The Cleveland Browns did it again. For the fourth time this year, the team managed a late-game drive to pull off a one-score win, 13-10, over Baltimore and though they might well be considered the least convincing 4-2, first-place NFL team in the NFL–their point differential is minus-16 for the season–that doesn’t much matter. This team won eight games combined in the past two seasons, so no one in Northeast Ohio is going to turn their noses up at four wins in six weeks, however unsightly they might be. While the team might be lacking offensive playmakers, make no mistake, they’ve got defensive playmakers–Carson Schwesinger especially.
The star linebacker, for the second week in a row, forced a fourth-quarter fumble that gave the Browns the chance to win. While they did not convert the turnover into points in Week 5 in New York (quite the opposite), they were able to take the fumble forced by Schwesinger on a run by Derrick Henry and turn it into a 35-yard touchdown drive that tied the game at 10.
Carson Schwesinger Hobbled by Ankle Injury
What’s most remarkable about the play by Schwesinger, who had 13 tackles in the game, was that there was a strong chance he was not going to play in this one, and indeed, some would have sat out the game if they’d had the same ankle injury that Schwesinger suffered a week ago against New York. He missed Browns practice all week until Friday, when he finally suited up and tested the ankle.
Even still, he was a game-time decision. He decided to play. He explained after the game about the state of the ankle and what went into him playing.
Said Schwesinger: “It’s just like every other week, you try to do everything you can obviously, try to make up and watch practice, do everything I can to get out on the field. That was basically it. … You just try to do everything you can through the week, and part of that is rest, so you don’t test it out until that day. And so, that was really that process, and once that happened, I mean, I was—I felt like I was good to go.”
Browns Focused on Turnovers
Schwesinger said the Browns have put more of an emphasis on forcing more turnovers this season, and punching the ball out is something he worked on this offseason.
He said, “We talk about, the ball is oxygen. And that’s something that was big in the offseason for me and trying to find ways to get the ball out in the run game. So we were able to get one of those and get on top of it and get the ball, and put the offense in a good position to score and really be able to get the momentum going.”
Browns’ Carson Schwesinger Reveals Injury Update After Ravens Win