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Game Balls: 4 standouts who helped lead the Browns to a Week 3 victory

The Browns picked up their second win of the season Sunday behind career-best performances from four players

The Browns won, 26-6, on Sunday over the Chicago Bears, which means it's time to give away a round of game balls to those who helped Cleveland secure win No. 2 of the season.

Game Ball No. 1: Defensive end Myles Garrett

Garrett's record-breaking performance will serve as one of the top performances by any Browns player for the rest of the season — and of all time.

No Browns player had ever recorded 4.5 sacks in a game until Garrett accomplished it against a helpless Bears offensive line. Rookie quarterback Justin Fields was in danger of being sacked nearly every time he dropped back for a pass, and when he did throw, the ball didn't go far — he only completed six of his 20 passes for 68 yards.

Fields was sacked nine times, which is the most sacks the Browns have amassed since 2015. Garrett was the most destructive defender and accounted for 24.5 yards lost for Chicago's offense. As a unit, the Browns defense limited the Bears to just 1 net passing yard, which is the lowest the Browns have ever held an opponent in franchise history.

Garrett challenged the Browns defense to step up earlier in the week. He helped them do just that with a performance that will be remembered for years to come.

"It's awesome seeing everybody getting off and making big plays," Garrett said. "It's just like when you're in high school — everybody is balling and you feel like you can make a play at any time. You feel like you're the star. Everybody wants to feel like that on the field."

Game Ball No. 2: Running back Kareem Hunt

No offensive player did more damage against the Bears than Hunt, who combined for 155 total yards, one touchdown and a bunch of broken tackles.

The performance was statistically the best of Hunt's Browns career, and it was even more impressive that he accomplished it against a Bears defense that hadn't allowed more than 200 rushing yards in a game since 2016. Hunt provided 81 of those yards, while Nick Chubb (84), Baker Mayfield (31), Odell Beckham Jr. (10) and D'Ernest Johnson (9) did the rest.

"Kareem runs very hard," head coach Kevin Stefanski said. "When it's there, he runs hard and makes great yards. When it's not there, he's still running hard and he's spinning out of it. I've seen it live and in living color with a great seat the last couple of years to see this kid fight for every yard out there. He has a great mentality and is a team guy all of the way. We're certainly leaning on him there in moments."

Check out photos of the Browns against the Bears in week three

Game Ball No. 3: Linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah

Fields entered Sunday with the biggest spotlight of any rookie player on the field.

By the end of the game, Owusu-Koramoah stole it.

"JOK," a 2021 second-round pick, bullied the Bears at all levels of the defense and built his best performance of his career so far with four tackles, one QB hit, one tackle for a loss and two pass deflections. That's about as good of a stat line as possible for a rookie linebacker playing in only his third career game, and his performance made it even more clear that Owusu-Koramoah is a quick learner, one who could be among the most vital players on the Browns defense by the end of the season.

"I would have to look at it," Stefanski said when asked about Owusu-Koramoah's performance, "but I'm going to guess he was running around making plays.

Game Ball No. 4: Kicker Chase McLaughlin

Several aspects of the Browns' performance Sunday will be remembered in historical fashion.

The kicking game will be one of them.

McLaughlin continued his perfect start to the season by converting four field goals and two extra points. His first field goal was a 57-yarder that became the longest field goal ever made by a Browns kicker at FirstEnergy Stadium. His third field goal was a 52-yarder that made him one of two Browns kickers in history to nail two field goals of at least 50 yards in the same game — the other was Phil Dawson, who achieved the feat three times in his career.

McLaughlin has opened the season by converting on all five of his field goal kicks and all nine of his extra-point attempts. It's quite the start for someone who is on his eighth team in the last three seasons, and it's safe to say the Browns' confidence in McLaughlin couldn't be higher after a tremendous Week 3 effort.

"Having Stefanski have the trust in me to put me out there and just give me the opportunity, I am super thankful for it," McLaughlin said. "I'm glad I could make it for the team."

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