When the Browns go marchin' in!

I figured the Cleveland Browns had no chance to win in New Orleans against the Saints and no one else did either.
New Orleans looked to be back on track after a thumping of the Bucs in Tampa and this game was in the Superdome.
However,a few fluky plays and the Browns willingness to throw caution to wind on special teams allowed the Browns to grab a stunning 30-17 upset to take into the bye week with them.
The 2-5 Browns will return with back to back home games against the Patriots and Jets..

Brownie Bits

1) Right away,we have been critical of Eric Mangini,Brian Daboll and just about everyone else in that deals with offense and special teams,but yesterday,they got creative and the stunning win ensued.


I have always said that you have two ways to win when you are outmanned in talent-either play it totally safe and hope to make no mistakes (if you could do that,you likely wouldn't be outmanned) or throw it all at the opponent and take your chances.The Browns did that yesterday from the first time that they touched the ball with Josh Cribbs taking a punt and throwing the ball across field to Eric Wright,who was tackled in Saints territory and set up the Browns first score-a Phil Dawson field goal.My only quibble was why Wright instead speedy Carlton Mitchell?
Mitchell was likely to have had a better chance of a TD than the slower Wright.
In any case,Cleveland set the tone that on this day-anything could happen..

2) The other call that showed the amount of film work put in was the 60+ yard run by Reggie Hodges up the middle on a fake punt.The Saints had already turned upfield when Hodges found the gap and galloped away.Hodges run for 68 yards was one fewer than Peyton Hillis had all day.

3) Sadly,both of those plays resulted in just six points.The Browns offense still buttoned it down and showed a lack of originality until a fourth quarter  13 yard pass by Peyton Hillis to Colt McCoy.
Brian Daboll needs to try more things like that and give him some credit for giving it a try in the fourth quarter.

4) Colt McCoy threw for just 76 yards,but he didn't make a mistake and managed the offense well.
McCoy did just what a rookie quarterback should do-try to resist the temptation to win the game by himself and don't lose the game.

5) Rob Ryan's defense played about as well as I could have hoped and supposedly Scott Fujita was highly involved in the game plan for the day and if that is the case-Fujita deserves tons of credit for the win as well.
Drew Brees was bewildered all day and often forced his passes into coverage just to get rid of the ball.
Between the performance against the Saints and the success of Rex Ryan in New York,I would say the chances that Rob Ryan is a head coach somewhere in 2011 are pretty strong.

6) David Bowens and his two interception returns for touchdowns was the difference in this one obviously.The first one was a pure lucky one as the ball played Pinball Wizard from Bowens to off the back of a Saint lineman and back to Bowens,but the second pick that basically ended the game was an excellent read by Bowens.
Well scouted and the drop back in coverage was a nice call by Rob Ryan or if Bowens did it on his own.

7) Scott Fujita not only proved his worth as a future coach and/or scout,he is a pretty fair linebacker with 11 tackles and a sack on the day.
Fujita said he was inspired by his possible last visit to the Superdome,any chance he can keep some of that for each game?

8) Peyton Hillis didn't have a great game by the numbers,but his piledriving runs in the fourth quarter kept the chains moving and the clock running in a situation that certainly needed it.
Hillis has to be the most rugged Browns running back in many many years.

9) Despite the pedestrian offensive numbers,give the offensive line credit as well as they played their best game of the year.Joe Thomas and Eric Steinbach appear to be returning to form and Floyd Womack is so much better at tackle than guard that it amazes me that he only plays there with injuries warrant it.

10) The win was the Browns third in a row over a defending world champion and in each occasion,the Browns entered the game with just one win.
Odd how these stats always seem to pop up.

I hope to be back later with another post.

Photo Credits_Joshua Gunter-Cleveland Plain Dealer