Kalif Raymond returned a punt for a touchdown and Amon-Ra St. Brown caught two scoring passes to lead the Detroit Lions to a 34-10 victory over the visiting Cleveland Browns on Sunday afternoon.
Jared Goff completed 16 of 27 passes for 168 yards, two touchdowns and one interception for Detroit (3-1), which won its third straight game. Aidan Hutchison had two sacks and a forced fumble, Jahmyr Gibbs rushed for 91 yards and a score and Brown had seven catches for 70 yards and has six touchdown catches in four games.
Joe Flacco was 16-of-34 passing for 184 yards and two interceptions for the Browns (1-3). Quinshon Jenkins rushed for 82 yards and a score for Cleveland.
The sloppy Browns committed three turnovers that led to 17 Detroit points and they also had a special teams breakdown.
Raymond’s 65-yard return gave Detroit a 27-10 lead with 13:40 remaining in the game. He fielded the ball at his own 35-yard line near the right sideline and navigated up field to the left and soon was in the open as he finished off his third career punt return touchdown.
Just past the midway point of the final quarter, Hutchinson registered a strip-sack of Flacco and Trevor Nowaske recovered at the Cleveland 20. Six plays later, Goff tossed an 8-yard scoring pass to St. Brown to push the margin to 24 with 4:04 left.
Kerby Joseph and D.J. Reed both intercepted Flacco in the first half as the Lions took a 20-7 lead into the break.
The Browns struck first on a 1-yard run by Jenkins on fourth down with 5:36 left in the first quarter before Detroit ripped off the next 20 points.
The Lions tied the score on Gibbs’ 8-yard scoring run with 3:20 left in the period.
Joseph’s interception late in the first quarter set up a 48-yard field goal by Jake Bates 43 seconds into the second quarter.
Reed then picked off Flacco and returned it 34 yards to the Cleveland 5 with 4:26 left in the half. Three plays later, Goff tossed a 2-yard scoring pass to St. Brown.
Bates booted a 58-yard field goal to match his career long with eight seconds left in the half to give the Lions a 13-point lead.
Cleveland’s Andre Szmyt booted a 33-yard field goal with 6:44 left in the third quarter, but later was wide left from 56 yards out as the Browns trailed 20-10 entering the final quarter.
–Field Level Media
