Browns topple the Giants, 35-14 on MNF

I went in expecting a giant annihilation.  I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to watch…but, I knew, I had to root my Browns on.  I think most of us felt that way.

The offense looked crisp, aside from a lot of penalties, the defense looked good, and the special teams clicked.

Derek Anderson saved his job, by throwing for 320 yards against the Super Bowl champion Giants.  The difference between games 1-3 and tonight…the O-line protected DA like there was no tomorrow!  The offense was diverse and kept the Giants D guessing all night.

I’d like to say there was one play or one player that made the difference, but there were multitudes on both sides of the ball.

Maybe the difference was confidence.  Derek Anderson came into the game fighting for his NFL career.  Braylon Edwards was being criticized for dropping passes, the O-line hadn’t been able to pass block, the defense wasn’t able to stop the pass.  The list goes on and on.

The Browns came out and had a nice drive that ended in a field goal.  Typical Browns fast start.  The difference is, they didn’t quit after that.  Even after the interception and missed field goal, “Quit” was handed to them on a silver platter.  They were down by 4 and they just kept coming at the Giants.

Braylon Edwards made a 70 yard reception on the next play that I’m sure confused the Giants D.  They were saying, “What?  They were supposed to run the ball on first down!”  That set up the first Browns TD of the night as Jamal Lewis went in from 4 yards out.

On the next drive, Joshua Cribbs lined up at quarterback and handed off to Lewis for 3 yards, but the point is that the Browns were putting in new plays.  The play was an option for Cribbs.  You’ve got to love the imagination and use of Cribbs to confuse the D.  Cribbs was used earlier on an end around for 12 yards that had to have the Giants thinking on hand off to Lewis.  Anderson hit Steve Heiden on a critical 3rd down for the first.  Next play, DA hits Darnell Dinkins in the seam for 22 yard TD!  Nice.

The Giants came down and scored before half to make it interesting and have us Browns fans worried, but…not tonight.  Romeo and Chud did try to make the Browns look like idiots before the half by running 2 four yard out patterns before kneeling on the ball to end the half.

The Browns came out swinging in the second half as well.  An interception set them up for another strong offensive drive.  A reverse from Cribbs to Jerome Harrison went for 33 yards and set them up for another field goal.  Again, you need to applaud the play calling to catch the Giants off guard.

After another Feagles punt with more than 8 minutes left in the 3rd, the Browns drove the ball until the end of the quarter.  There were many illegal procedure calls during the drive, but the Browns kept converting 3rd downs.  It ended with a TD pass to Edwards to start the 4th quarter.

It’s not over yet for a Browns fan.  The Giants drove inside the 10 and promptly threw an interception to Eric Wright, who returned it 94 yards for a touchdown!  That’s the kind of defense the Browns need to be competitive!  The Browns had gained so much confidence that they went for 2.  The smart thing to do.  DA to Braylon for the 2 point conversion!

There’s 8 minutes left and you’re up by 3 touchdowns, you’re feeling pretty good, unless you’re a Browns fan.  I am only happy when we are up by 21 with under 5 minutes left!

Sooooo, the Giants drive, and make some bad decisions of their own.  The clock is running down and they have only 1 timeout, that they use.  On 4th and 2 from the Browns 6 yard line, Eli throws incomplete.  Now, with only 4 minutes left, I begin to celebrate.

A number of things went right for the Browns tonight.  The biggest thing was that they didn’t fall behind.  Had they fallen behind, it would have been Brandon Jacobs left, Derrick Ward right all night long.

The announcers gave DA the game ball.  I give the game ball to the offensive line.  DA didn’t get sacked, Jamal Lewis had holes to run in, and the defense was well rested, because of the O-line.

It is hard to stop writing after a win like this.  The Browns fans deserved this one.  I was getting texts during the whole first half from a Pittsburgh fan about how much the Browns suck.  My last text “Huh?  What were you saying?” was answered with “Never mind”.  I’ll take that!  If the Browns can play like this for the remainder, we’ll have a special late Christmas gift for the Squeelers in week 17.

What was the single most important aspect of the Browns victory tonight?  Maybe it was the addition of Donte Stallworth…

As always, Go BROWNS!  Great job tonight!

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