There’s not much more quarterback Josh McCown could’ve done Sunday at Qualcomm Stadium against the Chargers.
In a last-second, 30-27 loss to San Diego, McCown completed 32-of-41 passes for a cool 356 yards, slung two touchdowns, didn’t throw an interception, engineered a game-tying drive with under two minutes left in the fourth quarter and banged home the tying two-point conversion to wide receiver Taylor Gabriel.
It wasn’t enough.
“I’m just disappointed – just heartbreaking for all of us,” McCown said. “I feel like everybody battled and fought really hard.”
Cleveland is wearing its 1-3 record like a black eye. Besides the distant buzz of headphones, the plane ride back to Berea was silent. In an entertaining, seesaw affair, the Browns fought tooth and nail and ultimately collapsed at the end on defense.
Even in the minutes after trying to fathom the gut-wrenching loss, one thing became increasingly clear to McCown: This offense is becoming more dynamic each week.
When he made the play call sheet earlier in the week, offensive coordinator John DeFilippo’s game plan wasn’t to throw the football 42 times against the Chargers compared to just 21 runs, but McCown said the plan was adjusted on the fly based on the success Cleveland was having through the air.
“In the big picture, this is John DeFilippo’s first year as a coordinator,” McCown said. “Every game he’s getting better, just like all of us. I felt like he called a good one today and he’s continuing to get better and better.
“The way that we were able to find things in the passing game and create big gains but also stay with the run, that last drive to come back to the run and really hammer that thing down there was huge. I’m excited about where we’re headed.”
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