The San Francisco 49ers and the Cleveland Browns will clash at the FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland on Sunday in Week 14 of the National Football League 2015 regular season.
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In fact, the last Cleveland team to put an opposing quarterback on the ground nine times in one game hasn’t called Cleveland home since 1995.
Numerous fans at First Energy Stadium stood and cheered when San Francisco kicker and former Browns stalwart Phil Dawson was given a scoreboard salute in the first quarter.
But it was one bad play in an otherwise good game by Manziel, as the Browns won for the first time since October 11.
Opinions differed inside the 49ers locker room on whether they took the Browns lightly and paid for it.
By contrast, Browns counterpart Johnny Manziel had six pass plays of 20 yards or more. Isaiah Crowell ran for 145 yards, getting 104 on a pair of runs and scoring two TDs.
– Wide receiver Torrey Smith, who scored last Sunday s winning touchdown at Chicago, had only one catch for 17 yards. “It’s not an excuse”. It didn’t end up mattering because Manziel threw a pick, but they wasted some time again when they could have run a play.
He finished 21-of-31 for 270 yards with a touchdown pass and an interception.
There he saw that the 49ers had left tight end Gary Barnidge wide open down the seam for what would have been a big play.
“We’re in a position where we have to play our (butt) off every week, and today we didn’t do that”, Staley added.
The Browns meanwhile are on 2-10 and looking for just their third win of the season so far.
“When it is toward himself over frustration of doing something boneheaded, I have no problem with it”, Pettine said.
“It all starts up front” is a mantra you’ll hear when talking about the importance of offensive lines, and it couldn’t be more true. “Today, we finally got the job done”. Other than that, the 49ers were flat and flattened. They were the first two sacks of Orchard’s career.
With the loss, the 49ers fell to 1-6 on the road.
NaVorro Bowman did not expect Sunday’s non-conference matchup with the Cleveland Browns to unfold the way it did. And as the moments were replayed, Dawson was overcome with memories of a place he’ll always cherish. I’m trying not to break down on the sideline and zero in on kicking and paying attention to the wind. “I know what it means to me. I’m just glad we were able to come out and win this game”. Defensively, the 49ers yielded 481 yards and 28 first downs in Johnny Manziel’s return as the Browns roller-coaster quarterback. Crowell’s 50-yard run – the longest by a Cleveland back all season – set up the early touchdown, which came after Travis Coons had his 42-yard field-goal attempt blocked by 49ers defensive tackle Quinton Dial.
While it only resulted in a field goal, it was the second longest punt return by the team this season, bettered only by Hayne’s 37-yard charge against the Arizona Cardinals.
“Absolutely”, said fan April Scott. “Better than missing one, I guess”.
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“Very special day and very hard to stay with my normal routine because of all the emotions and all of the well wishes that were there at every turn”, Dawson, 40, said afterward.
