The Browns dropped their first of two consecutive home games in Week 13, losing to the 49ers 26-8. Key offensive turnovers on downs and special teams mistakes created opportunities for the 49ers, while the defense was placed in difficult situations to defend against short fields.
"We have to play complementary football to have a chance versus a good football team," head coach Kevin Stefanski said following the game. "It's a good football team that you're facing, and guys fought their butts off, but just not enough, especially with some of the field position that we put them in."
Here are three big takeaways from the Browns' 26-8 loss to the 49ers.
Miscues create short field positions for 49ers
Over the course of the game, the Browns had multiple critical miscues that put the 49ers in good field position to capitalize on – two from special teams mistakes and two from failed fourth-down attempts.
"I mean we killed ourselves today," S Grant Delpit said. "I think they got the ball in plus territory four times; it just put our defense on our heels. And on defense we didn't get any takeaways, we didn't get the ball back. So, then we just killed us in that aspect."
As the Browns were forced to punt the ball on their first offensive drive, P Corey Bojorquez punted the ball 48 yards. 49ers punt returner Sky Moore caught and returned the ball for 66 yards to put San Francisco at Cleveland's 16-yard line. Six plays later, the 49ers turned the field position into a touchdown to give them a 7-0 lead.
In the third quarter as the Browns were moving down the field, they lined up to attempt a fourth-and-1 conversion. However, TE Harold Fannin Jr. fumbled the direct snap, and San Francisco recovered the ball. The 49ers then drove down the field with six runs by RB Christian McCaffrey and a completed pass to TE George Kittle before QB Brock Purdy ran the ball in for a 2-yard touchdown to build their lead to 17-8.
The struggles continued as early in the fourth quarter, punt returner Gage Larvadain muffed a punt at the Cleveland 18-yard line that San Francisco recovered. When the 49ers' offense took the field again, they turned that field position into another touchdown as Purdy connected with WR Jauan Jennings on a 7-yard touchdown pass.
Then, about halfway through the fourth quarter, the Browns went for their second fourth-down conversion on the San Francisco 48-yard line. On fourth-and-16, QB Shedeur Sanders looked to make a play but was sacked for a loss of 10 yards and turned the ball over to the 49ers on downs. San Francisco then used the field position to march down the field and score their final points of the game on a 31-yard field goal attempt.
"That's not the way to play a good team where you're giving them short fields," Stefanski said. "That's not the right, with our defense, we got to make them earn it. And I don't think we did that today."
Defense struggles to contain 49ers on short fields
The Browns' defense had an up-and-down performance, as on five possessions of the 49ers' offensive possessions, they forced San Francisco to punt the ball. However, when the Browns' defense took the field on four of the 49ers' 11 offensive possessions, they were defending on short fields. Even so, DE Myles Garrett didn't allow those types of situations to be an excuse for the defense not being able to create stops.
"We gotta hold those short fields to three or less," Garrett said. "And we know we have a higher standard than what we showed down on the field today."
Over the course of the game, Garrett noted how Purdy released the ball quickly and avoided pressure from the Browns' defensive line. The Browns' defense recorded just one sack by Garrett and seven total quarterback hits on Purdy.
Purdy finished the game completing 16 of 29 passing attempts for 168 passing yards and one touchdown.
"I feel like there were a lot of (opportunities)," Garrett said. "Well, there seemed like there were a lot of ops, with how close it was. But he likes getting out on time or, he sees me, and credit to him, he also avoided the rush pretty well, too. So, him getting the ball out on time, them having a solid unit as well, chipping, those kind of things. They were doing what they do best."
Offense battles in Shedeur Sanders' 2nd start
Alongside the two failed fourth-down attempts, the Browns struggled to move the ball far enough downfield into scoring position consistently. They were forced to punt on four of their nine offensive possessions over the course of the game.
However, as they battled to move the ball, they relied on the run game with 138 rushing yards on 31 carries by six players. RB Quinshon Judkins recorded 23 of those 31 carries, finishing the game with 91 rushing yards and his longest run of the day for 17 yards.
Cleveland scored its lone touchdown on the fourth offensive drive of the game in the second quarter, a scoring drive that had nine consecutive run plays before Sanders connected with Fannin on a 34-yard touchdown pass. The Browns went for the 2-point conversion following the touchdown, which Judkins ran in for 1 yard.
"I thought that was really well executed," Stefanski said. "Thought it was a good call by (offensive coordinator) Tommy (Rees) in that situation. Felt really strongly about that call, that play. We've kind of have been waiting to get to it for a couple weeks. Had the right time for it."
But Sanders found ways to involve his pass catchers and balance out the use of the run and pass game. Sanders finished his second start completing 16 of 25 passes for 149 passing yards and one touchdown. He also took three sacks for a loss of 34 yards. Sanders' pass to Fannin for the touchdown was his longest pass of the day and marked his second career passing touchdown.
"Obviously we lost, so I ain't play well," Sanders said. "There's definitely things on film Imma look back and want to get back and want to see. But at least moving forward, I know what we could do differently going about the week and being able to get fully prepared for every possibility."
