Chargers-Browns final score, highlights, and recap - Bolts From The Blue

Filed under:

Quentin Johnston recorded 118 receiving yards and J.K. Dobbins scored twice to help the Chargers down the Browns 27-3 on the road in Cleveland.

The Chargers used an offensive flurry in the first half against the Browns, building a 20-3 lead at the midway point, that lead to an eventual 27-10 victory on the road in Cleveland over Jameis Winston and the Browns.

Justin Herbert was on fire through 30 minutes, completing 14-of-16 passes for 250 yards and two touchdowns, one a 66-yarder to Quentin Johnston and the other a 28-yard score to Josh Palmer.

The offense disappeared through the majority of the second half until J.K. Dobbins broke loose for a 34-yard jaunt late in the fourth quarter. Two plays later, he dove into the end zone for his second touchdown to ice the victory. Dobbins would end the day with 105 yards of offense (85 rushing, 20 receiving) to go with his two scores.

Defensively, the Chargers played out of their minds. Three different Chargers picked off Winston in the second half, one of which came via Tarheeb Still for his first professional interception. The other two came via Elijah Molden (his third in 2024) and Alohi Gilman (his first). Tuli Tuipulotu led the attack on Winston with 2.5 sacks while Morgan Fox also pitched in a pair of takedowns.

The best scoring defense in the NFL only added more to their impressive resume by holding the Browns to 10 points. Now, they head back home to face a 2-6 Titans team that survived the Patriots 20-17 in an overtime victory at home.

For a complete quarter-by-quarter recap of today’s game, check it out below.

The Browns won the coin toss and chose to defer. The Chargers offense was up first.

On the first play from scrimmage, Herbert faked a handoff to J.K. Dobbins before firing a bullet over the middle to Ladd McConkey for a first down. That was unfortunately the highlight of the opening sequence as the Bolts managed just two yards on a Johnston rush attempt before two incompletions led to the first punt of the day.

Cleveland’s first drive of the game was almost a mirror of the Chargers’ as they started with a first-down pass play to move the chains before stalling several plays later.

Derius Davis, who returned from miss the previous two games with an injury, returned the ensuing punt 53 yards to set the Chargers up inside the Cleveland 30-yard line.

The second drive for the Chargers was a bit up-and-down due to a combination of penalties and backwards plays thanks to a strong Browns defensive effort. But on third-and-21 from the 27-yard line, Herbert found a breakdown in the coverage and threw a missile to a wide open Josh Palmer in the end zone. The score gave the Chargers an early 7-0 lead.

Both teams traded punts throughout the rest of the period, but on the final three plays of the first quarter, Myles Garrett beat Rashawn Slater for two sacks as he single-handedly wreaked the drive.

The Browns offense looked to find some life on offense to begin the second quarter. Nick Chubb ripped off some chunk runs and Jameis Winston even used his legs to extend the drive on the Chargers’ side of the 50. Inside the red zone, the Chargers defense stepped up and managed to end the chance at a touchdown via a sack from Morgan Fox for a seven-yard loss. Former Chargers kicker Dustin Hopkins came on to make the score 7-3 with 9:30 remaining in the half.

The Chargers’ next drive was a welcome back party for Johnston.

On a third-and-six from their own 34-yard line, Herbert took advantage of yet another broken coverage by the Browns to find Johnston streaking up the right sideline for a massive 66-yard touchdown. Cameron Dicker was wide left on the extra point so the Chargers extended their lead to 13-3 with a little over half the quarter left.

HERBERT TO QUENTIN JOHNSTON FOR A 66-YARD TD. : #LACvsCLE on CBS/Paramount+ : https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/2toYyl8WMs

Winston and the Browns could not find a way to answer on the other side as Fox once again found the Browns quarterback to secure his second sack of the half. The pass-rush specialist was doing his best to keep pace with Garrett who had three sacks for himself at that point in the half.

Johnston continued his hot start to today’s game with two more catches on the Chargers’ next drive. A 19-yard pass to Ladd McConkey then set up a 16-yard touchdown run by J.K. Dobbins to increase their lead to 20-3.

The Chargers ended the half by attempting a lateral play in which Johnston took a short pass deep into Browns territory before pitching to Palmer who reversed field and nearly found a lane to score but ultimately he lateraled to McConkey who lateraled to Dobbins before he was finally tackeld. Overall, the play gained 39 yards before the half came to an end.

The Browns came out of the second half with a rejuvenated confidence on offense. Winston was efficient with his passes and it helped guide the Browns on a 14-play drive that included a fourth-down conversion via a quarterback sneak at the six-yard line. On first-and foal from the Chargers five, Winston fired a slant to Cedric Tillman at the goal line but Troy Dye knocked it out of his grasp with a big hit.

On the next play, Winston lofted a pass to Jerry Jeudy in the back right corner of the end zone but rookie cornerback Tarheeb Still jumped up and knocked it back towards safety Elijah Molden who secured the interception for his third of the season.

The Chargers offense unfortunately could not get anything going to capitalize on the takeaway as they went three-and-out. Fortunately, the defense stood tall and forced their own three-and-out to get the ball right back.

Late in the quarter, Winston threw wide of Tillman on a deep dig route and the ball sailed over him into other arms of a diving Alohi Gilman for the second takeaway of the game.

The Browns faced a third-and-short to begin the quarter and they chose to run Chubb up the middle but he was brought down from behind by Mack. On fourth down, Winston threw a swing pass behind the line of scrimmage to Chubb but he was brought down by Troy Dye who made another big play in crunch time.

With the ball near midfield, Herbert found McConkey for a first down and a gain of 20 yards. The offense only managed four yards over their next three plays and were forced to attempt a field goal. Unfortunately Dicker was wide left from 44 yards out and the Bolts remained with their 17-point lead.

On the third play of the ensuing Browns drive, Winston threw his third interception, this one going to Tarheeb Still for the rookie’s first career pick.

After another short Chargers drive, the Browns moved just inside field goal range before being stopped on third down. Instead of going for it on fourth-and-10 down 17 points, the Browns attempted a 51-yard field goal. It was subsequently blocked and the Chargers took over in Browns territory.

Dobbins broke loose for a 34-yard run that put the Chargers deep inside the red zone of the Browns. Two plays later, Dobbins bounced off a defender and dove into the end zone for his second score of the game which put the Bolts up 27-3 with a little over four minutes remaining in regulation.

eat j.k. | @nfloncbs pic.twitter.com/dC9VI2UJv1

The Browns finally found the end zone with under a minute left as Tillman hauled in a pass near the sideline, just barely getting both toes to tap inbounds before he fell out. The touchdown moved the score to 27-10 but the Bolts knelt out the remaining 44 second to move to 5-3 on the season.

The Chargers are back at home next week to face the Titans.