CLEVELAND ― The scoreboard said the Browns were trailing the Baltimore Ravens. It also said the game was going into the fourth quarter.
In other words, Cleveland had their AFC North rivals right where they wanted them. So, what's going through the Browns' players' minds?
"I mean, s---, I don't want to lose," rookie wide receiver KC Concepcion said afterwards. "Whatever we got to do in the fourth quarter, second half to get the job done, we are going to find a way."
Sure enough, the Browns found a way to turn three quarters of frustration into a fourth quarter capped by jubilation. Andre Szmyt's 37-yard field goal on an untimed down following a Ravens penalty gave them a 13-10 come-from-behind win over Baltimore.
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Szmyt's game-winner came after a 42-yard kick as time expired was blocked by the Ravens. However, they were offsides, allowing the extra, untimed down and a kick five yards closer.
That game-winner came a drive after Szmyt had missed just left a 48-yard field goal with 3:40 remaining. That miss snapped a streak of 25 consecutive made field goals, dating back to Week 8 of the 2025 season.
"Yeah, honestly, going that way, I thought it was a left-right wind," Szmyt said. "So I tried to play it more left, kind of like I did the Steelers kick a couple weeks ago, and it just stayed left, you know, So I was like, OK. whatever. You can see kind of on the last kick, it kind of has that little bit of left to right kind of fade to it, which is what I expected on the last one. But you flush it, you look at what the wind's doing and kind of move on."
The Browns are now 4-2, tied with the Ravens and Pittsburgh by overall record on top of the AFC North, the latest into the season they've been in first place since 2014. However, their 2-0 division record gives them an edge over the Steelers (1-1 in division) and Ravens (0-1) in terms of tiebreakers.
That division record is solely courtesy of wins like the one the Browns came away with against the Ravens. Somehow, someway, just find a way to weather whatever storms may come up, get to the fourth quarter and go win the game.
They overcame a Steelers comeback in Week 4 to win on Szmyt's 56-yard field goal with 10 seconds left. This time, they overcame a 10-0 deficit for the first two-and-a-half quarters to score 13 points in the final 22:48.
"We're just motivated," wide receiver Jerry Jeudy said. "We're determined to win each and every week, we come in with the mindset to win the game no matter what the score is. We don't really pay attention to the scoreboard. We focus on each play, one play at a time. When you got a bunch of guys that just want to win and do whatever it takes to win, you're going to find a way."
That record may be 0-2 in the division if not for Jeudy, who once again had a game-defining catch on the winning drive. There were two catches for 27 yards on the drive to set up Szmyt's kick against Pittsburgh.
This time, Jeudy helped the Browns overcome a third-and-5 situation from their own 38 with a 33-yard catch and run to the Ravens 29 with 22 seconds remaining. Three running plays and 20 seconds later, Szmyt was lining up for the first of two chances, thanks to the Baltimore penalty, to win the game.
"It's all in confidence," quarterback Deshaun Watson said. "This is what we practice for. We practice it all off season. We practice it every week. And then once we get in that huddle, I take charge and look every single one of those guys in the eyes and let them know that opportunities are going to come, let's finish it. Let's go win. Let's go be the legends and all the work that we put in is here for us.
"So yeah, it's just a confidence thing. It's a still peaceful moment that I'm in and they feed off the energy that I bring. And I just tell the guys again, I told Jerry, 'Hey man, be ready on that in-cut.' And he was ready for it and made a big play."
Watson finished the game 16-of-26 for 164 yards, with five sacks and a 79.6 passer rating. However, he was 13-of-17 for 140 yards in the second half after starting a woeful 3-of-9 for 24 yards and three sacks in the first 30 minutes.
This wasn't quite the fourth-quarter version of Watson who had appeared in the first two Browns' home games. He was still a solid 8-of-12 for 94 yards in the fourth quarter and, most importantly, avoided any negative plays like sacks or turnovers.
"I mean, we go a half feeling like, did we even meet this week, coaching?," Browns coach Todd Monken said. "I mean, did we just take the week off and show up freaking today? I’m joking. But when you put a lot of work into it and you do that, forget the players, as coaches you’re like, ‘boy, we could have just rolled out the same damn game plan last week and done that.’ And Deshaun, he knows he can play better. We can play better around him, but he’s just got something in him, the ability to make a play when needed. We just kind of flatten out some of the other ups and downs that we have."
That wasn't the case for Watson or the Browns a week ago in the rain against the New York Jets, when they saw their three-game win streak wash away in a series of self-inflicted wounds. A week later, they were getting a fourth-quarter, game-tying touchdown from a running back, Audric Estime, who wasn't even with the Browns for the Jets loss.
Estime's 2-yard run with 8:33 remaining was on only his seventh carry with the team, having been picked up off the Minnesota Vikings' practice squad Oct. 13. Both he and Jaleel McLaughlin each had nine carries, with Estime gaining 19 yards and McLaughlin 41.
Those 18 combined carries and 60 combined yards were needed with running back Quinshon Judkins sidelined with an ankle injury. They were also one more carry and two more yards than the Ravens' Derrick Henry (17 carries, 58 yards) gained.
"It feels amazing, honestly," Estime said. "This team took me in, and they treated me like I've been here all offseason, the whole year. And it was a long week having to learn a playbook, but I got great guys around me. I have a lot of great coaches who helped me get adjusted. I have a lot of good teammates who helped me get adjusted. And it just feels amazing to get to win the first game."
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ. Sign up for Browns Insider newsletter at https://profile.beaconjournal.com/newsletters/browns-insider/
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Where's Browns' 4th-quarter magic come from? 'S---, I don't want to lose'
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