FULL BOX SCORE

1. Jameis offers the full Winston experience. We knew it Jameis Winston He was an unpredictable passer throughout his NFL career, but this performance reached new, previously unimaginable levels. The numbers are really all you need to see to understand what happened in Denver on Monday night. With little running game, the Browns leaned heavily on their veteran backup turned starter, asking him to drop back to throw 62 times. The score was 34 for 58, for a career and franchise-high 497 yards and four touchdowns. Winston’s play was at times heroic, courageous and determined, especially on crucial third downs when the pass rush was on him. That was the highlight of the Winston experience. However, the floor went along for the stomach-churning ride. Winston threw a pick-six on a panicked dump-off attempt Jordan Akinsthat’s where Nik Bonitto Waited for the ball, intercepted it and returned it 71 yards for a touchdown. Trailing by a point late, Winston threw another pick-six, putting the ball on the wrong shoulder Elijah Mooreleave it for Ja’Quan McMillian to make a diving interception, then stand up and tuck the ball in for another pick-six. With nothing to lose, Winston led the Browns down the field one more time before throwing a ball into end zone traffic where Cody Barton slid into his passing window, grabbed the ball and ended the evening emphatically. Now for context: If Cleveland plays this game Deshaun Watson or Dorian Thompson Robinson At quarterback, it will likely be run out of Empower Field at Mile High. Winston kept the Browns competitive, but with every Winston throw comes the risk of a game-changing interception. The three he threw – the 14th time in his career he threw three or more – were just that, perfectly summing up the risk-reward that comes with every Winston outing.
2. Nothing has an uneven night. While Bo Nix Although he didn’t experience quite the extremes as his orange and brown clad counterpart, he also had a somewhat turbulent outing. The rookie finished 18 of 35 for 294 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. His first interception was the result of a great defensive play by Denzel Wardwho launched the ball high into the night sky in an attempt to intercept it, but his second interception was the result of an unnecessarily risky shot fired downfield to a receiver covered over the top by Ward. Nix didn’t run nearly as often as he has in recent weeks, finishing the game with just six attempts outside the tackle box (he went 2 for 6 for 48 yards and one interception on such attempts) and making just eight throws on the field Run (4 for 8, 78 yards). Instead, Nix largely operated out of pocket and enjoyed quality protection that limited Cleveland to seven pressures. Despite the lower completion rate, Nix still rotated, often finding open receivers and ripping off a few timely balls to keep the Broncos going in the wild affair. He was also fortunate to receive a production boost Jaleel McLaughlinwho averaged 6 yards per carry on 14 attempts and gained 64 of his 84 yards in the final two quarters. This brought balance to the Broncos’ offense and provided a few field goal drives that allowed them to stay slightly ahead of the Browns. In the end, Nix didn’t have to lead the Broncos to victory, but we got a reminder of where he’s at his best.
3. Jeudy takes revenge. In the run-up to Monday evening Jerry Jeudy didn’t hide the fact that he wanted to dominate against the team, even though he felt like he never used it properly during his four seasons in Denver. He played inspired football against the Broncos, starting well and earning plenty of boos from Broncos fans who had heard his trash talk (and probably remembered his disappointing performance in Denver). He finished with phenomenal statistics, catching nine passes for a career-best 235 yards, including a 70-yard touchdown that served as an immediate answer to a 93-yard touchdown Marvin Mims Jr. Score. The yardage was the most in NFL history for a player against his former squad. He also played to the caustic reactions and cheered by raising a hand to his ear, encouraging the crowd. Jeudy was remarkably consistent and proved to be a quick target, fielding passes in key spots throughout the night to keep the Browns in the game, much as he did 12 days ago in a win over the Steelers on a snowy night in Cleveland did. Since the Browns turned to Winston, he’s flourished, proving he can be a key building block in Cleveland’s future, and he’s certainly done enough to prove his point to his former employer. All that was missing was victory.
4. Bonitto announces his presence. Edge rusher Nik Bonitto has had a strong performance of late and played a big role in this game, causing a lot of problems for Cleveland’s offense, recording a team-high six QB pressures, including three quick pressures. He was constantly involved from the perimeter all night and made his best play when he was able to properly read Winston’s frantic eyes. He took a risk, as he admitted, by playing Winston’s pass, correctly anticipating the throw, grabbing the ball and returning it for a touchdown. Bonitto isn’t a household name, but these Broncos didn’t start the 2024 season either. They’re now 8-5 thanks to the contributions of players like Bonitto, who will rightly be an important part of any opposing offense’s game plan in the future.
5. Denver’s defense needs to use this tape constructively. The Broncos entered Week 13 ranked third in points allowed per game, total yards allowed per game, first in yards allowed per game and sacks, and 14th in third down percentage. In trying to apply them to Monday night’s game, these numbers might as well have been used as hieroglyphs, because that’s certainly not how they performed. When halftime came, Cleveland had 298 yards of offense – two more than Denver’s per game average this season. By halftime, the Browns had also already exceeded the Broncos’ average passing yards allowed per game (199.8), reaching 245. The alarm bells were ringing like crazy, and that was just the beginning. With Winston throwing everything all over the yard, Cleveland finished with 552 yards of offense. Winston accounted for 497 of them. But there is good news: Denver’s defense has significantly improved its form ahead of 2024 and has proven to be an opportunistic bunch with its three interceptions. Had the Broncos not immediately turned two of those takeaways into touchdowns, this game could have ended very differently and led to a crisis of confidence at the Denver facility in the days to come. Instead, they will view it as a timely lesson that they need to be better prepared if they want their elite defense to clinch an unexpected playoff spot.

Next-Gen Stats Insights for the Browns-Broncos (via NFL Pro): Former pro and college teammates Jerry Jeudy and Patrick Surtain II competed on 34 of 57 Jeudy routes. Surtain allowed two balls of 20 yards (three scores) against Jeudy, while the rest of the team allowed seven balls of 215 yards (10 scores).

NFL Research: Jameis Winston is the first player in the Super Bowl era with more than 400 passing yards, four passing touchdowns and throwing multiple pick-sixes in a single game. Taking into account the 171 interception return yards that Denver gained against Winston, the 668 combined passing yards plus interception return yards after his passes are the most by a quarterback in a single game in NFL history has.