Baker Mayfield threw three touchdown passes, two of them to Jarvis Landry with Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt each ran for a touchdown as well with the Browns scored their high point total of the season in the victory.
Joe Schobert led the defense with two interceptions and four passes defended.
The Browns improved to 5-6 with the win and with the Raiders loss to the Jets are now just one game behind four teams at 6-5 (Raiders, Steelers, Titans, and Colts) for the final wild-card spot.
Brownie Bits
1) Ok, it's the Dolphins, which is similar to the 2015/16 Browns, but it still showed the growth of the offense after some struggles.
It still seems like they leave points on the table too often and I think Freddie Kitchens still doesn't want to realize that this team plays better when the offense flows through the running of Nick Chubb and now Kareem Hunt, but they did what they needed to step forward- win three winnable games at home.
2) I didn't think it was a groundbreaking thought when I thought Jarvis Landry would have a huge game against his former team and it was accurate as Landry caught ten passes for 148 yards with two touchdowns.
Landry never accepted the way that the Dolphins moved away from him after his production in Miami and would be ready to play against a porous Dolphin secondary.
3) Joe Schobert continues his excellent play of late with two interceptions and four passes defended along with his usual amount of tackles.
Schobert has often been lumped in by me with various Browns linebackers through the years as tackle accumulators, but not players that make plays and are difference makers.
Schobert is quickly changing those thoughts.
4) Austin Seibert missed another field goal at the Dawg Pound end of the stadium in his only attempt.
Siebert hit on all five of his extra points and hit his other two field goals at the other end of the stadium, but I have to say that I'm not without concern if Seibert has a big kick at the Dawg Pound end.
5) With the absence of Myles Garrett and Larry Ogunjobi, the Browns defensive line was going to be looked at carefully in this game to see just how badly those losses weakened the unit.
Garrett won't be walking through that door, but Ogunjobi's loss was only for the Miami game and someone was going to have to step up.
The player that did that was Sheldon Richardson, who sacked Ryan Fitzpatrick twice and stuffed the run as well.
Richardson gave the Browns the type of game that they'll need with Ogunobi's return next week but especially needed it against Miami without him.
6) Baker Mayfield made better decisions in his 327 yards passing with three touchdowns game and Mayfield's only interception bounced off Odell Beckham, so there were plenty of positives.
However, he's still missing receivers and one throw caused tight end Demetrius Harris to take a huge hit, so there is work to be done.
7) Baker Mayfield was also sacked only once in the game and the offensive line was very effective in the running game, so there is hope that the offensive line is coming together. Greg Robinson and Chris Hubbard aren't hearing their names discussed, so things aren't so bad.
8) The Browns punted once in this game.
Once. How many times has that happened since the Browns return?
9) Now after a dominant victory over the Dolphins, the rematch looms with Pittsburgh.
I wouldn't go as far as saying it's a playoff game, but since the field for the playoffs has receded back to the Steelers and Browns a bit, it certainly is a game with serious implications for both teams.
Cleveland needs a win a bit more as they are one game behind, but Pittsburgh needs it as well.
Should the Browns win Sunday's game, they would have the same record as Pittsburgh and would have the tiebreaker over them as well if needed, so it's huge for both teams,
10) I hope the game doesn't get out of control and it could when you consider all that happened during their first meeting.
Mason Rudolph was benched as the Steelers barely squeaked by winless Cincinnati yesterday and the Steelers might consider starting Duck Hodges, a rookie that threw for the only Steelers touchdown of the day.
While Hodges would be an untested rookie, Rudolph hasn't played well of late and with the events of the last game in Cleveland, Mike Tomlin might be boxed in at quarterback.
Even with all that, the Steelers are to be respected and they will have a riled-up crowd for support on Sunday.
It should be a very interesting game in the Steel City.
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