Easy peasy

Maybe it was the throwback uniforms. Then again, maybe it was because the Browns were hands down the most dominant team on the field Sunday. Yep, that's it. And it wasn't close.

The dormant Cleveland defense finally awoke from a two-game early-season slumber with a vengeance and buried the Chicago Bears' offense in an avalanche of sacks in a ridiculously easy 26-6 victory that turned into a nightmare for quarterback Justin Fields, who was making his professional football debut.

The Browns pass rush dropped the former Ohio State star nine times -- it would have been 11 with sharper tackling -- as they tripled their season sacks total. Myles Garrett, who pleaded for help from his teammates a few days ago, got it as he led with a club-record four-and-a-half sacks.

The defensive line, aided by several well-timed  blitzes, completely overwhelmed the Chicago offensive line from the opening snap and made certain Fields' first start would be memorable for all the wrong reasons.

(It was also a day Browns placekicker Chase McLaughlin had a day to remember, but for all the right reasons. He booted field goals from 28, 41, 52 and a career-high 57 yards. More on that later.)

There was no way the Bears were going to reach the Cleveland end zone on this afternoon, not with the Browns shutting down every aspect of the Chicago offense. Half of the Bears' possessions ended in a three-and-out. Browns fans know exactly how Bears fans must be feeling.

Only one of their 10 possessions lasted longer than five plays -- a nine-play drive that ended with the second of Cairo Santos' two field goals. It was set up by an iffy 48-yard pass interference call on Cleveland free safety John Johnson III, who initially picked off the pass.

Johnson braced himself by placing his hands on the back to separate from Chicago receiver Allen Robinson, but did not shove. It was not flagrant and could have been called either way. Back judge Tony Josselyn saw it differently and pulled his flag. 

Statistically, Fields wound up on the wrong side of some embarrassing numbers. 

Let's start with a net passing yardage of just one yard. The Bears compiled 47 total yards on 42 plays. They owned the football for a shade over 20 minutes, were held to six first downs (two by penalty) and converted just once on third down in 11 attempts.  Stunning stats for a 2021 National Football League game.

Fields was either hit or dropped on 24 of his 31 dropbacks, Garrett and Jadeveon Clowney, who had two sacks,  accounting for 11 of the 15 quarterback hits. The defensive line disrupted the rhythm and timing of every pass play.

The Cleveland offense, which spent the better part of the fist two weeks of the season bailing out the defense, played well enough to win against a Bears defense that gave the offensive line fits all afternoon in the passing game, dropping Baker Mayfield five times.

The first half resembled an old-fashioned football game befitting the Browns' 75th anniversary throwback uniforms. Lots of defense, slobber-knocking offense and very few points on the scoreboard. The Browns held a 10-3 lead.

The Browns drove deep into Chicago territory on their first two possessions, only to fail twice on fourth down, Mayfield sacked on both occasions as head coach Kevin Stefanski unwisely disdained a field goal from a makeable distance (38 yards) on the second..

The third drive got as far as the Chicago 39 early in the second quarter and this time, Stefanski figured it was time to put points on the board. From 57 yards. What in the world was he thinking? He eschewed one from 38, but 57 was a gimme?

But McLaughlin, who most likely silenced the critics seriously wondering whether he is the next Phil Dawson, was perfect from long distance all afternoon, sneaking over the 57-yarder with a couple of feet to spare. Everything was right down the middle, which has to at least build a bridge of trust with his head coach.

Mayfield was sharp when he needed to be. His biggest throw was an 18-yard back-shoulder pass to Donovan Peoples-Jones on third down deep in Cleveland territory in the final minutes of the first half when it looked as though Stefanski would settle for a 3-3 tie at halftime.

It kick-started a drive that featured intelligent clock management, the catching and running of Kareem Hunt, who accounted for 41 yards of the 12-play, 89-yard possession, and a terrific 13-yard scoring strike to Austin Hooper on a skinny post, the tight end beating safety Eddie Jackson to the spot with 19 seconds left.

When it was established this game belonged to the Cleveland defense, Stefanski went conservative in the second half. That meant a lot of Nick Chubb and Hunt and bleeding of the clock as they scored on four of their five possessions, not counting the three kneeldowns at the end of the game. The ground game accounted for 128 of the 194 second-half yardage.

Hunt, who totaled 155 yards on 16 touches, capped his bountiful afternoon on the second play of the fourth quarter, capping a six-play, 75-yard drive with a pretty 29-yard scoring jaunt, slipping a tackle at the Chicago 20 after cutting inside a Joel Bitonio block at the point of attack. He accounted for 59 of those yards.

If nothing else, the defense's performance at least temporarily silences those on the verge of calling for defensive coordinator Joe Woods' head. It also conjures up a question after watching such an awful display of offense: Did the Browns win this game because they were so good or because the Bears were so bad?

Maybe it was the throwback uniforms.