PHILADELPHIA — It was a rare moment and penalty for a key Browns’ veteran in the fourth quarter.
In their 20-16 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, Cleveland receiver Amari Cooper was whistled for a rarity; actually, a penalty he doesn’t think he has ever been called for previously in his 10-year career — an offensive facemask.
With 6:43 left to play in the game, and the Browns trailing 20-13, Cooper appeared to be in good position running a go-route down the right sideline.
With the Browns driving from the Eagles’ 21 on first-and-10, the five-time Pro Bowler was in single coverage against Eagles backup cornerback Kelee Ringo, in the game after veteran Darius Slay was ruled out with a knee injury. Deshaun Watson noticed, and was looking his way.
But Ringo’s hands were on Cooper early in the route, and the Browns receiver was trying to fight back.
It backfired.
“I thought it was a DPI (defensive pass interference),” Cooper said. “I was just trying to get off of him DPI-ing me and make a play. And I guess in the process of that, I did grab his facemask, but there’s no excuses at the end of the day, I shouldn’t have done it.”
Cooper’s left hand slipped under Ringo’s facemask, as Ringo gripped onto Cooper’s right shoulder pad while the ball was still in the air.
The pass was incomplete, hitting Cooper in the left arm.
And even though it was accidental, the penalty was called. Cleveland moved back to the Philadelphia 36, facing a first-and-25.
“I didn’t see it. You probably saw an angle I didn’t see,” coach Kevin Stefanski said. “So we’ll look at it. I mean, we overcame that. We did get a first down, I believe off of that, but we have to be clean.”
Stefanski is right to an extent — that play didn’t immediately stall the drive.
Watson found Cooper for a 5-yard gain, and then connected with running back D’Onta Foreman for a 10-yard pass. On third-and-10, Watson connected with Cooper again on a 13-yard pass that got the Browns to the Philadelphia 8, and had them facing their first first-and-goal situation of the afternoon.
But disaster struck after two short yardage gains on a 3-yard pass to receiver Elijah Moore and a Watson 2-yard scramble.
From the 3-yard line, rookie guard Zak Zinter was whistled for a false start, pushing Cleveland back to the Philadelphia 8. Next, Watson couldn’t connect with tight end David Njoku. Then, the final nail in the drive: At fourth-and-goal from the 8, Jedrick Wills Jr. was whistled for a false start.
Cleveland was pushed back to the 13, and settled for a 31-yard field goal from Dustin Hopkins to make it 20-16, putting the trust in their defense to get them the ball back.
But the Browns were unable to have one last chance. The Eagles got three first downs on the final drive of the game, the most crucial being a 40-yard pass from Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts to receiver A.J. Brown with 1:49 to play. The conversion allowed Philly to kneel out the clock.
So while yes, the Browns did get out of that facemask penalty on a technicality, it was still the beginning of a series of unfortunate events on their final drive. And if the Browns do get a DPI call there instead, who knows how that last drive changes after that.
“it’s tough,” Watson said. “Yeah, it’s very frustrating. That was our chance, especially all day we’ve been working there. There’ve been penalties and stops and just things like that. And the one time the opportunity to top the game to try to put ourself in position to go win. We didn’t do it. And yeah, it’s tough. It’s definitely frustrating.”
Watson finished with 168 yards on 16 of 23 passing. He was sacked five times and ended with a passer rating of 90.5.
The Browns’ only touchdown for the day was a defensive one from safety Rodney McLeod, which came on a recovery after Myles Garrett blocked a Philadelphia field goal attempt by Jake Elliott towards the end of the first half. All of Cleveland’s other points came on three Hopkins’ field goals.
Cooper was the team’s leading receiver with 42 yards, catching four of six targets. His two misses came early.
He dropped a third-and-5 throw from Watson on the Browns’ first drive. Then in the second quarter, on second-and-9, there was a miscommunication between Cooper and Watson on a route. As Cooper let up, creating an opening for himself in single coverage, Watson expected him to keep going. The ball sailed past the receiver down the left sideline.
“Yeah, it was just a miscommunication, I’ll definitely take the blame for that,” Cooper said. “So yeah, it was on me.”
