CLEVELAND – As Micah Parsons says, football has a way of playing out like a movie sometimes.
Unfortunately for the Packers, they were on the losing end of this particular script.
A cloud of bewilderment hung over the visiting locker room at Huntington Bank Field on Sunday afternoon in the aftermath of the Cleveland Browns pulling off a remarkable fourth-quarter comeback to upend Green Bay, 13-10.
Parsons, in his third game with the Packers, was again a force in an all-around solid defensive performance, but the Browns scoring 13 points in the final 3 minutes, 38 seconds served as a reminder of the importance of playing a 60-minute game.
"Towards the end of the game, they played better than us," said Parsons, the Packers' fifth-year defensive end. "We gotta play all four quarters of football as a team. We had a chance, multiple chances to end the game. We didn't do that."
Defensively, the Packers were again as dominant as they were in recent wins over NFC frontrunners Detroit and Washington.
The Browns, sitting at 0-2 and led by 40-year-old quarterback Joe Flacco, posted no points through the first three quarters with an interception and six punts on their first seven possessions.
Cleveland had only one offensive series of more than 40 net yards, a 12-play, 71-yard scoring drive that ended with the Browns' first field goal. Back-to-back Quinshon Judkins runs for 52 yards keyed the drive.
It was a much-needed spark for the Browns, who drew even with Green Bay 37 seconds later after a Grant Delpit interception returned to the Green Bay 4-yard line.
Shortly after that, Cleveland quickly converted a blocked Brandon McManus 43-yard field goal into an Andre Smzyt 55-yard game-winner as time expired.
"One minute, you're up 10-0, they can have under 200 total yards," cornerback Nate Hobbs said. "It looks like a great game for the defense and the team and another second you look up and you lose the game. It's just a testament to life – never take your foot off the gas, never get relaxed."
The Packers' defense was lights out through the first 50 minutes, with Parsons pressuring, and hitting, Flacco on each of the Browns' first two possessions.
It gave Green Bay's offense enough time to start chipping away at the Browns' stout defense and get on the board with a 39-yard McManus field goal seven seconds into the second quarter.
Xavier McKinney picked off Flacco on a deep ball with two seconds left in the first half, capping a first-half shutout. In doing so, the Packers became the first Green Bay defense to hold an opponent to three or fewer points in three consecutive first halves since 2014 (Weeks 5-7).
Edge rusher Rashan Gary was a handful for the Browns' offensive front all afternoon, sacking Flacco for a second time on the Browns' first possession of the third quarter.
The Packers forced Cleveland off the field twice before Judkins' first big gain with 9 minutes, 26 seconds left. A gaggle of penalties cropped up in all three phases, including two defensive secondary penalties on that series.
"It's discipline. It's every facet of this game," said Parsons, who took ownership for a pair of offsides penalties. "Discipline will beat talent every day of the week. We were more talented. We played better the first three quarters. We gotta play better the fourth quarter, including me. It goes for everyone."
Judkins, a rookie second-round pick out of Ohio State, rushed 18 times for 94 yards and scored the tying touchdown on 1-yard carry after Delpit's INT. His ground production was nearly half of the Browns' entire offensive output (221 yards).
One week after hitting Washington's Jayden Daniels 12 times, Green Bay put 10 hits on Flacco but only Gary was able to get home on those two occasions.
"You play a game like that … it just a little bit hard to believe," Hobbs said. "I usually just move onto the next but just processing it; it stings. We gotta go onto the next because there's going to be a game next Sunday."
The Packers will travel to face the Dallas Cowboys next Sunday at AT&T Stadium. As disappointing as the outcome was in Cleveland, McKinney believes Green Bay still has the defense – and team – to beat.
"I still think we got a great team. I think we gon' do some special things this year," McKinney said. "But I also think it's good that we learned this lesson early. I'd rather learn it early than late, so I think that's really the biggest lesson that we learned right now."
Parsons agreed while also stressing the importance of Green Bay bouncing back next week against his former team in Dallas.
"That's all part of adversity," Parsons said. "Let's be real. Sometimes, just like today, you (expletive) the bed. That's just the reality of it. It happens to the best teams. Even the best Super Bowl champs make mistakes, and they pay for it early."
