Chat-World » CLEVELAND (AP) — Quarterback Matt Ryan packed his belongings

http://www.brownsfanshop.com/Sione-Takitaki-Jersey , left Atlanta’s subdued locker room and slowly walked down the corridor toward the team bus, pulling his wheeled luggage.He and the Falcons may have left their playoff hopes behind.Their three-game winning streak came to a screeching halt Sunday with a 28-16 loss to the Cleveland Browns, who put together one of their best all-around games in years against an Atlanta team that had seemingly turned its season around following a 1-4 start.But the Falcons (4-5) committed a costly turnover in the second half, gave up a Cleveland-record-breaking 92-yard touchdown run to Georgia native Nick Chubb, and failed to execute on a critical trip to the red zone when the game was still winnable.Afterward, Atlanta coach Dan Quinn was at a loss to explain his team’s puzzling performance.“I thought we had made some improvement and some progress, so it’s a setback,” Quinn said. “I like the fight of our guys. I know we’ll come back to fight. When you miss an opportunity, whether it’s a team that people on the outside say you should win or one people think the other way, I go into it and think you can get them all. When you don’t get that done, for sure it stinks.”It was shocking considering the Falcons were coming off a well-balanced win over Washington last week and had fought their way back into contention in the NFC South.“It was disappointing,” said Ryan, whose solid stats (38 of 52 for 330 yards and two touchdowns) obscured other offensive issues. “Obviously, you have to give credit to Cleveland. I thought they played really well and made a lot of good plays. We fell short and did not make enough plays when we needed to. We didn’t play up to the standard that we are capable to playing.“We need to do that as we move forward and get ready for next week. We have got to play better.”Despite their problems, the Falcons were only down 14-10 at halftime, and with their high-powered offense, a comeback seemed inevitable against the Browns (3-6-1), who had dropped four in a row.Atlanta got the ball to start the third quarter and got a 23-yard completion from Ryan to Julio Jones on the first play. After an 8-yard loss, Ryan connected on a 4-yard pass to wide receiver Mohamed Sanu, who fumbled after a hit by Browns cornerback T.J. Carrie.Cleveland recovered at Atlanta’s 41 and quickly drove for a touchdown as rookie QB Baker Mayfield hit Duke Johnson for an 11-yard score to give the Browns a 21-10 lead.Sanu’s fumble had given the momentum right back to the Browns, but while they were shaky, the Falcons still seemed OK when they pinned Cleveland at its 8 after a punt.The worst was yet to come.On second down, Chubb found a crease on Atlanta’s right side, cut toward the sideline and outran several Falcons to the end zone on the longest rushing play in Cleveland history — and the longest by any rookie since 1949.As Chubb raced by, Quinn, Ryan and everyone else dressed in black and red on the Atlanta sideline could only watch helplessly as any thoughts of a comeback completely vanished.Quinn didn’t want to speculate on what went wrong on the play. Suffice to say, little went right.Still, the Falcons were hanging around in the fourth quarter when a series of head-scratching plays perhaps best sized up their day.Atlanta drove to Cleveland’s 6 before a short pass was followed by two runs up the middle that were stopped by the Browns short of the end zone. Then Greedy Williams Jersey , on fourth down and inches from a TD, Ryan was inexplicably in the shotgun before he threw a pass toward third-string tight end Eric Saubert, who had no chance of making a catch.Ryan’s choice of targets was peculiar given his other options: Jones, Sanu and tight end Alex Hooper, who caught 10 passes. Even a running play made more sense.The hard-to-understand performance and loss overshadowed a personal milestone for Jones, who reached 10,000 career yards receiving faster than any player in NFL history.“It’s always tough when you lose,” said Jones, who had seven catches for 107 yards and one TD. “We can make up stuff here and there, but at the end of the day it’s on us. I’m going to keep saying that we can play better and we can do better, but with opportunities and things like that, we have to do better. That’s it. That’s the bottom line.We just have to get back to work.” BEREA, Ohio (AP) — Nick Chubb skipped the parties in college. Not his style.He was reserved and quiet at Georgia, keeping to himself or working out in the Bulldogs’ weight room. The soft-spoken kid from historic Chubbtown was courteous and driven off the field, tough and powerful on it.Browns coach Freddie Kitchens had friends who coached Chubb and who say he hasn’t changed.