to convert on fourth and 4 from the Cardinals’ 7 when Odell Beckham Jr. had the ball jarred loose by Cardinals cornerback Robert Alford.
Making matters worse, running back Kareem Hunt was injured on the play, leaving the game while putting little weight on his right leg and getting carted to the locker room and ruled out with a calf injury.
The Browns were also playing without running back Nick Chubb, who missed the game with a calf injury of his own.
Beckham also was playing hurt, having left in the second quarter with a shoulder injury but returning on the Browns’ second offensive drive of the second half.
It added to a day when the Browns offense started banged up, playing without tackles Jedrick Wills Jr. and Jack Conklin, both inactive, Wills with an ankle injury and Conklin with a knee.
The Cardinals played without star pass rusher Chandler Jones, who tested positive for COVID-19, but still managed to sack Mayfield 5 times.
“We got beat,” Stefanski said. “We got outplayed. We got outcoached. ... It doesn’t feel good, but we’ve got to lick our wounds, come in tomorrow and move on. That’s how you have to do it when you have a game Thursday night.”
The Browns’ best moment of an ugly first half -- and ugly game -- came as time expired when Baker Mayfield launched the ball to the end zone on a Hail Mary hauled in by Donovan Peoples-Jones for a touchdown. It went down as a 57-yard score, but Mayfield wound up and threw from his own 37-yard line. The play pulled the Browns within reach, 23-14, as both teams went to the locker room.
According to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, Mayfield’s pass traveled 66.4 yards in the air, the longest completed pass since they started tracking in 2016.
Mayfield, replaced by Case Keenum with just under 5 minutes left in the blowout, finished the day 19-of-28 for 234 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
During his postgame interview, Mayfield had his left arm in a sling. He said his left shoulder, which has a partially torn labrum, popped out of socket again during the game, but he plans to play Thursday against Denver.
“Absolutely,” Mayfield said.
“That’s no resemblance of what we are as a team,” Mayfield added when asked where he thought the team stood. “You could ask everyone in our building, ‘Have we played to our potential?’ and they’d say absolutely not. ...
“We’re not panicking. We’re 3-3 and it’s not where we want to be. But with the pure genius of the NFL, we have 11 more games ... Nobody makes the playoffs right now. ... We will handle this correctly, and we will get better. It’s just a fact.
“... We’re going to see what we’re made of. ... Our backs are against the wall. And I like our chances.
Rocky first half
Turnovers, penalties and third-down defense were the Browns’ Achilles heel in the first half. Arizona converted 6-of-9 third downs in the first half, the worst of the day coming on a third-and-19 touchdown pass from Murray to Christian Kirk to start the scoring with 8:34 left in the first quarter to put the Cardinals ahead, 7-0.
Late in the first half, after the Browns got on the board with a Mayfield-to-Peoples-Jones 11-yard connection, the Cardinals converted a third-and-9 from their own 30-yard line on a catch-and-run by Rondale Moore, allowing the Cardinals to convert a 33-yard field goal.
The best drive of the first half for the Browns was also one of their most costly. Capped by the Peoples-Jones 11-yard score, they drove 75 yards on 8 plays and got Hunt going on runs for 11 and 5 yards. In the process, they lost Beckham to a shoulder injury, but he eventually returned.
The Browns turned the ball over on back-to-back drives in the second quarter, first when Mayfield was sacked with 13:35 left in the second quarter and stripped by linebacker Markus Golden. Defensive lineman Michael Dogbe recovered the fumble. The Cardinals came away with a 36-yard field goal by Matt Prater.
On the Browns’ next possession, Mayfield’s errant throw was intercepted by cornerback Robert Alford. After his return to the 4-yard line was moved back to the 28 on review, Jadeveon Clowney sacked Murray on third-and-2 and the Cardinals settled for a 51-yard field goal by Prater to go ahead, 20-0 with 9:24 left in the second quarter.
The Browns were flagged six times for 58 yards in the first quarter while Arizona committed four penalties costing them 35 yards.
During the Cardinals’ 11-play, 78-yard drive spanning the first and second quarters to go ahead 14-0, cornerback Denzel Ward was twice called for pass interference while Malik McDowell committed a facemask penalty; and then, on a second-and-7, McDowell was called for unnecessary roughness when he hit Murray as he was going out of bounds.
The Cardinals overcame a holding penalty on the drive nullifying a Murray touchdown and scored with 14:49 left in the half when Hopkins took a quick throw, juked safety Grant Delpit and fought into the endzone for a 13-yard score.
The Cardinals lost defensive lineman Rashard Lawrence to a calf injury, ruled out early in the third quarter. Tight end Darrell Daniels was announced questionable to return with a hamstring injury.
Next up
The Browns will have a short week, as they host the Denver Broncos on Thursday night. Kickoff is set for 8:20 p.m.
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