Jarvis Landry scored two touchdowns and set up another as the Cleveland Browns defeated the Carolina Panthers 26-20 on Sunday afternoon at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland.
Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield completed 18 of 22 throws for 238 yards and one touchdown as Cleveland (5-7-1) won for the third time in four games.
The Panthers (6-7) have lost five games in a row and are eliminated from NFC South title contention even though two of their three remaining games come against the first-place New Orleans Saints.
Christian McCaffrey scored two rushing touchdowns for the Panthers, who are 1-6 in road games.
Carolina quarterback Cam Newton completed 26 of 42 passes for 265 yards with one interception despite concerns about a sore shoulder that had existed since his four-interception performance a week earlier at Tampa Bay.
The Panthers reached the Cleveland 3-yard line late in the game, but Newton threw incomplete on a fourth-down pass with 2:35 to play.
After a punt, Carolina regained possession at its own 34 with 1:04 remaining and no timeouts left. Damarious Randall intercepted Newton on the next play.
Nick Chubb's 4-yard run early in the fourth quarter gave the Browns a 23-20 lead, with the extra-point kick no good when the ball struck the upright. The touchdown was set up a play earlier by Landry's 54-yard run.
Cleveland extended its lead to 26-20 on Greg Joseph's 41-yard field goal with 8:46 to play.
Chubb finished with 66 rushing yards on 13 carries.
The Browns never led in the first half but they matched each of Carolina's scores in what became a 17-17 deadlock at the half.
McCaffrey had touchdown runs of 4 and 1 yards. Landry rushed for a 3-yard score and caught Mayfield's 51-yard strike.
From there, Chandler Catanzaro drilled a 30-yard field goal in his first game with the Panthers while replacing injured Graham Gano. Joseph made it even with a 49-yarder for Cleveland with 59 seconds left in the first half.
Catanzaro provided the only points of the third quarter with 34-yard field goal.
--Field Level Media