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Gregg Williams: Browns’ confidence continues to spread, players never doubted themselves

Interim coach Gregg Williams believes the Cleveland Browns’ confidence continues to spread and sees no doubt from the players at any point in their games.
Credit: David Kohl
Cleveland Browns head coach Gregg Williams watches the action against the Cincinnati Bengals during the first half at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio.

CLEVELAND — Interim coach Gregg Williams knows well what a confident team looks like in the National Football League, and when talking in the huddle or leading a meeting, confidence is exactly what he sees in the Cleveland Browns.

That especially holds true to what Williams saw throughout Saturday night’s 17-16 victory over the Denver Broncos at Denver Broncos Stadium at Mile High, as the Browns fought back from two deficits and overcame a pair of turnovers from rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield to win their fourth game in the last six weeks.

“It’s a lot better to clean some things up after you win a close game,” Williams said. “These young guys need to do a couple of these type of things like this to continue to spread the confidence the right way, but they played really, really hard, never doubted themselves and I’m proud of them.”

The 2018 Browns have proven that the words “same old” no longer apply, and the players added another broken streak to the list of reasons why this team is different, as they snapped an 11-game skid against the Broncos that dated back to December 8, 1991, nearly four years before Mayfield was born.

“After all these years, almost 30 years, I’ve been at the end of the season more than a few times like this where you had to get them together and go on a run at the end of the year and the right things happened and we were able to get into the playoffs,” Williams said.

“Right now, for these young guys in there, every game’s important. We’ve been playing each and every week like it’s a playoff, so they’re pretty experienced right now.”

Credit: Isaiah J. Downing
Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) attempts a pass in the second quarter against the Denver Broncos at Broncos Stadium at Mile High in Denver.

To give the Browns the best chance of winning, Williams kept the offense on the field for a fourth-and-one attempt late in the fourth quarter, where a first down would have ended the game. However, Nick Chubb was stopped for a loss in the backfield and the Browns turned over possession in Denver territory.

Although the Browns gave the Broncos one last chance, the defense held strong and got a turnover on downs of their own when safety Jabrill Peppers sacked quarterback Case Keenum inside the final minute of play to seal the come-from-behind victory.

“The biggest thing was we came up here to win the ball game, and I don’t think anybody’s ever worried about not being aggressive,” Williams said. “We came up here to win it. Offensively, we were going to win it right there.

“If not, defensively, we were going to come back and do it. Pretty similar to how we finished the game with going out on an all-out blitz the last several plays to do it. That’s the aggressive nature of this team and they accepted it very well.”

Credit: Isaiah J. Downing
Cleveland Browns defensive back Jabrill Peppers (22) sacks Denver Broncos quarterback Case Keenum (4) as offensive guard Connor McGovern (60) defends in the fourth quarter at Broncos Stadium at Mile High in Denver.

The Browns (6-7-1) are 14 games into the 2018 season, and unlike the last two years, where the team was one of the first eliminated from postseason contention, they remain in the playoff race in the AFC with the home finale against the Cincinnati Bengals and a road game at the Baltimore Ravens left on the schedule.

“Being able to win on the road is something that we’ve got to start taking pride in,” Mayfield said. “Going into somebody else’s house, our backs against the wall, it’s just us coming out with a win, finding a way to win.”

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