DENVER – Jerry Jeudy almost became homecoming king.

On Monday night, he only slowed down to soak up the taunts of the fans who once cheered him, but Jameis Winston’s rollercoaster ride was derailed with two picks in the final two minutes.

The Cleveland Browns rewrote some records, but not the overall story of their disappointing season, as Winston threw for a franchise-best 497 yards and four touchdowns, but also had two interceptions that the host Denver Broncos returned for a score.

The Browns, no longer boring but still bad, couldn’t overcome their sloppiness and Winston’s three turnovers. Broncos cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian’s 44-yard interception return with 1:48 left came as the Browns were preparing for a potential field goal attempt.

But that Winston whiplash only led to more disappointment, as the Broncos scored the final 10 points and secured a 41-32 victory, in a game that featured five lead changes in the third quarter and 163 yards worth of touchdown passes in 11 seconds included.

The Broncos improved to 8-5 and moved one step closer to securing a playoff spot. The Browns suffered their fifth straight road loss, falling to 3-9.

“I screwed it up for us in front of the whole world,” Winston said.

MCMILLIAN CHOOSES SIX TO POSSIBLY IRON IT.

📺: #CLEvsDEN on ESPN
📱: Keep streaming #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/byTyDJ5y47

– NFL (@NFL) December 3, 2024

Jeudy had nine receptions for 235 yards, the most yards by a receiver in NFL history against his former team. He repeatedly sprinted past the Broncos’ secondary and also surpassed his career-best game of 154 receiving yards in the 2022 season finale.

Winston and Jeudy connected on a 70-yard touchdown early in the third quarter to bring Cleveland within three points. In the fourth quarter, Jeudy joined Cincinnati Bengals star Ja’Marr Chase to become the only players to post 200-yard receiving games this season. Winston surpassed his single-game record of 458 passing yards in 2019 and Josh McCown’s Browns record of 457 in 2015. But after the Broncos settled for a field goal and a two-point lead in the final three minutes, the McMillian interception on the sideline The route essentially ended the chances of Winston leading a comeback on his big night.

“Bad throw,” Winston said, making it clear he didn’t want to go into further details.

Despite Jeudy’s dominance on several Denver coverages, Cleveland did not have him on the field when McMillian intercepted the ball. Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said Jeudy was taking some time off. Maybe it wouldn’t have mattered, but that’s the strange decision – the pick came on the first play after the two-minute warning – that has stuck with this Browns team all year. In early October, Stefanski said several times that Deshaun Watson gave them the best chance to win, and he stuck with Watson even though the quarterback had never thrown for 200 yards in a game and Cleveland had never reached 20 points in his seven starts.

Watson threw for just 421 total yards in his last three starts and had just five touchdown passes all season. Winston was just a few decisions away from surpassing that single-game touchdown total on Monday night.

Jeudy backed up his previous statement that he “has been open my entire career” with another explosive performance against the team that traded him to Cleveland in March.

He had just one reception in each of Watson’s last three starts. Elijah Moore and Cedric Tillman have also become playmakers in the Winston-led offense. It’s clear that the hesitancy to change quarterbacks killed any chance of saving the Browns this season, and what was a joyless and relatively hopeless offensive operation turned in its best performance yet on Monday night, rushing for 552 yards and 28 first downs the fun ended with Winston’s late interceptions.

The Browns reached the 2-yard line trailing by two points with 44 seconds left before Winston dove into traffic and was intercepted a third time by Cody Barton.

“I think we were scratching our heads all around it,” Jeudy said. “We just couldn’t finish like we should. That was a great team we were competing against. We just have to find a way to end it.”

Moore, the intended receiver on the McMillian interception, said the Broncos cornerback undercut the route. Moore blamed himself for hesitating and not making sure to touch McMillian immediately afterward, which allowed McMillian to get back up and sprint for the touchdown.

Late in the first half, Nik Bonitto read Winston’s eyes on a pass that he stepped in front of and returned for a 71-yard score.

BRONCOS PICK SIX

📺: #CLEvsDEN on ESPN
📱: Keep streaming #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/X8eJpG9yUj

– NFL (@NFL) December 3, 2024

“I just pray that the Lord delivers me from pick-sixes,” Winston said.

Yes, he really said that. He certainly did, releasing six passes that resulted in touchdowns – four for his team and two for the Broncos. He went to Jeudy on the Browns’ first play of the night, putting the lead at 44, and wisely kept going back. Jeudy encouraged the home crowd to boo louder after his first reception, and after his touchdown and subsequent two-pointer, he posed and provoked the hate.

“They only boo when they know there’s something great in you,” Jeudy said.

Entering his start Monday night, Jeudy ranked 29th in the NFL with 645 receiving yards and was 25th with 14.3 yards per reception. He is now tied with CeeDee Lamb of the Dallas Cowboys for fifth place with 880 receiving yards and ninth with 16.3 yards per reception.

For most of the evening, it looked like Winston was also making a move – and perhaps even into Cleveland’s future plans. He had a perfect pass rate in the second quarter. He showed some finesse on his first two touchdowns, placing the ball in different places in the end zone where only David Njoku could reach it. Njoku’s second score came late in the first half and followed Bonitto’s interception, allowing the Browns to keep the game at one point.

Early in the third quarter, Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix threw a 93-yard touchdown strike to Marvin Mims Jr. The Browns answered on the next play with Winston’s 70-yarder to Jeudy.

Ultimately, maintaining an even playing field – and Winston was close to a night out for a long time – ended with Cleveland doing its best. Even though the defense forced the Broncos into field goals twice in the second half and intercepted Nix twice, Denver put its defenders in the right places in the crucial moments.

“The team didn’t deserve this,” Winston said. “Bad throws. I have to get better.”

(Photo: David Zalubowski / Associated Press)