BALTIMORE, Md. — The Browns had one final chance at generating some offensive sparks against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday night.
But with under 90 seconds to play, their two top rushers were on the sideline.
Both Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt were out of the game with D’Ernest Johnson as the lone running back. Cleveland went on to turn the ball over on downs in a 16-10 loss to its AFC North division foe.
Given the game situation with under two minutes to play, typically Hunt would be in for the drive considering he adds a different kind of versatility with his ability to generate offense in the pass game as well.
But there was a hang-up to the usual plan. Ahead of Sunday’s game, Hunt was just activated off of injured reserve after missing five games due to a calf injury. He suffered the injury against the Arizona Cardinals, and was experiencing tightness in his leg going into that final drive, according to coach Kevin Stefanski.
“Two-minute drive, typically that’s Kareem,” Stefanski said. “He was tight, his leg was tight.”
During the drive, quarterback Baker Mayfield threw three incomplete passes. Facing fourth-and-10, he found tight end David Njoku for a 7-yard gain, but Njoku was unable to break a tackle as Ravens linebacker Tyus Bowser brought him down.
Chubb and Hunt finished the evening with a combined 36 yards on just 15 carries. Twenty of those yards came in the first half.
The longest run for either was when Hunt ripped off a nine-yard run with about 12 minutes to play. For most of the evening, Ravens defenders were daring Mayfield and the Browns offense to make vertical pass plays. They continuously stacked the box, and multiple times had as many as 10 defenders on the line with only one defensive back deep, all focused on stopping Cleveland’s rushing attack.
“I think they played how they play,” Stefanski said of the Ravens. “That’s certainly how they play. We just didn’t run it efficiently enough.”
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