The code word is “No m s.”

That was the directive at the end of the play call Kevin Stefanski sent to Baker Mayfield and that Mayfield relayed to Nick Chubb. For Chubb, it meant get the first down, but don’t score.

For fantasy football players and gamblers across the country, it meant heartbreak, curse words and disaster.

“I guess I feel bad from that aspect,” Chubb said of the gamblers he cost money and fantasy players he cost victories. “But we got the W. That’s what matters most.”

There is so much to love about Chubb. He reminds me of Barry Sanders. Not so much the style; Sanders was a magician the way he could make guys miss. Chubb is all power and runs through tackles every week. But their quiet, unassuming nature is similar. Chubb doesn’t really celebrate touchdowns. He never pounds his chest to remind defenses how good he is. He just runs the ball and punishes opponents. Then he gets up and does it again.

When the Browns brought in Kareem Hunt on a one-year contract, Chubb never complained. He just went out and won the rushing title last year before he was Freddie-d on the last day of the season. When Hunt signed an extension before this season, Chubb never grumbled. He just carried the Browns to a 3-1 start before a knee injury cost him six weeks.

And when Stefanski instructed him to get the first down but not score in the final minute of Sunday’s 10-7 win over the Texans, well, it might seem like an unusual order since the Browns were 60 yards from the end zone. This wasn’t exactly red zone territory, but Chubb is one of those threats who can score from anywhere on the field at any time except when he’s ordered not to.

With Houston out of timeouts and the clock winding down, Chubb broke a 59-yard run on third down and then stepped out at the 1. He sacrificed his sixth touchdown of the season and his third multi-score game in the process. Stefanski kept Chubb out of the end zone when the Texans couldn’t.

“I wouldn’t have been mad at him if he scored,” Stefanski said. But no one was surprised he didn’t. He was just following orders.

It was smart strategically. It guaranteed victory because it ensured DeShaun Watson couldn’t get the ball back, even though scoring twice in under a minute with no timeouts is awfully difficult even by his standards. It also ensured chaos in gambling and fantasy worlds. One gambler, according to Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist Todd Dewey, lost $100,000 when Chubb stepped out. He had the Browns at minus-4.

The Browns opened as 2.5-point favorites, but enough money came in on them this week to shift the lines to somewhere between 3.5 and 4.5 by kickoff. That means Chubb’s decision to step out cost a lot of people a lot of money 56 percent of the bets placed on the game were on the Browns, according to The Action Network. Of course, it also won a lot of people a lot of money who were momentarily mortified while watching Chubb race down the sideline.

“Maybe if I hadn’t gotten one earlier, I would’ve scored,” Chubb said. “That’s the natural instinct, to get into the end zone. Something came in my head and said ‘Let’s go out of bounds.’”

Chubb isn t the first back to do it. Todd Gurley did the same in an almost identical spot two years ago. In the final minute against the Packers, Gurley fell down with the Rams ahead by two and Green Bay out of timeouts. Before Gurley, it was Brian Westbrook with the Eagles. Chubb is just the latest.

The Browns are 6-3 and remain in the thick of the playoff race because they re healthy again and taking advantage of lousy opponents. The Texans made a slew of mistakes, from choosing the wrong end of the field (who elects to drive toward the swirling winds of the Dawg Pound in the fourth quarter in horrific conditions?) to curious timeout usage and questionable strategies of when to punt down two scores in the second half. It s about time another team (led by a former Browns coach, of course) is making those mistakes and allowing the Browns to capitalize for once.

The offense is getting healthy again. Austin Hooper returned from an appendectomy, Wyatt Teller was back at right guard, and most important was Chubb s return to the backfield. As I ve written for weeks, TINSTATMC There Is No Such Thing As Too Much Chubb is the only plan the Browns really need every Sunday, but especially on days with this type of weather.

No m s, sure. But m s Chubb, always. He s always a safe bet.

Well, almost always.