Clevelanders Duel Over Official “Response” to LeBron James
November 8, 2010Browns Schedule: About That 5.5 Over/Under Projection…
November 8, 2010
I’m have been going to Browns games since I was five. From 1981 to the present, I have been trekking down to the Lakefront year after year and since the era of “The New” Browns, I’ll be honest, it hasn’t been all that fun. Dare I say not worth the trouble? I wouldn’t go that far, but Browns fans don’t need reminding that since the return to the NFL, its been dark days at Cleveland Browns Stadium for the most part.
I was lucky as a kid to grow up with a father who lived and breathed Browns Football, and had season tickets to boot. As a kid, he and his brothers went to games with their father, a Hungarian immigrant. By the time my father had his two sons, we all went together. Our routine was the same every game. My Uncle would pick everyone up at our house and pile into his Suburban. My father was always the driver downtown. Usually 10 people in the car – a mix of parents, cousins, aunts, uncles, and friends. We never missed a game, rain, sleet, snow – it didn’t matter. I was raised to know that all weather is football weather.
Once the team left, it just wasn’t going to be the same. And it hasn’t been.
Sure, there have been a few high-water marks – the “Run William Run” game in 2002, DA’s coming out party against Cincinnati in 2007, the Bills blizzard game in 2007, The Monday Night blowout of the Giants in 2008, and the Steelers win last season – but the overall experience of Browns home games since 1999 has been sub-par to say the least.
Until yesterday.
This may be a bold statement, but I’ll make it anyways – yesterday’s 34-14 beatdown of the New England Patriots ranks as the finest performance by a Browns team in front of their home fans since the return in ’99.
I cannot remember enjoying myself as much as I did yesterday at any other time in the last 12 years inside that Stadium.
It was such a complete performance. From the opening kick to the final gun, the Browns dominated one of the best teams in the NFL in all three phases. Eric Mangini bested his mentor Bill Belichick, who many in this town still cannot stand. Brian Daboll, a former Belichick assistant, called perhaps his best game as the Browns offensive coordinator. Every key play he dialed up worked to perfection. Rob Ryan, a guy who will be a Head Coach in this league soon, had his group hold Tom Brady’s offense to seven points over the first three quarters. Brad Seely’s decision to pooch kick away from Pats kick returner Brandon Tate (two TD’s this year) was genius. Not only did it keep Tate from beating them, but the Browns recovered a first quarter muff and turned it into points.
While all of this was going down on the field, we all were having a ball in the stands. I cannot remember seeing a Browns crowd this giddy for three straight hours. The game seemingly featured play after exciting play that wowed us all, and we all begged for more. It started with Peyton Hillis’s first quarter hurdle job of Patriots DB James Sanders. But there was so much more for us to love:
- The two forced turnovers, including the one yard line strip by Abe Elam just before the end of the first half.
- The “Brownie” play – the TD run by Chansi Stuckey
- Colt McCoy hitting three different receivers on the dead run on three different third down plays, continuing long drives.
- McCoy’s amazing TD run – perhaps the biggest highlight of them all.
- Hillis’s game-sealing 35 yard TD run to ice the game.
I’m not even including watching Joe Thomas knock over Daboll with a flying chest bump or Mangini’s well deserved Gatorade shower he received from Brett Ratliff and Blake Costanzo. I defy you to find me a home game with more memorable moments in all three fazes of the game against a better opponent.
You can’t. And being there made it so much better. Walking out of the Stadium felt like a win after a playoff game. Everyone cheering, high-fiving strangers. We deserved this. It was the same feeling many Cavs fans told me they had after leaving the opening night emotional win over Boston.
24 hours earlier, depending on where you were in Cleveland, you were in the midst of blizzard-like conditions. It was cold, wet, and miserable. Yesterday the Football Gods were smiling on us in Cleveland. The sun was out, it was a 50 degrees, and a perfect day for a game down on the Lakefront.
Nobody (except maybe Vegas) outside of the Browns locker room gave them much of a chance to pull this one out, and they did anyways. And we all loved it.
I can’t wait to get back there in six days to see what more we can see against The New York Jets and the most hated ex-Brown of them all, Braylon Edwards.
photo via Plain Dealer/Scott Shaw
25 Comments
Love it, TD. I would add my high water mark of the 2001 whipping of the Ravens to one of my few highlights.
Conversely, there are far, FAR more low-lights.
A little name to toss out there to remind us all how bright the future is: Montario Hardesty.
You think this run game is dangerous now? See you next year when we have 250 yard rushing games weekly.
I think one of the reasons I’m enjoying this so much is that this feels like the start of something good. At lot of those other wins had a bit of a fluke type feel to them. Not yesterday. We gave them a beatdown! This feels like a team on the rise.
“I defy you to find me a home game with more memorable moments in all three fazes of the game against a better opponent.”
I don’t recall if Arizona was really better than us when the game happened (I believe we were both about the same record wise..) but the 44-6 beatdown we gave them in ’03 is the only other home thrashing that comes to my mind.
Regardless it doesn’t take away from an awesome game yesterday; wish I could have been there for it!
I get goosebumps thinking about that game from yesterday. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt like we have a chance in every game we play. I just wish I could have been there in person to experience it and add it to the Cincy and Buffalo games as my greatest fan experiences.
