Saved by a rookie

You just knew the Browns couldn't win their first season-opening game since 2004 the easy way. It's not in their DNA.

Oh no, not with this franchise, whose bad luck always seems to lurk in the shadows in openers with misfortune not far behind. It happened again Sunday down in North Carolina after seemingly comfortable leads of 14-0 late in the first half and 20-7 after three quarters against the Carolina Panthers evaporated.

In previous years, all 17 of them in fact before Sunday, all hope by fans disappeared and foretold losing seasons. Whatever will go wrong . . . well you know the rest by now. 

What they expected, though, was not what they received. It took a rookie kicker, not at all accustomed to the woebegone ways for Cleveland professional football, to change the dynamic in a you-had-to-see-it-to-believe-it 26-24 victory over the Carolina Panthers and ex-Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield.

It sure appeared the Panthers would become the 15th National Football League team since 1999 to beat the Browns in game one with a comeback that looked all too familiar, taking advantage of one secondary lapse in the first half and another late in the final quarter to score easy touchdowns and take a 24-23 lead with 73 seconds left in the game.

Browns fans have become inured, almost resigned, to such situations. It was happening all over again after Mayfield, after a first-half snooze caused mainly by a lightning-quick Cleveland defense that featured a savage pass rush, recovered in the second half and led a comeback with a 17-point fourth quarter against his former team.

There goes another one. fans probably thought. But this time, they were wrong. Very wrong. And it seemed as though head coach Kevin Stefanski knew that all along. He wisely used all of his timeouts as the Panthers, down by just two, went conservative after reaching the Cleveland 15 in the final two minutes, setting up an Eddy Pineiro 34-yard field goal to take their first lead of the game at 24-23.

There was a method to Stefanski's calm madness -- and a big break from the officials -- as a secret weapon waited patiently along the sideline. Jacoby Brissett, erratic a good part of the afternoon in his first start as a Brown, failed to connect with Donovan People-Jones on his first pass. 

As he threw, he tumbled backward after being hit initially by Panthers defensive end Brian Burns, who bull-rushed Cleveland offensive tackle Jedrick Wills Jr right into the quarterback and the two fell into him simultaneously. Referee Brad Rogers didn't see it that way and flagged Burns for roughing. An iffy (lucky?) call at best.

Two plays later, Brissett connected with DPJ, this time for 13 clutch yards at the Carolina 49 with 47 seconds left. After a spike, another clutch throw found Amari Cooper at the 40 with 13 seconds left. The unflappable Stefanski listened to his gambling gene and called for another spike -- on third down and one!

His secret weapon was ready. In trotted baby-faced rookie placekicker Cade York with eight seconds left and the game on the line. That's all. Just the game. The fruits and labors of his teammates for fifty-nine minutes and 52 seconds were on the line, too.

Wasn't this the reason General Manager Andrew Berry surprisingly drafted York in the fourth round of the last college draft? Win games when the difference between winning and losing those games rest on your shoulders. Or foot.

Well, you're up young man. You can begin your legacy right now by kicking a yard field goal to win this game. Not just any field goal. How about 58 yards? York, who had booted earlier field goals of 26, 34 and 36 yards, made it look easy. Almost routine.

Perfect snap by Charley Hughlett, ditto on the spot by punter Corey Bojorquez and York, whose body language indicated no problem when the ball was on its way, started the ball at the right upright and watched it gently hook toward the goalpost and sail about 10 yards beyond the crossbar right down the middle.

Just like that, the atomic leg of the rookie made certain the Browns' 17-game winless streak in openers was history. 

There is an NFL-record field goal in that young man's future. That now belongs to Baltimore's Justin Tucker, who set the mark about a year ago with a 66-yarder that beat Detroit. The Browns' longest field goal, by the way, is a 60-yarder by Steve Cox, a punter whose strong leg was used occasionally for long field goals, way back in 1984.

If not for two blown coverages by the Cleveland secondary, this one would have been a laugher with the defense forcing four fumbled snaps by Mayfield, who seemed overhyped for the game and committed numerous errors. The defense also generated five tipped Mayfield passes and four sacks, including consecutive thunderous blasts by Myles Garrett on the Panthers' first possession of the second half.

Mayfield's first five possessions totaled 19 plays, generated just 13 yards and took only nine minutes off the clock, It resulted in a trio of three-and-outs, four punts and a Grant Delpit interception. It led to the first Cleveland touchdown in the second quarter, a one-yard scoring pass to Kareem Hunt, who scored again on a 24-yard bolt up the middle on the next possession.

The defense dominated until blown coverage number one found Panthers tight end Ian Thomas all alone down the seam for 50 yards before free safety John Johnson III ran him down at the Cleveland two with about two minutes left in the first half. Christian McCaffrey, held to 57 total yards on just 14 touches, scored on a dive from the one two plays later. 

Mayfield later crafted a nice 11-play, 75-yard drive that began at the tailend of the third quarter and finished in the fourth. On third and five at the Cleveland seven, he couldn't find an open receiver but took advantage of a Cleveland defense that left the middle wide open and scampered seven easy yards for the score.

Blown coverage number two arrived one play after York's 36-yarder built a seemingly comfortable 23-14 lead. Mayfield, by now looking much more confident, found wide receiver Robbie Anderson breaking wide open on a deep post with Delpit the nearest Brown about 15 yards away. It looked as though he expected help deep.

The 75-yard strike with six minutes left in regulation made it a two-point game and no doubt triggered those nagging "here were go again" thoughts in Browns Nation. This one, however, was destined to end a lot differently.

And one that will be remembered for a long time.