Cleveland Browns star cornerback Denzel Ward took the blame for miscue in coverage during Vikings game-winning touchdown

With 3:27 to go in the fourth quarter, Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski kept things pretty conservative with his team up 17-14 and trying to milk the clock. Two run plays, an incomplete pass and just 22 seconds later, Cleveland was punting the ball back to the Vikings. 

Stefanski was banking on his otherworldly defense to do what it's done most of the season and get a stop when it mattered most. That's normally a pretty safe bet, except this time it wasn't. Veteran QB Carson Wentz marched the Vikings offense 80 yards in 10 plays, tossing the eventual game-winning touchdown to Jordan Addison from 12-yards out. 

Addison slipped past Denzel Ward in coverage and darted towards the right side pylon and found a sweet spot between him and the safety over the top, Ronnie Hickman. The key was Wentz dropping a perfect pass to Addison, just out of reach of Ward and into a bucket near the goal line. 

The play sparked plenty of conversations about who was responsible for surrendering the touchdown. Afterwards, Ward provided some clarity on the play, telling the media that the miscue was on him. As Ward explained, it was his job to force Addison inside at the snap, where Hickman would have an easier time covering him once he cleared into the second and third level. 

Based on the replay, it appears the Browns are in cover six, which means the players to Ward's side of the field are playing cover two. Ward starts the play in Addison's face to almost show like it's man coverage. Addison being lined up just outside the tight end in a slot position is purposeful, as his alignment gives him plenty of room out on the right to create space between himself and Ward.

Ward does jam him briefly at the line of scrimmage but then surrenders the outside as he drops to cover his underneath portion of the field. Doing so allows Addison to run toward the pylon and away from Hickman, who was racing over to help.

That's a lot of ground for Hickman to make up though, which is why Ward expressed regret for not fording Addison more inside. It also did take a really nice throw from Wentz as well, and he happened to make it. 

In general, lapses in coverage have been few and far between this year for the Browns defense. That's also generally the case for Ward, who remains one of the best cornerbacks in the game. This one just so happened to come at the worst possible time for Cleveland and cost the team in a win in London.