The Jameis Winston rollercoaster was on full display during the Browns loss to the Broncos
DENVER – Jerry Jeudy almost became homecoming king.
He only slowed down Monday night to catch the cheers of fans who once supported him, but the Jameis Winston rollercoaster fell off the track with two picks in the final two minutes.
The Cleveland Browns rewrote some records, but not the overall story of their disappointing season, as Winston threw for a franchise-best 497 yards and four touchdowns but also had a pair of interceptions that the host Denver Broncos returned for scores.
The Browns, no longer boring but still bad, couldn’t overcome their sloppiness and Winston’s three turnovers. Broncos cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian’s 44-yard interception return with 1:48 remaining came as the Browns were driving to set up a possible go-ahead field goal attempt.
But that Winston whiplash only led to more disappointment as the Broncos scored the final 10 points to secure a 41-32 victory in a game that featured five lead changes and 163 yards of touchdown passes in 11 seconds in the third quarter.
The Broncos improved to 8-5 and moved one step closer to securing a playoff berth. The Browns suffered their fifth straight road loss, falling to 3-9.
“I ruined it for us, in front of the whole world,” Winston said.
MCMILLIAN PICK-SIX TO MAKE IT POSSIBLE.
📺: #CLEvsDEN on ESPN
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/byTyDJ5y47—NFL (@NFL) December 3, 2024
Jeudy had nine receptions for 235 yards, the most yards by a receiver against his former team in NFL history. He repeatedly sprinted past the Broncos’ secondary and also blew past his previous career-best game of 154 receiving yards in the 2022 season finale.
Winston and Jeudy connected on a 70-yard touchdown early in the third quarter to get Cleveland within three. In the fourth quarter, Jeudy joined Cincinnati Bengals star Ja’Marr Chase as the only players to record 200-yard receiving games this season. Winston bettered his single-game record of 458 passing yards in 2019 and Josh McCown’s Browns record of 457 in 2015. But after the Broncos settled for a field goal and a two-point lead in the final three minutes, McMillian intercepted on the sideline route essentially ended the chances of Winston making a comeback on his big night.
“Bad throw,” Winston said, making it clear he didn’t want to go into further details.
Despite Jeudy’s dominance of multiple coverages in Denver, Cleveland didn’t have him on the field when McMillian made the interception. Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said Jeudy was taking a break. Maybe it wouldn’t have mattered, but that’s the kind of strange call — the call came on the first play after the two-minute warning — that’s tied this Browns team all year. In early October, Stefanski said several times that Deshaun Watson gave them the best chance to win, and he stuck with Watson despite the quarterback never throwing for 200 yards in a game and Cleveland never reaching 20 points in his seven starts.
Watson threw for just 421 yards in his last three starts and had just five touchdown passes all season. Winston was just a few decisions away from surpassing that single-game touchdown total on Monday night.
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Jeudy backed up his previous statement that he has “been open my entire career” with another explosive performance against the team that traded him to Cleveland in March.
He had just one reception in each of Watson’s last three starts. Elijah Moore and Cedric Tillman have also become playmakers in the Winston-led offense. Clearly, the hesitation to change quarterbacks ended any chance the Browns could salvage this season, and what was a joyless and relatively hopeless offensive operation had its best performance Monday night with 552 yards and 28 first downs before the fun ended with Winston’s late interceptions.
The Browns reached the 2-yard line while trailing by two scores with 44 seconds left before Winston threw into traffic and was intercepted for the third time by Cody Barton.
“I think we played our butts everywhere,” Jeudy said. “We just couldn’t finish it the way we had to. That was a great team we faced. We just have to find a way to finish it.”
Moore, the intended recipient of the McMillian interception, said the Broncos cornerback was undermining the route. Moore blamed himself for hesitating and not making sure to touch McMillian immediately afterwards, allowing McMillian to get back to his feet and sprint for the touchdown.
Late in the first half, Nik Bonitto read Winston’s eyes on a pass he stepped in front of and returned for a 71-yard score.
BRONCOS PICK SIX
📺: #CLEvsDEN on ESPN
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/X8eJpG9yUj—NFL (@NFL) December 3, 2024
“I just pray that the Lord delivers me from the six,” Winston said.
Yes, he really said that. He actually did that, releasing six passes that resulted in touchdowns: four for his team and two for the Broncos. He went to Jeudy on the Browns’ first game of the night for a gain of 44 and wisely kept going back. Jeudy encouraged the home crowd to boo louder after his first reception, and after his touchdown and subsequent two-point conversion, he posed and invited the hate.
“They only cheer when they know there’s something great inside you,” Jeudy said.
Entering Monday night, Jeudy was 29th in the NFL with 645 receiving yards and tied for 25th with 14.3 yards per reception. Now he is tied with CeeDee Lamb of the Dallas Cowboys for fifth with 880 receiving yards and ninth with 16.3 yards per reception.
For much of the night, it looked like Winston would make a splash as well — and perhaps even in Cleveland’s future plans. He had a perfect passer rating in the second quarter. On his first two touchdowns, he showed some touch, putting the ball in different parts of the end zone where only David Njoku could get it. The second for Njoku came late in the first half and followed Bonitto’s interception, allowing the Browns to keep it at one score.
Early in the third quarter, Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix threw a 93-yard touchdown strike to Marvin Mims Jr. The Browns answered on the next play with Winston’s 70-yard pass to Jeudy.
But in the end, keeping it close – and Winston almost overnight for the ages – ended with Cleveland doing its best. Even as the defense forced the Broncos into two second-half field goals and intercepted Nix twice, Denver got its defenders in the right places at the most crucial times.
“The team doesn’t deserve that,” Winston said. “Bad throws. I have to be better.”
(Photo: David Zalubowski / Associated Press)
