Road trip woes continue: Browns fall to Rams 36-19 in Los Angeles

*The above video is a recent story about a former Browns player who is now a “Heart Warrior”

LOS ANGELES (WJW) — The Cleveland Browns continued their road trip woes with a loss to the Los Angeles Rams Sunday, moving them to 7-5 on the season.

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Here’s how it all went down:

And so the game kicked off in Los Angeles, with the Browns nicely scoring on their first drive of the game, taking the score to 7-0 early on.

Following that, the Browns defense was able to keep the Rams’ offense from going into the end zone, but a field goal was successful for them, moving the score 7-3 midway through the first quarter.

Unfortunately, the Rams were quickly able to get the ball back and, thanks to a 70-yard run, moved into the end zone easily. The score turned to 10-7 with Rams on top with less than 4 minutes on the clock in the first quarter.

The second quarter was mostly a tale of punting back and forth.

WR Amari Cooper was taken out of the game and was seen walking into the locker room. The NFL said he is being evaluated for a concussion. His status is not known. He was previously dealing with a rib injury.

With about two minutes to go in the half, the Browns brought in kicker Dustin Hopkins and his field goal attempt was good. The game was then tied 10-10.

A kick was good from the Rams and the score moved to 13-10 going into the half.

Moving into the second half of the game, it took awhile for anyone to score, but the Browns were able to tie it up at 13 in the third quarter at about the 5 minute mark, with a field goal from Hopkins.

In the waning seconds of the quarter, the Rams were able to squeak into the end zone, moving the score to 20-13.

A touchdown pass from Joe Flacco had the dog pound barking in Los Angeles, but Hopkins (who’d been called upon all afternoon and was successful up until then) missed the extra point kick. The score then became 20-19.

Despite having a clean game up until then, Flacco’s long throw down the field was intercepted and the Rams turned it into a touchdown. The score moved to 27-19 with less than four minutes to go.

At the two-minute warning, things looked bleak for the Browns. Of course then the Rams scored yet another touchdown, moving the score to 34-19.

Two sacks in a row on Flacco then led to a safety with the score becoming 36-19, not showing how close the score really was most of the game. And that was how the game came to a close.

See photos from the game below:

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FLACCO’S ARM STRENGTH

Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt said after practice this week that on a scale of 1 to 5 for arm strength…Flacco is a 5.

“My arm feels good. Besides that, I don’t think about the strength of it. I’m just trying to make the throws,” Flacco said. “I’m trying to make the throws with touch. I’m worried about being on time, in rhythm and those things more than I am about how strong the arm is getting,” Flacco said.

“He (Flacco) looks good. He throws a very pretty ball. I don’t know if it’s intentional or what, but when he drops back and he lets it go, the whole motion is like poetry in motion. It looks good,” receiver Amari Cooper said.

THE STAFFORD EFFECT

The Browns defense will face Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford who is coming off of a 4-TD game in a 37-14 win over the Arizona Cardinals.

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“He’s (Stafford) one of the best throwers of the football, number one in the league right now,” Van Pelt said. “He has tremendous accuracy… he’s really good with his eyes, looking defenders off.”

BROWNS DEFENSE NEEDS ROAD WORK

The Browns defense has been one of the best in the NFL when they play home games but on the road…not so much. Three of the Browns four losses were on the road in which their opponent scored at least 24 points and while they beat the Colts in Indianapolis, Indy still racked up 38 points. So why the speed bumps for the dee on the road at times?

“Yeah, really not 100% sure. I mean, obviously, the home crowd (in Cleveland) helps us.” said Browns defensive coordinator Alex van Pelt.

“Our home crowd helps our pass rush. We feed off of the excitement from the crowd,” he said.

BROWNS CORNERBACKS NEED A “BOUNCE BACK” GAME

Playing better defense starts with the Browns cornerbacks like Greg Newsome. “Our corners particularly Greg (Newsome), he knows he didn’t play his best game against Denver, and he has a lot of pride as a player. He has a lot of confidence as a player, and I would expect him to bounce back well in this game.” Van Pelt said.

LOS ANGELES SUNDAY WEATHER

The weather in Los Angeles for Sunday’s game calls for mostly sunny skies and a high of 70 degrees.

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