On paper, the Cleveland Browns put together their best back-to-back series of Sunday’s game late in the fourth quarter, driving 53 yards on the first possession and scoring their only touchdown on the second.
But the numbers don’t tell the story. Those series are when the Washington Redskins’ defense rose up like no other unit that 11th-year middle linebacker London Fletcher can remember.
Yes, the Browns eventually scored, but it took them seven snaps from inside the Washington 10 to cross the goal line. That effort consumed more than three minutes and made the Browns to try to force overtime on a last-second, 54-yard field goal try that went wide, preserving a 14-11 Redskins victory.
“I can’t remember having to do it like that, having to have two goal-line type stands in such a short period of time,” Fletcher said. “[The first series] was a great stop. If they get a touchdown there, maybe the game goes a little bit different.”
This game ended differently than the previous Sunday’s, when the defense shut down St. Louis all day only to give up a 43-yard pass that set up the game-winning, last-second goal by Josh Brown of the previously winless Rams.
“We were feeling bad about how we let the team down,” Fletcher said. “It was a long week for us defensively.”
And a long couple of series Sunday.
On Cleveland’s first play from the 1, Fletcher and tackle Kedric Golston teamed to stop Browns bruiser Jamal Lewis cold. Fletcher blew up a pass in the flat to fullback Charles Ali for a 2-yard loss on second down. Fletcher and cornerback Carlos Rogers prevented Pro Bowl receiver Braylon Edwards from making the catch on third down, and end Demetric Evans knocked away Derek Anderson’s fourth-down pass for Edwards.
NFL rushing leader Clinton Portis fumbled on the next play, putting the defense back on the field at the Washington 29 with 5:39 still to go. After passes to Edwards and Pro Bowl tight end Kellen Winslow made it second-and-goal at the 1, Golston and linebacker Rocky McIntosh thwarted Lewis up the middle before linebacker H.B. Blades and Rogers stopped him on the left side.
Finally, on fourth down, Anderson passed to receiver Josh Cribbs for a touchdown. But even Edwards’ two-point conversion was too little, too late.
“It’s ingrained in everybody on the defense that no matter how we got down there, we’re here and let’s not let them score,” Golston said.
“We needed that [fumble] defensively to go out there and stop them at the end just form a confidence standpoint,” Fletcher added. “You don’t gain confidence until you do something. We’ve had opportunities to seal the deal, and the offense had to bail us out.”
The defense - minus ace cornerback Shawn Springs and with Rogers, cornerback Fred Smoot, safety Chris Horton and end Jason Taylor all having missed practice time during the week because of injuries - more than held up its end against the Browns.
Cleveland, which had savaged the defending champion New York Giants for 454 yards and 28 points (not counting a defensive score) six days earlier, managed 236 yards and 11 points against the Redskins.
“We did more than rebound on defense,” said Redskins coach Jim Zorn, who described his defense as emotional, violent, mean and physical.
Fletcher smiled when he heard those adjectives, but he preferred different ones.
“We played focused football for 60 minutes,” Fletcher said. “We played physical football, intense football.”
In doing so they left hard-to-please coordinator Greg Blache almost giddy.
“We did a great job attacking the line of scrimmage,” said Blache, whose defense came in ranked eighth and should move up after Sunday’s effort. “Those are things you build off of as the season goes along. If somebody’s first-and-goal again, our guys can say, ’We’ve been here before and turned them away.’ I’m very proud of my guys. If they need to borrow the keys to the car, if they need a little bit of extra allowance, they can have it.”
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