It was a beautiful day in Cleveland this Sunday. The Indians were back in the playoffs and a football team showed up to play that was dressed in Brown and Orange. The Browns started off with a 41 yard kickoff return to begin a drive that was ended with a two yard Anderson to Jurevicious touchdown pass. The Browns got the ball back on a Bodden interception of a McNair pass and then brought the home crowd to their feet with a 78 yard touchdown pass from Anderson to Edwards.

The Browns defense gave up yards to the Ravens, who ended up with more yards than the Browns. But the defense did not give up the big play this week. The defensive line and the linebackers while allowing McGahee to gain over 100 yards kept the big play from taking place while the defensive backs kept the receivers in front of them. With the Ravens down by three scores, they were forced to move the ball in time consuming drives that gave them little chance to get back into the ball game.

For the first week there were no calls to see Brady Quinn. Derek Anderson played a solid game going 10 of 18 for 204 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. He missed some touch throws and threw into triple coverage for the one interception but has established that with good line protection he is an NFL quarterback. One play showed the changes from a year ago when Braylon Edwards made an attempt to peel a tackler off of Winslow as he tried to dive into the endzone. A year ago Edwards was one of the problem children of the NFL and seemed to be all about himself. On that one play he showed that he now understands what is necessary to have a winning NFL team.

The young stars of this team all showed that they can live up to their billings, Edwards with the long touchdown reception, Winslow with the big catches when you need one, and Wimbly with the quarterback rush when you need it. Edwards and Winslow each had almost 100 yards in catches again in a game where the offense went conservative with the lead in the second half. Joe Thomas and the offensive line again gave what Cleveland has rarely seen - protection to the quarterback and hole for a running back.

A Sports Illustrated article last week concerning 1 and 2 teams with a need to panic stated about Cleveland that it was a one and two team with no need to panic since nothing was expected - after all it is Cleveland. While even the most diehard fan of the Browns does not see a superbowl win in the offing, that fan does have some hope when they enter the stadium that he will leave the stadium horse from cheering and having something to talk about the next day that does not deal with replacing a coaching staff or who will you draft the next spring. Right now the goal is to give Dallas the poorest draft pick possible and to keep the Brady Quinn on the sidelines for a long as possible.

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Lloyds Apple said:

Judge- It's amazing what a couple wins can do for team morale. All of a sudden the guys that seems "all about themselves" are looking like leaders and the team is gelling around the young talent. Right now the goal is to give Dallas the poorest draft pick possible and to keep the Brady Quinn on the sidelines for a long as possible. That is great and true. That should be your goal. That has been my crying call, that Cleveland basically gave up a future top 5 pick in 2008 for a #22 pick in 2007. Under that theory, common sense would say the Cowboys got the better end of things. Of course, that could be unproven down the line when we actually see career results unfold but I digress. I see no problem with keeping Quinn out for a year and certainly if it means more wins. All I know is all the big names they've drafted the last few years seems to be getting better and none of them are close to their full potential.

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October 03, 2007
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JEH45 said:

	Too bad the Brownies didn't show up to play oakland.
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October 03, 2007
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