Cleveland Browns running back Nick Chubb didn't suit up for the team's Week 3 blowout win over the Tennessee Titans, but still earned the game ball from head coach Kevin Stefanski.
Kevin Stefanski drove the game ball out to Nick Chubb and hand-delivered it
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) September 25, 2023
The four-time Pro Bowler suffered a season-ending knee injury during Cleveland's Week 2 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on "Monday Night Football."
Without their best offensive player, the Browns put together perhaps their most impressive and balanced effort of the year against Tennessee, limiting Titans stud running back Derrick Henry to 20 rushing yards on 11 carries.
In Chubb's place, 23-year running back Jerome Ford struggled against Tennessee's stout defensive front -- gaining 18 yards on 10 carries -- but he added a pair of receptions for 33 yards and had one score through the air and one on the ground.
Cleveland not only limited an AFC foe to three points for the second time in three weeks and posted a season-high in points, but also had their best mark of the month in first downs (23). Quarterback Deshaun Watson bounced back from his horrific Week 2 performance with by far his best game of the campaign, going 27-for-33 for 289 passing yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions for a 123.4 passer rating.
Stefanski and the rest of the group know that their franchise wouldn't be anywhere close to perennial contention without Chubb though, which led to the special honor on Sunday night.
Since their infamous 0-16 season in 2017, the Browns have gone a respectable 41-43-1 with Chubb as their leading rusher in six straight years (including 2023) and broke an 18-year playoff drought in 2020.
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