The Browns needed every bit of the tremendous afternoons from the pair as the Browns earned their third win of the season.
All was not well in the victory,as you will see below,but the Browns improve to 3-11 with their first back to back wins since 2007.
The Browns will spend their final two games at home in Cleveland against the suddenly improving Raiders and the Jaguars,who are fighting for their playoff lives....
Brownie Bits
1) Josh Cribbs returned his seventh and eighth kickoff returns for touchdowns in
his career in the win.This sets an NFL record for most kickoff returns for TD's in a career and makes Cribbs the best of all time.
The thing that sets Cribbs apart from the other great kick returners is the physical,tackle breaking style that he uses.
Most of the others (actually I cannot remember anyone like Cribbs) use pure speed and agility and fold at the slightest touch like Deion Sanders.
That is the last thing that you get from Josh Cribbs and I don't like to make statements like this while a player is still active,but Josh Cribbs may be the best ever...
2) Jerome Harrison rushed for 286 yards on the day (third most in
a game ever) after entering the contest with only 301 on the season.Granted the Chief defense isn't the Orange Crush,but still,what a performance.
Harrison was the dominant player on the field with three touchdown runs and showed why we have thought that he should have been on the field all along.
Now,the big question is,why hasn't Eric Mangini or Romeo Crennel for that matter?
3) Browns fans have given Brady Quinn credit for the Pittsburgh win for "managing the game" despite a meager 90 yards passing because he avoided turning the ball over,but this week against a far inferior defense,Quinn managed just 66 yards and threw two interceptions in Kansas City.
The point in slamming Quinn is moot as he injured his foot in the win and will miss the final two games of the season.
The real question now is this-Has Quinn shown enough as Mike Holmgren "reviews the tape" to be the Browns QB next season or will a serious challenger be brought in?
4) Derek Anderson starts this week in what will likely be his final chance to impress Holmgren or more likely a possible suitor in the off season.
Oakland will start former Brown and Anderson rival Charlie Frye this Sunday.
A lot of money could have been in September of 2007 betting that on this date those two QB's would be starting against each other in late 2009....
5) I like the work Rob Ryan has done with the defense all season for the most part,but I just cannot understand how the scheme can protect the talent against better teams,yet bad teams like the Lions and Chiefs have just shredded the Browns.
If anyone has an answer,please let me know.
6) Long snappers usually don't get more mention unless they screw up and Ryan Pontibrand did just that this week with a snap off the thigh of the upback.
Now perhaps the upback was in the wrong position,but that was an unexpected error by the Pro Bowler....
7) The biggest raspberry of the day goes to punter Reggie Hodges for one
of the wimpiest efforts that I have ever seen in pursuing the loose ball on the snap in the end zone.Hodges minced around and allowed the Chiefs to recover for an easy score.
Hodges had two choices-kick the ball out of the end zone or jump on the ball.
Either option gave Kansas City two points,Hodges instead allowed them seven.
8) Give the Browns offensive line tons of credit for Jerome Harrison's performance,which took Jim Brown out of the Browns record book,but special kudos to fullback Lawrence Vickers,who quietly destroyed the Chiefs as Harrison's lead blocker.
9) I have read some blogs,sites etc that say that these two wins should give Eric Mangini another season.
I beg to differ.
Just look at this win-it took two kick returns for touchdowns and the third greatest rushing day of all time from a player that carried the ball just seven times the week before to beat a three win team by seven points.
I'll take the win,but lets not go overboard either....
10) Just for the record to whoever throws the ball-throwing it to Robert Royal is usually a bad idea.
He usually will not catch it...
11) The win put the Browns in either the 4th or 5th draft slot for now,tied with the Chiefs.
Had the Browns lost,they would have been in the 2,3 or 4 position as the Buccaneers won their second game last week.
A quick look shows these as draft possibilities.
Browns lose their last two:No worse than fifth,could move up with wins by these teams
Kansas City (3 wins) at Cincinnati,at Denver
Detroit (2 wins) at San Francisco,home vs Chicago
Tampa Bay (2 wins) at New Orleans,home vs Atlanta
St.Louis (1 win) at Arizona,home vs San Francisco.
Browns split their last two:No worse than sixth,could be fifth with a Washington win over either
Dallas or San Diego.
Browns win their last two: No worse than tenth.Buffalo,Chicago,Oakland and Seattle all currently have five wins,so if they all lose out and the Browns win out,the tie breaking mish mosh comes out.
Photo Credits
Harrison:Charlie Riedel-AP Photo
Cribbs and Hodges:Ed Zurga-AP Photo
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