Now 3-13 with one game remaining, all the Browns have left to play for is a potential No. 1 overall draft pick.
CLEVELAND — Before a relatively sparse crowd on a gloomy day at Huntington Bank Field, the Browns‘ 2024 home slate appropriately ended with a faint whimper.
Cleveland fell in its home finale 20-3 to the Miami Dolphins, who kept their playoff hopes alive despite being without starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Backup Tyler Huntley, who spent time with the Browns in training camp this past summer before being cut in favor of Dorian Thompson-Robinson, stepped in to register 278 total yards and score two total touchdowns.
By contrast, Thompson-Robinson completed 24 of 47 passes for 170 yards while committing two turnovers, with his career record as a starter falling to 1-5. Cleveland slipped to 3-13 on the season with one game remaining, including 2-6 at Huntington Bank Field after going 8-1 there a year ago.
The Dolphins (8-8) took the lead for good thanks to a 39-yard Jason Sanders field goal as time expired on the first half. They were aided by a fourth-down stop at their own 38, as well as a Martin Emerson interception that was called back due to a pass interference penalty.
The officials were busy on Sunday, issuing a combined 20 flags for 178 yards. Nine of them were against Cleveland.
Huntley completed 84.6% of his throws for 225 yards, and Denzel Ward’s leaving with a shoulder injury certainly didn’t help the Browns. His 13-yard TD run put Miami ahead 13-3 in the third quarter, and a 7-yard scoring pass to Jonnu Smith in garbage time only provided the cherry on top of his brilliant performance.
Prior to the late Smith touchdown, Cleveland actually had a number of chances to fight back, but as has been the case all season, the team failed to take advantage. Thompson-Robinson fumbled on a sack by Emmanuel Ogbah in the third, and early in the fourth, Kevin Stefanski bypassed a field goal that could’ve made it a one-score game and elected to go for it on fourth-and-goal. Thompson-Robinson’s pass to Jerry Jeudy in the end zone was batted away.
Thompson-Robinson added an interception in the first half. Since making his NFL debut last season, the fifth-round pick out of UCLA has tossed 10 INTs compared to just one touchdown. Stefanski declined to say if he would start the season finale.
Jeudy provided some bright spots with a career-high 12 catches for 94 yards. Myles Garrett also recorded a pair of sacks — making him the first player in NFL history with at least 14 sacks in four straight seasons — but with the club potentially headed towards a bitter rebuild, the elite defensive end’s Cleveland future is in doubt.
“I don’t think about that kind of stuff,” Garrett said of this potentially being his last game in Cleveland as a Brown. “My mission is to go out there and help this team win.”
The Dolphins have been to the postseason each of the last two years under head coach Mike McDaniel. Against all odds, they can make it three in a row next week with a win over the New York Jets coupled with a Denver Broncos loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
As for the Browns, a final Week 18 showdown in Baltimore is all that remains, with the Ravens on the verge of clinching the AFC North. Of greater interest to Cleveland fans? The order for April’s NFL draft, which currently has the Browns picking third. The could end up with the No. 1 overall selection depending on how things shake out next Sunday.