TAMPA — Todd Monken’s first victory as Cleveland Browns coach required a comeback, a final defensive stand and enough patience to outlast a weather delay that lasted more than two hours.
Cleveland’s 23-19 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was hardly clean. The Browns trailed by 10 points in the third quarter, settled for field goals for most of the day and had their final defensive possession divided into separate shifts by severe weather. Still, after the disaster against Jacksonville, this was a much better way to spend a Sunday — even if Sunday nearly stretched into Monday.
The Good: Todd Monken’s First Win
Nobody reasonable was putting Todd Monken on the hot seat after one game, but his debut was not exactly bad ass. Cleveland fell behind Jacksonville 31-0 before eventually losing 34-10, which is about as rough as a first day on the job can get.
That is why I feel great for Monken after he earned his first win. He must feel even better, and he should.
His team is flawed, and it played a flawed game. But the Browns hung around, chipped away, eventually forced Baker Mayfield to be Baker Mayfield, endured a lengthy weather delay and came away with a gritty, well-deserved win.
Congrats, Coach Monken. Enjoy this one, and may you have many more, sir.
The Bad: Poor Tackling
Cleveland’s defense deserves plenty of credit for allowing only one touchdown, but the tackling was far too loose. Tampa Bay’s opening drive of the second half included several missed opportunities to get ball carriers on the ground, allowing the Buccaneers to keep moving before Emeka Egbuka’s touchdown extended the lead to 16-6.
Ronnie Hickman embodied the uneven afternoon. He sacked Mayfield in the second quarter to help force a punt, but Mayfield later escaped pressure and stiff-armed Hickman to the ground while extending a drive. Hickman was not alone, but that play illustrated the problem: Cleveland cannot expect its pass rush and coverage to erase missed tackles every week. If the Browns want to build on this win, they must clean up the basics before a better offense makes them pay.
The Ugly: The Weather Delay
There are ugly interceptions, ugly penalties and ugly play calls. Then there is sitting through more than two hours of severe weather with the game stopped at the two-minute warning and the Buccaneers driving for a potential winning score.
The delay erased all momentum and turned the final two minutes into the conclusion of a double feature nobody purchased. Even after play resumed, Tampa Bay moved close enough to make the wait uncomfortable all over again.
Cleveland survived it, which makes the story easier to laugh about. The Browns waited out the storm, stopped Mayfield on fourth down and left Tampa Bay with a dub. After the opening-week embarrassment against Jacksonville, the ugly conditions and an imperfect performance looks way better after a win.
