Now 3-13 with one game remaining, all the Browns have left to play for is a potential No. 1 draft pick.
CLEVELAND — In front of a relatively sparse crowd on a somber day at Huntington Bank Field, the Browns’ 2024 slate fittingly ended with a slight whimper.
Cleveland lost in its home finale 20-3 to the Miami Dolphins, who kept their playoff hopes alive despite the absence of starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Backup Tyler Huntley, who spent time with the Browns in training camp last summer before being replaced by Dorian Thompson-Robinson, stepped in to record 278 total yards and score two total touchdowns.
In contrast, Thompson-Robinson completed 24 of 47 passes for 170 yards while committing two turnovers, his career record as a starter falling to 1-5. Cleveland slipped to 3-13 this season with one game remaining, including 2-6 at Huntington Bank Field after going 8-1 a year ago.
The Dolphins (8-8) took the lead for good with a 39-yard field goal from Jason Sanders as time expired in the first half. They were helped 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 Sunday, throwing a total of 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 departure with a shoulder injury certainly didn’t help the Browns. His 13-yard TD run gave Miami a 13-3 lead in the third quarter, and a 7-yard scoring pass to Jonnu Smith in garbage time was just the cherry on top of his brilliant performance.
Before Smith’s late touchdown, Cleveland actually had a number of opportunities 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 sidestepped a field goal that could have made it a one-score game and chose 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 his NFL debut last season, the fifth-round pick out of UCLA has thrown 10 INTs against just one touchdown. Stefanski declined to say whether he would start the season finale.
Jeudy provided some positives with a career-high 12 catches for 94 yards. Myles Garrett also recorded two sacks – making him the first player in NFL history with at least 14 sacks in four consecutive seasons – but with the club potentially headed for a bitter rebuild, the defensive end’s future elite in Cleveland is uncertain.
“I don’t think about that stuff,” Garrett said of his final game in Cleveland as a Brown. “My mission is to go out there and help this team win.”
The Dolphins have made the playoffs 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 against the New York Jets coupled with a Denver Broncos loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
As for the Browns, there’s just one final Week 18 matchup left in Baltimore, with the Ravens poised to win the AFC North. Of greater interest to Cleveland fans? The order for April’s NFL Draft, which currently has the Browns third overall. They could find themselves in first place in the general classification depending on how things develop next Sunday.
