CLEVELAND: The offense the Browns advertised this past offseason made a rare appearance Sunday, steamrolling the San Francisco 49ers for 230 rushing yards on 41 carries (5.6 average) in a 24-10 win Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium.
Coach Mike Pettine and offensive coordinator John DeFilippo insisted a strong rushing attack would be vital to their blueprint this season, but the Browns entered the weekend having compiled 100 yards or more just four times. The season high was 116 yards in a 28-14 win over the Tennessee Titans on Sept. 20.
Finally, the Browns ran the ball the way they envisioned. Their 230 yards was the most since the team had the same amount against the New England Patriots on Nov. 7, 2010. With 41 carries, they had four more than their previous two games combined.
What if they had just committed to the run throughout the season?
Pettine didn’t want to answer the question, but running back Isaiah Crowell did.
“I think about it all the time,” Crowell said. “Right after the game, I thought about it. What if we did that all the time? We’d have a lot more victories.”
Crowell rushed for a career-high 145 yards on 20 carries (7.3 average) and tied a career-high with two rushing touchdowns. He had the most rushing yards by a Browns player since Peyton Hillis rushed for 184 yards against the Patriots in 2010.
“Crow ran hard, broke some tackles and finished runs,” Pettine said. “It was good to see.”
Crowell had runs of 50 and 54 yards, and he credited right guard John Greco for springing him. Those huge gains set up his scores of 1 and 3 yards, and the 54-yard run marked the longest rush by the Browns since punter Reggie Hodges broke loose for 68 yards on a fake at New Orleans on Oct. 24, 2010.
“Crowell had two 50-yard runs,” said rookie running back Duke Johnson, who added a career-high 78 yards on 13 carries (6.0 average). “It is hard to pull away from something that is working so well. We stayed in coach’s ear and told him, ‘Don’t worry we got it,’ and to put the game in our hands.
“It was very contagious, especially when the guys up front are playing the way that they are. Crowell was finding a rhythm. Then I came in and found a rhythm, and we just kept it going back and forth.”
Browns players jumped with joy on the sideline when they saw Johnson drag defenders for a couple extra yards during a 16-yard run in the fourth quarter.
“I don’t think my team expects me to do what I did,” said Johnson, a third-round draft pick. “I think I surprised them and got them excited.”
Pettine said the coaching staff liked the matchups in the running game against the 49ers, whose defensive coordinator, Eric Mangini, coached the Browns from 2009-10.
“We recognized a weakness,” Pettine said, “and we exploited it.”
Done for season
Browns wide receiver Brian Hartline suffered a broken collarbone late in the third quarter that will require surgery and end his season, Pettine said.
The GlenOak High School and Ohio State University product left the game with 17 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Hartline caught a 5-yard pass to the 49ers’ 2, fell and went to the sideline immediately afterward.
Signed as a free agent in March, Hartline led Browns receivers with eight catches for 107 yards against the 49ers. It marked his first 100-yard game with the Browns and sixth of his career. He spent his first six years in the league with the Miami Dolphins.
Hartline will head to injured reserve with 46 catches for 523 yards (11.4) and two touchdowns.
“You are not just losing his production. This is a guy who is a leader in the locker room, a leader in the meeting rooms. He is a leader on the practice field, and then game day, he is a guy that wants a ball,” Pettine said. “That is the only negative. Sometimes he gets, ‘I want the ball,’ which is great. You want guys like that. I can’t say enough.
“It was probably his best game of the year. That is a big blow. That tempers it a little bit because here is a guy that does everything right and gives us all that he has. That is a tough one.”
Hartline thanked fans after the game for their reaction on social media.
“It is truly amazing the amount of support I’ve received the last 2 hours from Browns fans, Buckeye fans AND Dolphins fans. Thank you all!” he tweeted.
Another blocked kick
Browns kicker Travis Coons had a field-goal attempt blocked for the third consecutive game. On the opening drive, Coons lined up for a 42-yard attempt, but defensive tackle Quinton Dial swatted it down.
Coons had kicks of 47 and 51 yards blocked against Cincinnati and Baltimore, respectively. The blocks have accounted for his only misses in 23 attempts this season. Coons did bounce back, hitting from 26 yards with 9:04 left in the second quarter.
