'You don't really want to breathe': Browns exhale after Jaguars' Hail Mary falls short

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The reminder didn't need to come to Browns safety Ronnie Hickman. He knew exactly where the question was heading as it was being asked after Cleveland escaped from Jacksonville Sunday with an 18-13 win over the Jaguars .

It was last December, and the Browns seemed to have a win over the Chicago Bears locked up. They only needed then-Bears quarterback Justin Fields' Hail Mary pass to hit the ground before they could celebrate.

There was one problem about the pass to Darnell Mooney that Hickman recalls.

"He could have caught that," Hickman said Sunday.

That thought wasn't just floating around in Hickman's mind as the late-afternoon Florida rain was pouring down on the field. It was front and center, because the Browns once again found themselves needing to make sure a Hail Mary pass fell to the ground before they could start celebrating.

This time, the Jaguars were the team needing the answered prayer. They had the ball at the Browns 33 with nine seconds remaining, with a touchdown the only thing they could do to win.

Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence took the snap and, after a moment, felt a bit of delayed pressure from Browns defensive end Isaiah McGuire. It wasn't enough to prevent him from getting off a good throw toward the front left quadrant of the end zone.

The pass, which was intended for tight end Brenton Strange, never really had a good enough chance to reach him. However, both Hickman and cornerback Martin Emerson Jr. made sure Strange never had a chance to make the catch, either.

"The ball in the air, it's ours," Emerson recalled of the final play. "Knock it down, make sure nobody catches that ball. So yeah, it's like a [gasps] you don't really want to breathe, but you want to make sure you make the play. But, yeah, it was fun. That was a fun game."

Both Emerson and Hickman swarmed Strange, who lunged toward the pass. However, it landed in front of Strange on the ground, with Hickman underneath him and Emerson to his front.

By that point, the Browns defenders around the play understood what had occurred. Specifically, Hickman, who was also one of the players closest to Mooney for last December's survival.

"Well, I honestly didn't see the ball hit the ground, so I kind of turned around and seen the guys celebrating," Hickman said. "So that's when I knew. But it's amazing. We needed this win, and it was important for us to do well on the road."

The win over the Jaguars was just one, but it's one that could mean big things during a December playoff push. It could be the separator between one team getting in and one not making the playoffs.

That's what that win over the Bears was last year for the Browns, who ultimately ended up clinching the playoffs and the No. 5 seed with a game to go in the regular season. That's why moments like the one at the end of that Chicago win — just like Sunday's win will be going forward — aren't forgotten by the defense.

"When situations like that happen, the only thing you can do is learn from them, good or bad," Hickman said. "Luckily it came out positive. But that clip has been played numerous amounts of times in our film room and it's something that we use to learn off of. Luckily we were out there so it's easier to kind of adjust to it."

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: 'You don't really want to breathe': Browns exhale after Jaguars' Hail Mary falls short