Isaiah Crowell rushed for two touchdowns as part of his 88 yard rushing day,while Josh Gordon caught eight passes for 120 yards in the win.
Brian Hoyer passed for over 300 yards,but was intercepted three times.
The Browns are scheduled to be in Buffalo next Sunday against the Bills,but due to the weather situation could be playing that game at a neutral site...
Brownie Bits
1) Josh Gordon made an impact in the return to the lineup with his statistics,but really opened things up for Andrew Hawkins,who grabbed 5 passes for 93 yards.
If this is going to be how the benefit of Josh Gordon is going to be for the Browns,please keep Gordon as a model citizen!
2) Josh Gordon is the key to this offense.
Look at the difference in the simple screen that saw Gordon bull his way up sidelines for first downs that no other Brown (and few other WR's in the league) can do.
3) Brian Hoyer was very impressive in the last drive that won the game for Cleveland,but boy was he bad for most of this game.
Hoyer continues to be inaccurate and frustrating to watch,but the record remains the bottom line and that is the bottom line,my friends....
4) Many people have been critical of Josh Gordon for not leaping into the air on a bad Hoyer interception in the endzone,but looking at the angle that Gordon was on,I'm not sure that Gordon could have deflected the ball,even if he had leaped.
Hoyer threw a bad ball and tried to thread a needle that the smarter play would have been to throw the ball into Stone Mountain..
5) Isaiah Crowell ran for his yardage on just twelve carries and in my opinion,Crowell continued to prove that he is the better back than Terrence West,who was OK himself with 62 yards on 14 carries.
Crowell runs hard and looks the part of a workhorse back,if the Browns only give him the chance..
6) Other than one touchdown catch,Joe Haden did a pretty good job keeping Julio Jones under control.
Haden might have had the best game of the year and did it against one of the better pass catchers in the game..
7) Looks like the Browns sustained a huge loss in the league leader in interceptions as Tashaun Gipson might be out for the season with a knee injury suffered late in the game.The ballhawking Gipson would be another huge loss for a defense already missing Phil Taylor and Karlos Dansby and gives each portion of the defense a missing key member....
8) Mike Pettine did a poor job in clock management late in the first half,but the worst decision almost cost the Browns the game.
Billy Cundiff does not have a huge leg,yet Pettine tried a 60 yard field goal that Cundiff was well short on.
However,Atlanta had called a timeout,so having seen that Cundiff could not get the ball there,one would think that you could have Brian Hoyer put the ball up and hope Josh Gordon could come down with it.
Instead,Cundiff was told to try again and again was short,but this time Devin Hester was waiting and he almost took the ball back for a score.
Joel Bitonio hustled downfield to make the tackle,but Spencer Lannig slowed Hester up to buy Bitonio time to make the play.
Kudos to them both to save the day...
9) Atlanta made some silly decisions too on their final drive that saw Matt Bryant kick a field goal that gave the Falcons the lead on back to back plays.
Smith called a timeout after second down and then called a pass to Devin Hester on 3rd and 2 that Justin Gilbert knocked down.
Right there saved two timeouts that Cleveland would have likely used and then would have had just one timeout left for their final drive.
Poor decisions by Smith allowed the Browns a better chance of winning this game....
10) The best play of the game was made by Paul Kruger,who pressured Matt Ryan,forced him to step up in the pocket,fell to the turf and then got up hustling to sack Ryan anyway!
Kruger was the key signee of 2013,but it's 2014 that the linebacker has begun to pay huge dividends with two sacks yesterday and eight on the season.
Loving that hustle!
11) Just a thought and it may not be one that can be made,but assuming Tashaun Gipson is out for the season,what about Justin Gilbert moving to safety?
Gipson's spot requires more athletic ability and ball skills than the Donte Whitner spot and I would think Gilbert is more than capable of doing that....
12) Finally this.
7-4 with a winnable game against Buffalo at a neutral site.
I don't take any game as a W as a team with losses to Houston and Jacksonville cannot afford to do that,but let's say they win and it's 8-4.
That leaves four games-two at home vs the Colts and Bengals,two on the road vs the Panthers and Ravens.
Beat Buffalo and split the final four,10-6 might be good enough to get them into the playoffs and who saw that coming?
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