“He’s the same guy as he was when he showed up as a freshman,” Kitchens said. “He is just bigger, faster and stronger now.”And becoming one of the NFL’s best backs.After rushing for 996 yards as a rookie, Chubb could be on the verge of a breakout season with the high-flying Browns, whose offense won’t simply consist of quarterback Baker Mayfield dropping back and rifling passes to either Odell Beckham Jr. or Jarvis Landry.Not with Chubb around.“I will just go ahead and put it bluntly to you,” Kitchens said. “We will not be a pass-happy team. We will do what we need to do to win the game or attempt to win the game. We are going to run the football.”Chubb will carry the load.A second-round pick in 2018, the 23-year-old Chubb started slowly last season. He played behind Carlos Hyde and was given the ball just 16 times in his first six games before getting his first start in Week 7 and rushing for 80 yards on 18 tries against Tennessee. But after coach Hue Jackson was fired and Kitchens got promoted from running backs coach to offensive coordinator, Chubb became the Browns’ workhorse.Giddy-up.Chubb posted three 100-yard games in the final seven weeks and became the first Browns player since 1975 to score a rushing TD in five straight games. He ripped off a club-record 92-yard scoring run in a win over Atlanta, his gallop made more famous by Browns radio announcer Jim Donovan’s “Chubba-Wubba-Hub” call.Chubb, who overcame a serious left knee injury at Georgia, was in line to eclipse 1,000 yards and actually broke the milestone in the season finale at Baltimore only to be tackled for a loss on his final attempt and finish 4 yards short.While some players would be devastated by the near-miss, Chubb took it in stride.“Let me tell you something about Nick Chubb, and it sums it up for him https://www.brownsfanshop.com/Howard-Wilson-Jersey ,” Kitchens said. “Not a word was mentioned about it, not a word. I even apologized to him, but not a word was mentioned about going up and under 1,000 after he had 1,000. That tells you what Nick Chubb is, what he is here for and how he approaches the game, and what the game is about for him.“It is about winning. It is about winning a championship.”Chubb enters this season as Cleveland’s primary back, a role he may wind up sharing later in the year once Kareem Hunt serves his eight-game suspension.The duo of Chubb and Hunt, the league’s rushing champion as a rookie in 2017 for Kansas City, could be tops in the league.“It’s going to be scary,” Chubb said.Hunt says his teammate is special.“Chubb’s a beast,” he said. “He’s a freak.”Kitchens won’t have any qualms about the Browns pounding opponents with handoffs to Chubb, who averaged 5.2 yards per attempt in 2018.The idea is to win. If that means Chubb has to carry it 30 times, so be it.“I’m just doing what I gotta do,” he said. “You hand me the ball, our O-line does a great job blocking for me. If we want to pass the ball, maybe to block for them and catch some routes, too. Whatever the team needs.”That unselfishness is one of the many characteristics Kitchens admires in Chubb.“Nick is everything we want in a football player from the standpoint of how he approaches the game, how he approaches practice, how he approaches every time he has the ball in his hands, every time he is pass protecting and every time he is running routes,” he said.“Nick works his tail off every time he crosses the white line.”Chubb could soon work himself into the company of Ezekiel Elliott, Todd Gurley and the league’s elite backs. But that’s not one of his goals.“I’m just going to be the best Nick I can be,” he said.NOTES: Kitchens hasn’t decided which starters will play — or for how long — in Thursday’s exhibition opener against Washington. … Cleveland’s front defensive four were sidelined for the second day in a row. … The Browns practiced in pads for the ninth consecutive day. … In the kicking battle, Greg Joseph made 3 of 5 field-goal attempts during the kicking period and ended practice making a 45-yarder. Rookie Austin Seibert went 4 of 5, missing from 50. … S Jermaine Whitehead made a leaping interception of Mayfield as the offense worked in situations backed up to its goal line.