Nick Chubb burst around the left side of the offensive line and scurried past several sprawling Houston Texans defenders. Sprinting the tightrope on the sideline expertly, the Browns running back was off to the races for a long touchdown run to seal the victory.
And then he stopped. Chubb put on the brakes and angled out of bounds at the Texans 1-yard line. There wasn’t a Houston defender within 15 yards in any direction. But Chubb said, “no mas”.
No more scoring. That was the directive from head coach Kevin Stefanski, who made sure his players knew the “no mas” order. Coach Stefanski proudly credited Chubb for heeding the plan and sacrificing personal statistical glory to ensure the 10-7 win.
“We told him to get the first (down) and the game’s over, go down,” Stefanski said in his postgame press conference. “We have a code word (no mas) for that and he said, ‘yes sir’.”
“We’re looking for smart, tough dudes and Nick Chubb is that,” Stefanski concluded with a smile.
Fantasy owners of Chubb and those who took the Browns to cover the 3.5-point spread probably aren’t smiling. But Stefanski’s job is to win football games, and his dedication to the run game and sticking with Chubb, who sputtered early, delivered the victory.
