Browns' Win Over The Bears, The Latest Team Win Of 2023 Season

Kevin Stefanski preaches winning as a team and losing as a team and after an unlikely win over the Chicago Bears, the Browns are now 9-5 because of their ability to stay together and continue fighting as a team

Kevin Stefanski constantly describes each Browns victory as a "great TEAM win.” The word “TEAM” is plastered all over the Browns facility and it is the common theme of the culture they've built. Players constantly use the phrase in their post-game press conferences as well and even take to “X” and “Instagram” to describe their wins in the same was as their head coach.

Sunday's win over the Bears was the just the latest team win over 2023. This Browns team has faced unprecedented amounts of adversity this year and they just keep finding ways to get the job done together. 

Cleveland has 26 percent of its salary cap on injured reserve right now,which is an insane number. They have two guys starting on offense that began the season not on an NFL roster including their quarterback who was watching NFL Redzone on his his couch a month ago.

Dec 17, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Browns wide receiver Marquise Goodwin (3) catches the ball against the Chicago Bears during the fourth quarter at Cleveland Browns Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Galvin-USA TODAY Sports   / © Scott Galvin-USA TODAY Sports

There are a number of players who stepped up for the Browns in Week 15. The right place to start is in the defensive secondary, a group decimated by injuries in recent weeks. Grant Delpit was placed on the IR just a week ago, while Rodney McLeod wound up on the same list just weeks prior. To top it off, Juan Thornhill aggravated his calf injury before the Jaguars game and was unavailable this past weekend. Their replacements? Special Teams ace D’Anthony Bell, undrafted rookie Ronnie Hickman and 11-year veteran Duron Harmon, who was promoted to the practice squad last week.

The cornerback position was mostly up to par with the return of All-Pro Denzel Ward. He was very clearly not 100% but played as well as he could have. Meanwhile, the play of the game was made by fifth-round draft pick Cam Mitchell who tripped up Justin Fields on fourth-and-one on the first play of the fourth quarter to keep Cleveland alive for a 13-point rally.

On the defensive line, third-round pick Siaki Ika was in the rotation for the first time this year. Cleveland’s 2022 third-round pick Alex Wright made a massive play stopping the Bears on a third and one in crunch time to get the ball back. It was just his 17th tackle on the season.

Flipping over to the offense, we have to start the conversation on the offensive line. In the fourth quarter, this was the group for Cleveland:

• LT – Geron Christian
• LG – Michael Dunn
• C – Nick Harris
• RG – Wyatt Teller
• RT - James Hudson III

That group isn’t exactly what the Browns had drawn up at the beginning of the season but they stepped up when it mattered most, doing just enough to keep Joe Flacco upright and rally the team to victory.

The wide receiving corps was led by Amari Cooper who finished the day with 109 yards and a score that sent Cleveland Browns Stadium into a frenzy, breaking free for a 51-yard score to tie thing sup. But you can't look past Marquise Goodwin's either, who had a massive 57-yard catch to set up the Browns' first score of the second half.

Speaking of Flacco, he fought off three really tough quarters and channeled some sort of MVP form in the fourth. He was 11-for-13 for 212 yards a touchdown in the final stanza.

There were plenty of other guys who made an impact on the game, including David Njoku, who nearly matched Cooper in yardage with 104 receiving yards, but also snagged a single-game career-high 10 receptions and a touchdown in the process. The entire Browns squad has bought into the "next man up" mentality and deserves a tip of the cap for their ability to keep winning games.

Cleveland needed everyone on Sunday, and they got it.