CLEVELAND — If there were any doubts about who was the starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns for the rest of the season, that was put to rest on Sunday.
Veteran QB Joe Flacco threw for 311 yards and three touchdown passes as the Browns beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 31-27, Sunday afternoon at Cleveland Browns Stadium.
The Browns defense forced four turnovers, including intercepting Trevor Lawrence three times and sacked him four times.
David Njoku caught six passes for 91 yards and two touchdowns.
Cleveland improves to 8-5.
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The Browns got on the board first when Flacco threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to David Njoku to take a 7-0 lead. The two connected again in the second quarter on a 30-yard touchdown strike to extend it to 14-0.
Jacksonville got a break when they forced and recovered an Amari Cooper fumble. Two plays later, Lawrence found Evan Engram for a 10-yard touchdown to cut Cleveland’s lead to 14-7 at halftime.
Anthony Walker Jr. forced and recovered a fumble to start the second half for Cleveland. Kareem Hunt’s four-yard touchdown run increased it to 21-7.
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The Jaguars sacked and forced a Flacco fumble which they recovered with 7:34 left in the third quarter. Travis Etienne Jr. scored a one-yard touchdown to get them back within a score, 21-14, after three quarters.
The Browns intercepted Lawrence for the third time in the game in the fourth quarter and they faced fourth and three from the Jaguars’ 41-yard-line with 12:34 left. Flacco connected with David Bell in the open field for a 41-yard touchdown to give Cleveland a 28-14 lead.
Jacksonville would not go away as Lawrence found Parker Washington for a 19-yard touchdown pass as they trailed, 28-21.
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Dustin Hopkins added a 55-yard field goal with 3:10 remaining and Evan Engram’s second touchdown catch of the day for the Jaguars cut it to 31-27. But the Browns sacked Lawrence on an attempted two-point conversion and recovered the onside kick to seal the win.
Cleveland will host Chicago on Sunday, December 17, at 1 p.m. at Cleveland Browns Stadium.
The game will be broadcast on 1290 and 95-7, WHIO Radio.
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