Browns at Broncos second quarter recap

The Denver Broncos had crossed midfield at the end of the first quarter, but the Cleveland Browns defense came out and quickly put them into a third and eight. However, Russell Wilson bought time in the pocket and found Marvin Mims Jr. for a 16-yard gain to put them into field goal range.

A little bit of trickery on a Russell Wilson fake inside handoff led him to a wide open run outside for 19-yards into the red zone. He tried that again the other way on the next play, but the Browns were ready to stop him for a two yard gain to bring a second and goal from the five yard line. Two plays later, Russell Wilson would keep it again and dive into the end zone to put the Broncos up by two touchdowns.

Russell Wilson scrambles to the TOUCHDOWN to give the #Broncos a 14 point lead. pic.twitter.com/XDKHAw4Sv4

— MileHighReport November 26, 2023 Broncos 14, Browns 0.

On the Browns next drive they finally remembered they were facing one of the NFL’s worst run defenses. They began chunking 10 yards per rush on their next drive. They would only be stalled once they turned to the passing game again, but they would finally get points on the board with a 36-yard field goal.

Broncos 14, Browns 3.

The Broncos had a big pass play to Courtland Sutton called offensive pass interference that was likely the second garbage call on Sutton in the game with the first being a phantom holding penalty he was called for earlier in the game.

That penalty would wipe out what looked to be a promising drive as Denver had piled up over a 100 yard rushing in the first half.

Meanwhile, the Browns took advantage of the extra possession with a 17-yard completion to open up their next drive with plenty of time left on the clock. They would face a fourth and inches again just across midfield and they would easily convert with the push their offensive line gets seemingly on every run play.

That, and poor tackling by Denver, would catapult the Browns to a field goal with less than 30 seconds left in the first half to make this a game.

Broncos 14, Browns 6.