This is exactly the kind of game the Browns and their fans needed.
View full sizeScott Fujita (99) and Sheldon Brown made sure Reggie Wayne wasn't getting any extra yards after this first-half reception Sunday in Indianapolis.INDIANAPOLIS -- Feel better now?
Feel better that your team not only beat the Colts, 27-19, but did so with fourth-quarter conviction?
Feel better that generally everyone was lined up where they were supposed to be, and they handled the crowd noise and reacted correctly to snap counts?
Feel better that Pat Shurmur could regroup and reorganize his team after 11 penalties in that 27-17 loss to Cincinnati last week?
Feel better that Shurmur kept putting the ball into the hands of Peyton Hillis until something in the Colts broke down?
Feel better that the Browns are 1-1 for the first time since 2007?
No one is anointing this as a playoff team. No one is insisting that a team fumbling four times (lucky to lose only one) played an ideal game. But they played much better than a week ago -- a more determined game.
Consider the 24-yard touchdown rumble by Hillis with 3:55 left. It was his 24th carry. In his first 23, he never ran for more than five yards. Before reaching the end zone, he had only 54 yards for a 2.7 yard average.
So do you now believe that when Shurmur says he wants to run the ball, he does want to run the ball? The Browns ran it 34 times, threw it 32.
Or how about the West Coast offense? How about how Colt McCoy seemed so smooth, so in control? "Efficient" was the word used by both McCoy and Shurmur.
McCoy had a terrific throw off the run into the corner of the end zone, snared for a 16-yard touchdown by Evan Moore. He kept drives alive with rollouts and shrewd passes. Yes, there were times when he was "running for his life," as Hillis called it. But the game plan was for McCoy to keep on the move to negate the Colts' star defensive ends. He was sacked only once, and hit only four other times after making throws.
The defense kept the Colts out of the end zone until the issue was no longer in doubt. They stayed away from big plays, the longest gain being a 20-yard pass.
Special teams were just that -- special. Joshua Cribbs set up two touchdowns with a 52-yard kickoff return and a 43-yard punt return. Veteran Brad Maynard punted five times for a 40.2 average, and none were returned. Phil Dawson converted a couple of field goals. All was well.
This is exactly what the Browns and their new coaching staff needed. It didn't have to be where everything went right and luck was on their side. Instead, the Browns had to show their fan base -- and perhaps themselves -- that they could play a solid, organized and disciplined game. It was a major change from last week's errorfest against the Bengals.
The Browns had only three penalties -- two on Joe Haden for interference, one on rookie guard Jason Pinkston for a false start. No one did things that made you wonder if the Browns had even bothered to practice.
Sure, the Colts don't have Peyton Manning (neck injury). It seems Kerry Collins has been around since the days of Red Grange and leather helmets.
But a repeat of last week would have led to another loss this week.
Instead, Browns fans can exhale a bit, and yes, even dare to smile.
Source: http://www.cleveland.com/pluto/blog/index.ssf/2011/09/ok_cleveland_browns_fans_its_p.html
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