LANDOVER, MD — The Cleveland Browns defense made life miserable for Washington Commanders quarterback Carson Wentz in a 24-10 victory Sunday afternoon at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland.
The Browns defense intercepted Wentz three times and also sacked him three times. The three interceptions are a season high for Cleveland.
Wentz was named the starter in place of Taylor Heinke, who was benched in their Christmas Eve loss at San Francisco.
Cleveland quarterback Deshaun Watson completed only nine passes out of 16 attempts, but three went for touchdowns. Two of them went to wide receiver Amari Cooper. He caught three passes for 105 yards. Running back Nick Chubb rushed for 104 yards.
The Browns improve to 7-9 overall.
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Denzel Ward intercepted Wentz for the Browns’ first interception of the game in the first quarter which let to Cade York 37-yard field goal to put them up, 3-0, after one quarter.
Wentz threw his second interception of the game to Grant Delpit, drawing loud chorus of boos from the Commanders faithful. Washington forced the Browns to a three-and-out and their next offensive series, Wentz threw a 20-yard completion to Jahan Dotson on third and 17 for a Washington first down. They drove to the Cleveland one-yard line where Wentz scored on fourth and goal to cap a 21 play, 96-yard drive and give Washington a 7-3 halftime lead.
The Browns took control in the third quarter when Watson threw a 46-yard touchdown pass to Cooper to give them a 10-7 lead. The defense forced the Commanders to punt and Cleveland drove 84-yards on 12 plays, capped by a 13-yard touchdown catch by Donovan People-Jones to extend the advantage to 17-7 heading into the final quarter.
Washington got closer as Joey Slye’s 43-yard field goal cut the lead to 17-10. Cleveland responded with a nine play, 75-yard scoring drive that Watson capped with a 33-yard touchdown pass to Amari Cooper to expand it 24-10 with 5:21 remaining. The Browns defense helped seal the game on a Delpit interception in the end zone and stopping the Commanders on downs with 2:08 to play.
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Cleveland concludes the 2022 season at Pittsburgh on January 8. The Browns were eliminated from the playoffs in their Christmas Eve home loss to the New Orleans Saints.
The Browns and Steelers game will be broadcast on WHIO Radio.
The game will be Sunday but time is yet to be determined.