CLEVELAND — The Browns and 49ers entered Sunday's game with San Francisco 9.5 favorites to win. The Browns, who started their practice squad quarterback P.J. Walker and had their Pro Bowl left guard Joel Bitonio sidelined with injury, faced what seemed like a tall task taking on the then-undefeated Niners.
Even the players knew most had counted them out.
"I'm sure a lot of so-called experts didn't pick us to win. I mean, we were 2-2. they were what, 5-0? So that's an easy pick, so to speak," wide receiver Amari Cooper said.
However, the Browns weren't shaken or rattled by being underdogs—and they certainly weren't rattled when the 49ers took their winning expectations one step too far for Cleveland.
Just before kickoff, a scuffle between the two teams broke out on the sideline. After an exchange of words, Niners receiver Deebo Samuel ran up to Browns safety Juan Thornhill and shoves were exchanged. Browns safety D'Anthony Bell shoved Samuel and receiver Brandon Aiyuk joined in to shove Bell.
The scuffle grew and both teams saw their players join in to defend their respective teammates. Eventually, officials were able to intervene and break up the fight.
After the game, why that fight broke out was made clear.
During the pregame warmups, the Browns saw the 49ers trying to intimidate them, staring them down, interrupting their drills, and taking over the Browns' space.
"As a DB unit we’re working out, doing our drills and we see the whole team staring at us, they’re taking up our space and basically telling us to get out of the way. So I felt like that was real disrespectful. So I felt like that set us off," Thornhill said.
For the Browns, the opposing team treating them like that in their house wouldn't be tolerated. That was a sign of disrespect.
“I felt like it was a sign of disrespect. You don't walk into somebody else's house and just push them around. It was like coming in and stepping on somebody's couch, and a lot of dudes didn't tolerate it and I didn't feel like I didn't, either," running back Jerome Ford said.
So when one Browns player had enough—the rest joined in and had each other's backs.
“We ain’t going to let anyone come into first off my hometown,” running back Kareem Hunt said. “Not just my team, but my hometown, and talk that mess on the field. We have to come in here and defend it and play every home game like that. Everybody is coming in here trying to disrespect us and we can’t allow that.”
The Browns rallied around the disrespect as a way to make a statement. After the scuffle, sights were set on responding the best way they knew how—to give Cleveland a win.
It was especially important for Thornhill, who said he knew what was being said about his team heading into the game, even by some Browns fans. He didn't appreciate the disrespect from the Niners—but was truly hurt by the doubt from some in the fan base.
"It pissed me off just seeing that we had some of our fans not believing in us, and obviously the 49ers thought they were gonna come in here and walk all over us," Thornhill said. "Like I said, I believed all week and we came out with this win."
In the end, the Browns were able to put some solid offensive drives together. Quarterback P.J. Walker led the way. The first touchdown and only touchdown for Cleveland came from a little wrinkle in the run game—a beautifully scripted toss from tight end Harrison Bryant back to Hunt who rushed into the end zone and was showered in the day's only bit of sunlight as the clouds broke just as he scored.
"That's a pretty cool deal. I guess the Gods are happy I was back in the end zone or something," Hunt said of the moment."
Defensively, the Browns were able to play their brand of football, limiting 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy to 125 yards, picking him off once (cornerback MJ Emerson's first career interception), and sacking him twice, courtesy of linebackers Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and Sione Takitaki.
Still, it was really a special teams battle, with the game quite literally decided by field goals. Browns kicker Dustin Hopkins was able to show just why the Browns traded for him before the season began, bouncing back from an early missed field goal to make each of his four other attempts and put the Browns on top. 49ers' kicker Jake Moody wasn't as fortunate, missing the would-be game-winning 41-yard field goal with seconds left.
As he missed, the Browns realized their work had paid off and they had gotten the win.
"I for sure was praying that he missed it. And I don't generally do that, but we needed that one, man. So I had to do what I had to do. And I talked to a couple guys, JOK, Elijah [Moore], they all said the same thing. So that definitely strengthened my faith if I'm being 100% honest," Cooper said.
It wasn't always the prettiest—some turnovers here, some penalties there. But a win is a win. And this win, one that was prefaced by a strongly perceived sense of doubt and disrespect, probably feels a little better than most for the Browns—and perhaps could set a new tone heading into the rest of the season.
"This could be the turning point. When a lot of people don’t believe in you and you just show the world that you’re actually good enough to compete with anybody at this level, I feel like this could be the time for us to take off and make everybody believe what we’re really about," Thornhill said.
For the Browns, there's hope this win has provided a lesson for fans and other teams around the NFL—never count the Browns out.
"It says we've got that dog in us and we're a tough, accountable, resilient team," Ford said.
