Sunday, November 04, 2007

Browns 33, Seahawks 30
This is getting to be fun.

Braylon Edwards was not the star of the game. But he had what I felt was the most telling comment after it. When describing his feelings after the Browns defense stopped theSeahawks on a fourth down in overtime, the receiver was clear.

"We knew we were going to win," he said.

That's an attitude the Browns haven't had any of since 1999. And it's the attitude that is perhaps the biggest reason to believe in this crew. It's not a young squad learning how to win. It's not a 2001 Bears-clone that has fluked its way to a 5-3 record.

It's a bunch of confident -- sometimes cocky -- players. They want to win now. They're hungry, ready and poised. Fifteen-point deficits would have scared away teams of the past.

This one just keeps going, knowing they can score at a moments notice.

Phil Dawson misses an extra point? Who cares? Nate Burleson makes the special teams look ridiculous? No big deal.

No one knows where this will lead. But when Dawson's chip shot went through the uprights, I had a strange feeling. It was a feeling I'd had before, but not for a long time.

I felt like the Browns were a real football team. Not a bunch of imposters in orange helmets who were thrown together after Art Modell skipped town.

These were real Browns. They are 4-1 at home. They are never out of a game. They find ways to win.

In short, these are the real Browns. Kellen Winslow. Derek Anderson. Edwards. Jamal Lewis. Joe Thomas.

My Browns.

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1 Comments:

At 6:55 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I said at the outset of the season that the Browns have enough talent to be at least a decemt team, so if they performed yet another tank job, it was something else. Either the coaching wasn't adequate and Romeo needed to go, or the QB play was bad enough to hinder the team.

Ever since Week 2, we have been able to see what excellent QB play means to a team.

It's no coinicidence that the three seasons in the Browns have been competitive since coming back -- '01, '02 and this year -- they have gotten competent QB play.

A good quarterback injects confidence into a team. You can see it in how starkly different the Browns approach games this year.

Last year, a missed extra point, 94-yard punt return and 21-6 deficit would have crushed the Browns. Seattle would have won the game 42-13. This year, with a hot-handed Anderson under center, the Browns feel like they're never out of a game.

For the first time in a long time, the O-line and the QB are playing off of each other. The line is giving Anderson time to make his reads, and Anderson is taking advantage by making rapid progressions and relatively-accurate throws.

When you want to find the reason for why the Browns offense is suddenly one of the league's best, start there.

 

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