Cedric Tillman's career game ended perfectly with the game-winning TD as Brown's Ravens best

But after a series of changes this week, most notably Deshaun Watson's season-ending Achilles tendon injury against the Bengals in Week 7 and head coach Kevin Stefanski handing over control of the game to offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey, the offense had more momentum.

In his first start in Cleveland, quarterback Jameis Winston went 27 of 41 for 334 yards with 3 TDs and 0 INTs en route to a 115.3 rating. He lost a fumble, but the Browns recovered it.

Tillman was Winston's second-most popular target behind Elijah Moore (eight catches on 12 targets for 85 yards). It was also a good day for Jerry Jeudy (five catches on eight targets, 79 yards) and tight end David Njoku (five catches on seven targets, 61 yards).

“I’m so proud of him,” Moore said of Tillman. “This group of recipients is resilient. …Cedric practices hard every day, if you can see it. I know some of you do. He works his ass off. It was a surreal moment for him.”

The game-winning touchdown couldn't have been better for Tillman, as he pulled Ravens safety Eddie Jackson in single coverage while the Browns were on second-and-15.

The score came just after Winston was nearly picked off by Baltimore safety Kyle Hamilton, whose would-be interception slipped through his fingers near the Browns' sideline.

But when Tillman got behind Jackson and the rest of the Baltimore defense, Winston didn't hesitate and let it rip.

“I was in coverage with a safety,” Tillman said. “I knew I had to do something. Jameis, he always says he'll throw it, he'll come back to me. That’s what we did and in the end we implemented it.”

Tillman's first touchdown came in the third quarter, a 22-yarder from an easy slant route that gave the Browns a 20-17 lead.

In the preseason, Tillman spoke at length about how he envisioned his first NFL touchdown. Due to Cleveland's overall offensive woes, it took a long time to get here, even though Tillman was one of the stars of Cleveland's offseason.

But this progress could not be implemented. Tillman had just nine receiving yards in the Browns' first six games. After the Browns' 21-15 loss to the New York Giants in Week 3, Tillman sat despondently at his locker and said, “I let the team down” after missing a fourth-down catch in the fourth quarter.

“My teammates and coaches were there for me,” Tillman said. “They said they trust me. They know I'm going to make it through this game. I had the opportunity again today and I didn't want to do that. I knew I had to get through it and I just tried to do that.”

Tillman said one of the reasons he was able to move on after that Giants game and then keep a clean sheet in the Browns' next three games was because he learned how to from playing with one of his idols, Amari Cooper Browns moved to Buffalo 12 days ago.

The departure of Cooper, the Browns' former No. 1 receiver, has also played a large role in the inconsistency on offense in recent weeks.

“One of the things I learned from Amari is to never get too high and never get too low, because the next week you have to do the same thing,” Tillman said. “So I'll have fun tonight, but next week.”

The last two weeks have been better for Tillman. His performance against the Ravens built on the eight-catch, 81-yard game he had last week against the Cincinnati Bengals.

“I don’t even know how to describe it,” he said. “I've been trying all week to imagine a big game today. I wanted to come back from last week even better. That’s what I focused on.”

Perhaps nothing is a better indicator of how hard Tillman worked to get to Sunday than his teammates' excitement afterward.

Jeudy had no idea Sunday's scores marked the first touchdowns of Tillman's career until he was asked about him during his postgame interview.

“I’ve seen Ced struggle since camp,” Jeudy said. “He did his thing, waited his turn, was patient, and now he came out today and showed everyone who he is.”

Winston praised the way Tillman has embraced blocking and physicality as a taller, 6-foot-2, 220-pound receiver.

“He’s a young receiver and he’s hungry. He’s hungry to get better,” Winston said. “Cedric just found his niche, man. He has found his niche. He blocks well for us, he gets open, he plays physical at the line of scrimmage and he does some good things.”

As good as Sunday was, the hope is that it's just the first step for Tillman — and the rest of the offense, too.

“We’ll just take it as a win,” Tillman said. “Of course we're excited and all that, but we have high expectations here. We won’t be happy, especially with the score at 2-6, so we have to get things rolling.”

It may just be a win. Maybe it's just two touchdowns. But even if Tillman only has his jersey from this one, there's no way he could forget this game if he tried.