Snatching a victory
from jaws of defeat

Six minutes and five seconds remained in the third quarter of Sunday's National Football League game between the hometown Browns and Chicago Bears and I had a feeling at that point as to the outcome. 

The Bears had just taken a 17-7 lead and the Browns showed no signs whatsoever of indicating that observation was improbable and seriously understating it. In fact, just about no one saw it coming. 

"This one's over," I wrote in my notes at that point after the Bears had taken a 17-7 lead on a Cairo Santos field goal. Why so early? What made it so evident? Lack of faith? Not with this team. More injuries? To an extent when guard Joel Bitonio left with a back injury early in the fist half.

There was just something about this one that said winning will have to wait one more week this time. The Browns have exhausted their comeback victories for the season. Couldn't put my finger on why not, though. 

And that is why the 20-17 Browns victory that slowly unraveled ranks as one of the most improbable, stunning, mind-blowing, how-in-the-world-did-that-happen, come-from-behind victories this iteration of the franchise has recorded. If I hadn't seen it, I would never have believed it.

Practically nothing worked for the Browns. Until it did.

The run game was hardly used. Not sure why. Joe Flacco, who had a Jekyll-Hyde afternoon, finally floated back down to Earth with three more interceptions that helped set up all the Bears points before resurrecting himself in the second half. It all had the feel of a loss because there didn't seem to be any effort to find ways of changing the situation.

The offense, which knows how good their defense is, discovered the Bears' just might be a little better,  much more opportunistic and crazily disruptive. Once getting the lead in the second quarter, they threw just about everything at Flacco, who was sacked four times, 2.5 by Montez Sweat, and hounded  mercilessly.

As it was, the Browns were fortunate to be on the wrong end of just a 17-7 score at the time. That's because the Chicago offense isn't very good and couldn't put the Browns away, in part thanks to a defense that hung around long enough to finally do something about it.

This team has been through so much this season in their efforts to win games, nothing after this would seem improbable. And yet, in real time, I had this feeling their good fortune was about to run out. even as it played out. The postseason was slipping away.

It lingered into the final quarter. The Browns hung around, desperately looking for something, anything that would serve as a jolt of inspiration to get them focused on the task at hand.

And then there was a glimmer, a spark that suggested this one wasn't over just yet. Rookie cornerback Cameron Mitchell made the play of the day on the first snap of the fourth quarter, dropping scrambling Chicago quarterback Justin Fields shy of a first down on fourth-and-one at the Cleveland 40.

It was almost as though Flacco took a clue from the big play, booking a sizzling second half, hitting on 14 of 21 in the final 30 minutes for 234 yards and a scoring strike of 51 yards to Amari Cooper that tied the score after completing 14 of 23 for 134 yards in the opening half.

The Browns defense, by now looking a lot like the one that was so spectacular at the beginning of the season, recorded their eighth three-and-out in 15 possessions and turned the game over to Flacco, who connected with David Njoku on throws of 31 and 34 yards that moved the ball to the Chicago 15, where Dustin Hopkins, per usual, delivered the final dagger from 34 yards.

But this being the Browns and their unpredictable selves this season, nothing is assumed. Fields found Tyler Scott for 30 yards at the Cleveland 45 against soft coverage. It was his final completion of the day, but not his final heave. The final Hail Mary toss to the Cleveland end zone wound up in the the hands of Browns safety D'Anthony Bell.

Drama there, too. Television replays showed Bears wide receiver Darnell Toomey, in the group  gathered in the end zone in the event of a deflection, was on the receiving end of such a deflection. He actually had the football in his arms before losing it with Bell on the recovery for the interception.

Considering the way this season has gone for the now 9-5 Browns, this result is a microcosm of their journey thus far. There's a charm about this team that's hard to define. Tough and resilient come immediately to mind. Lucky, too, but that's because they create their own luck through hard work. 

It has also become obvious they love playing at home at 7-1, ending the home schedule against the New York Jets (and Aaron Rodgers?) with road games at Houston next Sunday and Cincinnati in the regular-season finale.

The postseason has been the main goal. And now they are on the precipice. They arrive a physically battered group wearing, for the most part, the scars of victory. The latest one, though, will be remembered as the most satisfying.