Cameron Mitchell gets Justin Fields by a foot on 4th down, starting Browns rally by Bears

CLEVELAND — Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields had the corner. The first down was mere feet away,

That is, until Browns cornerback Cameron Mitchell got his hands on one of Fields' feet. That foot left the Bears about a foot shy of picking up a first down on the first play of the fourth quarter.

When Dustin Hopkins' foot connected on a go-ahead 34-yard field goal with 32 seconds remaining, the importance of that foot could not have resonated louder. Instead of adding to what was a 10-point lead, that foot grab and stumble helped turned the momentum that led to a 20-17 comeback win for the Browns.

“I’m not going to say I felt the momentum switch,” Mitchell said. “But when I got to the sideline everyone was like that’s game changing. After the game, everyone was like that was one of those plays that changed the game for us. That’s my job, just doing my job so we can win.”

That's even if Mitchell acknowledged that he may not have even been in the right place, at least when the play first developed. When it ended, though, he was right where he needed to be to get to Fields.

The Bears came out with a tight bunch to the right side of the formation out of the break between the third and fourth quarter to try and pick up the fourth-and-1 from the Browns 33 while holding a 17-7 lead. Mitchell was lined up head up on Darnell Mooney at the middle of the bunch, and stayed there as the outside receiver went in motion left.

On the snap, Mitchell gets sucked into the action of the play, which was going to the left. Fields, though, reversed to the right on the bootleg and rand toward the first-down marker.

Mitchell was pushed backwards by Mooney, who was thinking he was getting the Browns rookie out of the play. Instead, it put Mitchell in position to at least recover enough to get near Fields, which was what he was able to do.

“Honestly I was doing the wrong thing it was just feeling that moment and being a football player,” Mitchell said. “My guy blocked down, I got a block from the outside, Greg’s guy. Then it was just we had nobody in the area and Justin Fields is an elite runner, so I just wanted to go make a play. It was improvising. In that moment you have to be a football player.”

That played turned into a major momentum shift in the span of about 15 seconds. That how long it took the Browns to flip the field when Joe Flacco hit Marquise Goodwin on a 57-yard pass to the Bears 15, setting up a Hopkins 33-yard field goal to pull the Browns within 17-10 with 12:27 remaining.

The Browns would score on three of their final four possessions, all after Mitchell's stop. The Bears, meanwhile, would net 48 yards on their final 17 plays, 30 of those on Tyler Scott's catch that put them at the Browns 45 with 15 seconds remaining.

"I mean, Cam is a hell of a young talent and those guys in the secondary, I want to say unsung heroes today," All-Pro defensive end Myles Garrett said. "They didn't make as many plays as last week, but they still balled out. And Cam has been taking step by step each week, getting better and listening to the vets in the room and just doing what he needs to make plays for the football team and we can't be any prouder."

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

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cameron Mitchell's 4th-down stop starts Browns rally in 4th by Bears