The Cleveland Browns officially claimed a playoff spot by beating the New York Jets 37-20 on Thursday Night Football.
Veteran quarterback Joe Flacco picked up right where he left off in Houston just four days ago, throwing for 296 yards and three scores in the first half to pile up a lead his team always looked sure to defend. Meanwhile, the Jets never looked threatening outside of their 75-yard scoring drive to start the night.
Kevin Stefanski joins Hall of Famer Paul Brown as the only head coaches in Browns history with 10-plus wins in multiple seasons, and his team will be going to the playoffs for just the second time in 21 years.
Offensive spotlight: Joe Flacco put on yet another 300-plus yard performance, completing 19 of his 29 pass attempts for 309 yards, three scores and one interception. The veteran recorded one big-time throw and one turnover-worthy play, with the biggest blip on his night being the pick-six he gifted the Jets in the first half.
It was David Njoku who really stood out tonight, though, as the seven-year pro caught all six of his catchable targets for 134 yards and three first downs, with 99 of those yards coming after the catch.
Defensive spotlight: Despite the result, Jets interior defender Quinnen Williams made life extremely difficult for the Browns' interior offensive line. Williams finished with six total pressures from 26 pass-rush snaps on first review, and he came up with a huge tackle for loss against the run when the Browns were driving down in the red zone early in the game.
Rookie spotlight: Browns safety Ronnie Hickman came down with his first career interception and scored his first career touchdown on the same play on Thursday night. He was targeted twice, but he allowed just one catch for 1 yard and added two pass stops, with passes into his coverage good for a 16.7 passer rating.
Ronnie Hickman to the house! @asvprocket_#NYJvsCLE on Prime Video
Also available on #NFLPlus https://t.co/N4HZXoYgli pic.twitter.com/EByumG2pdh— NFL (@NFL) December 29, 2023
Box Score
Passing
New York Jets |
||||||||
| Player | Fantasy | Comp/Att | Yds | YPA | TD | Int | Sacks | Rtg |
| Trevor Siemian | 14.8 | 32 / 45 | 262 | 5.8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 83.8 |
Cleveland Browns |
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| Player | Fantasy | Comp/Att | Yds | YPA | TD | Int | Sacks | Rtg |
| Joe Flacco | 26.7 | 19 / 29 | 309 | 10.7 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 121.2 |
Rushing
New York Jets |
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| Player | Fantasy | Car | Yds | YPC | TD | Long | Fum Lost |
| Breece Hall | 27.6 | 13 | 84 | 6.5 | 0 | 25 | 0 |
| Trevor Siemian | 14.8 | 4 | 13 | 3.2 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Garrett Wilson | 9.9 | 1 | -1 | -1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Xavier Gipson | 8.1 | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| Israel Abanikanda | 6.0 | 2 | 3 | 1.5 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
Cleveland Browns |
|||||||
| Player | Fantasy | Car | Yds | YPC | TD | Long | Fum Lost |
| Joe Flacco | 26.7 | 2 | 3 | 1.5 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Jerome Ford | 26.1 | 12 | 64 | 5.3 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| Kareem Hunt | 9.1 | 10 | 31 | 3.1 | 1 | 8 | 0 |
| Pierre Strong Jr. | 1.9 | 4 | 29 | 7.2 | 0 | 15 | 1 |
Receiving
New York Jets |
|||||||
| Player | Fantasy | Tgt | Rec | Yds | YPT | YPR | TD |
| Breece Hall | 27.6 | 9 | 9 | 42 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 1 |
| Garrett Wilson | 9.9 | 10 | 5 | 50 | 5.0 | 10.0 | 0 |
| Tyler Conklin | 9.6 | 5 | 5 | 46 | 9.2 | 9.2 | 0 |
| Xavier Gipson | 8.1 | 7 | 4 | 33 | 4.7 | 8.2 | 0 |
| Israel Abanikanda | 6.0 | 7 | 4 | 27 | 3.9 | 6.8 | 0 |
| Kenny Yeboah | 4.8 | 3 | 2 | 28 | 9.3 | 14.0 | 0 |
| Jason Brownlee | 4.8 | 2 | 2 | 28 | 14.0 | 14.0 | 0 |
| Nick Bawden | 1.8 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 0 |
Cleveland Browns |
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| Player | Fantasy | Tgt | Rec | Yds | YPT | YPR | TD |
| Jerome Ford | 26.1 | 3 | 2 | 57 | 19.0 | 28.5 | 2 |
| David Njoku | 21.4 | 8 | 6 | 134 | 16.8 | 22.3 | 0 |
| Elijah Moore | 17.1 | 6 | 5 | 61 | 10.2 | 12.2 | 1 |
| Kareem Hunt | 9.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Jordan Akins | 3.8 | 1 | 1 | 28 | 28.0 | 28.0 | 0 |
| Harrison Bryant | 3.4 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 4.7 | 7.0 | 0 |
| David Bell | 2.7 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 2.3 | 3.5 | 0 |
| Cedric Tillman | 1.8 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 2.0 | 8.0 | 0 |
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