'Football gods owed us one': Helmet bounce goes Browns way this time against Cardinals
CLEVELAND — It's funny how sports can work. The difference in winning or losing, a touchdown or an interception, can often come down to the tiniest of things.
Or, the unplanned helmet getting in the way of the football.
A week ago, a defender's helmet got in the way of a pass intended for Amari Cooper, and it created an interception that led to a loss to the Seattle Seahawks. On Sunday, a defender's helmet got in the way of a pass intended for Cooper, and it created a touchdown to him that opened the door to the Browns rolling to a 27-0 home win over the Arizona Cardinals.
"Yeah, I mean, Harry (tight end Harrison Bryant) said the football gods owed us one," Cooper said after Sunday's win. "So there you have it."
Starting with the football gods' reimbursement to the Browns on Sunday: There was just under seven minutes remaining in the second quarter and the Browns were nursing a 3-0 lead when they faced a second-and-9 from the Arizona 11.
Deshaun Watson took the snap and threw to his right toward Cooper, who was cutting inside on a slant route. The only problem was that defensive tackle Dante Stills' helmet got in the way of the pass, sending it spiraling up in the air toward the end zone.
"It didn't seem like a slow motion type of thing," Cooper said. "It didn’t. It just seemed like it was a moment where I had to concentrate throughout the whole play because I was kind of worried about the corner, seeing the ball and just knocking it down. So I had to jump up and grab it."
Cooper was at the 2 when the ball went up in the air, about a yard behind cornerback Antonio Hamilton Sr. The receiver adjusted to the ball behind Hamilton, who tried to knock it away at the last moment, and safety Jalen Thompson.
Hamilton's attempt was futile, and Cooper came down with the ball and the Browns took a 10-0 lead.
"Either make it hit the ground or 2 (Cooper) get it, and 2 got it," said Watson, who completed five passes on five targets to Cooper for 139 yards and the score. "So, it kind of worked out in our favor today. So it was awesome."
Watson could only watch a week ago when it was his backup, P.J. Walker, whose pass to Cooper with 2:04 remaining deflected off the helmet of blitzing Seahawks safetyJamal Adams. The ball spiraled around through the crisp Seattle air before landing in the hands of safety Julian Love.
That pick, which came with the Browns trying to protect a 3-point lead late, opened the door for Seattle to come down the field and steal the win with a go-ahead touchdown with 38 seconds remaining.
A week later, a similar bounce off a defender's helmet opened the door for them to win for the third time in four games heading into a critical AFC North back-to-back the next two weeks at the Baltimore Ravens and at home against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
"Yeah, that was crazy," Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said of Cooper's catch. "Yeah, he's got great ball skills. You got to get lucky sometimes. We were living right there."
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on Twitter at @ceasterlingABJ