A more comfortable Nick Chubb has become a more productive Nick Chubb for the Cleveland Browns, and that could prove very beneficial when the team returns from its bye-week break to take on the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati on Nov. 25.
Chubb broke free for a 92-yard rushing touchdown and registered 176 yards and the one score on 20 carries, an average of 8.8 yards per attempt, in the Browns’ 28-16 win over the Atlanta Falcons at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland Sunday.
“I feel more comfortable,” Chubb said.
“My eyes are getting better. I am seeing everything up front at first, but the game is still fast in everyone we play. Just a great defense and great players on the other side of the ball and it is always tough, but I am always up for the challenge.”
On second-and-10 from the Cleveland eight-yard line with 8:45 remaining in the third quarter, Chubb took a handoff from quarterback Baker Mayfield, rushed behind the blocks of right guard Kevin Zeitler and tackle Chris Hubbard and quickly got into the second level of Atlanta’s defense.
RELATED | Baker Mayfield: It’s a lot better to be Nick Chubb’s teammate with Cleveland Browns than an opponent
Chubb high-stepped his way out of a tackle at the Cleveland 22-yard line and sprinted his way up to the 45, where wide receiver Antonio Callaway was frantically waving to him to go left so he could finish off a block.
Chubb sprinted the final 50 yards into the end zone for the touchdown before dropping the ball to celebrate with his teammates, and the Browns did something Atlanta could not do, as they tackled him in the celebration.
“Just a great job up front,” Chubb said. “Those guys blocked hard the whole game, and it was wide open. I remember running through and seeing the safety left, and then after that, I see (WR Antonio) Callaway blocking the corner, which he did a tremendous job of that. He always does. After that, I am just wide open to the house.”
Although Chubb had to do the running, he thanked Callaway for the key downfield block that sealed the 92-yard touchdown, the longest in Browns history.
“I almost did not take it,” Chubb said with a laugh. “I am glad I trusted him and took it because after that it was wide open to the house.”
On the way to the career-high 176 rushing yards, Chubb set the franchise record for the longest scoring play, which was the second-longest player by a rookie in the NFL, behind only Pittsburgh Steelers’ Bobby Gage broke a 97-yard score in 1949.
Additionally, Chubb hauled in a 13-yard touchdown reception from Mayfield late in the second quarter to give the Browns a lead they would not relinquish.
“It definitely is very special just being in this place with so much history and so many great running backs and to be a part of it breaking records it is a great feeling,” Chubb said.
Not bad for a player that got minimal work through the first quarter of the season.
Since Carlos Hyde’s trade to the Jacksonville Jaguars went through 48 hours ahead of a road loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Chubb has become the Browns’ feature running back, rushing for 406 yards and three touchdowns on 78 carries, an average of 5.21 yards per attempt.
And Chubb has no intentions of slowing down when the Browns return from the mid-season break.
“I am willing to do anything they ask me to do and I was,” Chubb said. “Not getting many carries, I still took advantage of the ones I got just to help this team anyway I could. That is still [the same]. Now, I am getting more carries, and I am going to make the most out of all of them.”