Former Browns kicker Phil Dawson, now with the 49ers, gave Coons a ringing endorsement.
“Missing kicks is never fun, but he’s having a great year,” Dawson said. “Way better than my first year here. Everybody just needs to remember that.”
Sack machine
The Browns defense recorded nine sacks of Blaine Gabbert, the most by any team in the league this season and tied for the second-best single game total in team history. (Sacks became an official statistic in 1982).
The Browns equaled their nine in 1993 against the New Orleans Saints (Dec. 5) and in 1988 against the Philadelphia Eagles (Sept. 16). The team record is 11 against the Atlanta Falcons on Nov. 18, 1984.
Rookie outside linebacker Nate Orchard recorded the first two sacks of his career and linebacker Armonty Bryant also contributed two, taking the team lead with 5½. Defensive end Desmond Bryant added 1½ sacks, inside linebacker Chris Kirksey, strong safety Donte Whitner and safety Jordan Poyer had one each. Rookie defensive end Xavier Cooper had one-half.
“The hunger’s been building in us every time we’ve gone out and we haven’t gotten the result we wanted,” Desmond Bryant said. “The hunger’s just gotten more and more and today we finally got the job done.”
The Browns’ previous high this season was seven against Tennessee Titans rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota on Sept. 20. Entering the game, they had only 17 sacks.
Not a good start
Browns running back Glenn Winston fumbled away his first career carry with 1:43 remaining in the first quarter. He suffered a concussion, apparently on his lone carry.
49ers nose tackle Ian Williams knocked the ball loose, and linebacker Ahmad Brooks recovered and returned it 8 yards to San Francisco’s 49.
The 49ers failed to capitalize when Orchard notched his first career sack on fourth-and-1 from the Browns’ 30. The 6-yard loss took the Niners out of field-goal range.
Debut at new position
Terrelle Pryor, the 6-foot-4, 223-pound ex-quarterback from Ohio State, made his regular-season NFL debut at wide receiver. He played about a dozen snaps, but had no targets.
Pryor played quarterback his first four seasons in the league, three with the Oakland Raiders, where he went 3-6 as a starter in 2013 when DeFilippo was his position coach. Pryor switched to receiver after the Bengals cut him on June 18. The Browns claimed him off waivers June 22.
Inactives
Inactive for the Browns were cornerbacks Joe Haden (concussion), Justin Gilbert (concussion) and Pierre Desir; wide receivers Andrew Hawkins (concussion), Taylor Gabriel (concussion) and Dwayne Bowe; and offensive lineman Gabe Ikard.
Haden missed his fifth consecutive game, Gilbert his second in a row, Hawkins his third consecutive and Gabriel his third in a row. Gabriel practiced Thursday and Friday on a limited basis.
Desir was a healthy scratch for the second time in three games. Rookie Charles Gaines started at cornerback in place of Haden.
Bowe, whose two-year contract includes $9 million guaranteed, was a healthy scratch for the seventh time and inactive for the eighth time this season.
Inactive for the 49ers were tight end Vance McDonald (concussion); linebackers Michael Wilhoite (ankle) and Aaron Lynch (concussion); wide receiver DeAndrew White; cornerback Chris Davis; and guards Brandon Thomas and Ian Silberman. Lynch leads the 49ers with 6½ sacks.
Extra points
• With a 2-yard TD catch in the third quarter, tight end Gary Barnidge ran his season total to eight, one shy of Hall of Famer Ozzie Newsome’s team record for the position. Newsome caught nine in 1979. Barnidge, with five catches for 84 yards against the 49ers, leads the Browns with 65 receptions for 901 yards.
• Pettine said defensive back K’Waun Williams hurt his shoulder, but he checked out OK and Pettine didn’t expect a serious issue.
• Desmond Bryant was wore a navy blue tuxedo after the game. He turns 30 on Tuesday and said he was celebrating with family.
• The 49ers lost left guard Alex Boone, a St. Edward High School and Ohio State product, with a knee injury with 11:39 left in the third quarter.