CLEVELAND -- There are upsets and then there are come-from-behind upsets.
The Cleveland Browns did both Sunday against the Green Bay Packers, overcoming a 10-point deficit in the final four minutes thanks to a blocked field goal attempt and a 55-yard walk-off field goal of their own in a dramatic 13-10 win.
The previously winless Browns beat the previously unbeaten Packers for the biggest upset of the NFL season to date, according to ESPN BET. The Packers were 7.5-point favorites and before Sunday, no underdog of four points or more had won in Weeks 1 and 2.
"Sometimes, just like today, you s--- the bed," Packers defensive end Micah Parsons said. "That's just the reality of it. It happens to the best teams. Even the best Super Bowl champs make mistakes, and they pay for it early.
"You go back to the history of the champions and who've they've played and games they should've won. It's just that competitive. It's that hard to win. It's hard as hell to win football games. When you win football games, it's a celebration. But when you lose, it sucks."
Parsons, in part, blamed himself for two offside penalties -- the second of which occurred on the first play of the Browns' winning drive -- calling those infractions "unacceptable" and adding: "I fully apologize for my actions."
But there's much more than that extra five yards Parsons gave the Browns that factored into the ending. The two biggest players in that regard: Browns defensive tackle Shelby Harris, who swatted away a 43-yard field goal attempt by Brandon McManus that would've given the Packers a 13-10 lead with less than 25 seconds to play; and Browns kicker Andre Szmyt, who nailed a 55-yard game winner as time expired.
And then before those there was the interception that Jordan Love threw with 3:08 remaining and the Packers up 10-3. Love said he never saw safety Grant Delpit in the flat and threw it right to him.
It wasn't as if the Packers weren't aware of Harris' penchant for blocking kicks. He was one of six Browns players lined up to the left of long snapper Matt Orzech.
"He's a really elite field goal rusher," Orzech said. "So you've got to look out for him, know where he is and know they're going to try to get him free if they can."
McManus said he thought he hit the kick high enough and well enough to make it.
"They're a good rush team," McManus said. "We knew that coming in, and they got their hand on the ball."
After Harris blocked the field goal attempt with his right hand, cornerback Greg Newsome pounced on the ricocheted ball.
"You got to look, obviously where they're kicking the ball," Harris said as he recalled the play. "Is the ball going to be tailing to the left, is it going to be tailing to the right? Depending on that, you got to think they're going to try to make it through the middle, so depending on what side of the line you're on, that determines really what hand needs to get up to block it too.
"Everything could be perfect and you still don't get it. ... everything worked out perfect."
The Browns got the ball back with 21 seconds remaining and drove 16 yards, aided by the Parsons' penalty, to the Green Bay 37, setting up the winning attempt from Szmyt.
Quarterback Joe Flacco completed an 8-yard pass to tight end David Njoku on third down and spiked the ball with 3 seconds remaining to give the first-year kicker the chance for his first game winner.
"I think there was so much energy on the sideline, as well," said running back Quinshon Judkins, who recorded a game-high 94 rushing yards and tied the score with a 1-yard touchdown carry. "Everybody was like, 'Let's just finish the game.' Be composed and finish the drive."
For Szmyt, it was an opportunity at redemption after a tumultuous few weeks. Szmyt, who kicked in the UFL before joining the Browns' practice squad late last season, revealed postgame that his mother died from a brain aneurysm in July. Szmyt beat out the Browns' incumbent, Dustin Hopkins, in training camp but struggled in Cleveland's one-point loss to the Bengals in Week 1, missing a PAT and a go-ahead attempt late in the game.
Two weeks later, the 26-year-old made his 55-yarder to give the Browns' their first win of the season.
"I just try to stay calm," Szmyt said. "Like I said, just go back to my process. It got me so far, there's no need to start changing stuff and abandoning certain things. Get settled into it and just believe and trust."
For the Packers, Parsons' penalties were part of a larger problem. They committed 14 overall, their most in a game since Week 3 of the 2010 season (18 penalties in a 20-7 loss to the Bears).
"One thing that we have to get corrected is, when you have 14 penalties in a game, it's going to be tough to overcome that," Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. "We've got to do a much better job of coaching the fundamentals, the details, and then we've got to lock in at a higher level in regards to some of the controllable penalties, whether it was false starts or offsides or whatever you have. But ultimately, this is a total team sport. I thought we played well enough defensively to win the game and didn't do a good enough job on offense and on special teams."
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