Great win and I look forward to hopefully smacking the Jets in the mouth next week. I pray that Braylon goes for a ball across the middle and meets are good friend TJ Ward.
I would give almost anything next week for Braylon to drop a TD pass in the end zone against us.
OK, can’t stand all the optimism, must deflate a little to protect self. Here goes:
– Going for it on fourth and 1, from your own 37, in the first quarter of game you’re already winning. If anything goes wrong, if Colt can’t call a time out, bad snap results in a fumble, whatever, we string Dabol/Mangini up for giving Tom Brady the ball in easy scoring position and not letting our defense do it’s job.
– Abe Elam’s strip. If Eric Wright tries for the strip at the two instead of just tackling and the receiver scores it’s bad technique, brain-dead football. If it works, it’s big play defensive football. I see.
– The wildcat worked on one play when combined with additional trickery, but otherwise didn’t work at all. We seem to get 2-3 yards or so from it. Cribbs never throws, or looks to throw, and teams are stopping it easily. Only apparent benefit is to give Hillis a play off, since Mike Bell might be Terry Kirby in a mask.
That’s all I got. Really , it was great. Every stupid thing they do is working right now. Keep doing it until we get more guys who can play.
SO glad I bought my Steelers tickets last week…gotta believe they are getting more expensive by the day…
I was at the blizzard game against the Bills, the Monday night game against the Giants, and the Pittsburgh game last year. When the Browns are winning, there’s not a better place to be than that Stadium. Those did feel like kind of like flukes, and this one felt different. I was also at the Baltimore Monday night game last year…I think that was rock bottom. It’s been slow but steady progress ever since.
I am going to enjoy the rest of this season with reasonable expectations. Not ready to think about next year yet, but things are certainly looking up…
@7
I agree with you about the 4th and 1 call and to me that was a risky call but I have to believe that when Colt sends them out to spread the field if he doesn’t see that he can get that yard on a sneak he calls timeout or the coaching staff does. I think sometimes you just have to take risks and it seems like those and our gadget/gimmick/whatever you want to call them plays are working for now.. with that said I say roll with it.
As far as awesome games that I have been to, this ranks up there with the 2004 Home opener when we whooped the Ratbirds 20-3
Think Cribbs can try to run out of the back field with McCoy back there? Have Cribbs line up as a rb and the playaction will still be deadly (if not more then when Hillis is there) and you can try to pitch or stretch Cribbs into space. I agree we need to spell Hillis sometimes, and Davis seemed like a good change of pace at times, but with him no longer here, why not Cribbs? Yes, he has been good at WR this year and we dont want too much on his plate, but as someone mentioned the Wildcat has been ineffective at best this year. Why not change it up?
[…] we start printing playoff tickets, let’s just bask in the glow of the Browns’ 34-14 beat-down of the Patriots yesterday, and then let’s slowwww dowwwnnnn on […]
home vs. NYJ
at Jac
home Car
at Mia
at Buf
Can we be 7-6 coming out of this group of games? We cant quite talk playoffs yet, but we can be in position with the last 3 games against the division, 2 of them home. That would be exciting christmas/ new years football.
Headline says it all. Great job Brownies.
I’m completely unable to read any of these articles without getting a big, involuntary grin on my face. Ahh feels good to be a Browns fan right now.
Dougincincy, let’s see him make it onto the field first.
TD, you were right to highlight the Gatorade bath, but didn’t mention that it too was run to perfection. Bowen stepped in front of Mangini, put his hand on coach’s shoulder and set up the perfect target. No chance of him moving at the last second and just getting his arm wet. Caught him as off guard as the Saints’ punt return team. A thing of beauty set up by a wiley veteran.
Going for it on 4th & 1 anywhere on the field is the right call when you’re averaging 5 yds/rush. That was the play that changed the Browns mindset from “we might win” to “we WILL win”.
@7
the previous wildcats did not “work” except that they set up the Stuckey ‘Brownie Play’ perfectly – all NE eyes were on Cribbs.
“Man, That Was Fun” – that pretty much sums it up.
@6 – I’m hoping the end of this weeks game against the Jets is the exact same as the Indiana vs. Iowa ending with Braylon playing the part of the Indiana WR.
I respectfully disagree. The Giants MNF game has been my favorite memory of the new Browns. The lead up, and the complete humiliation of the super bowl champs was un real.
Yesterday was a ton of fun though. In the 1st Q, people were running up and down the aisles, high fiving, having a great time. If it could be like that every Sunday it would be un real.
Every draft I scream that we need to build the lines if we’re ever going to be good, and that I’d rather trade down to get value at O-line.
The best stat I saw was that Hillis averaged something like 9 yards a carry when the Pats had 8 in the box.
I love that we have a line that can blow people up now, and that means fun for years to come!
With that being my first Browns game, I obviously couldn’t ask for anything more. I’m hoping I can head up there for one more this season. Didn’t get to partake in the tailgating aspect yesterday.
I’ve been to every Ohio State game this year (student), but those games have thus far paled in comparison. Stupid (expected) blowouts…
I would prob say yesterday was the best game since they came back. The whole season has shown promise and hope for the future. I can’t put the Giants game ahead of it because the team was bad that year. The two wins in a row signal the beginning of a new era for the Browns.
As far as moments go for the game the block by Cribbs on the Mccoy TD run was unreal! He blew that guy up and opened up the whole play.
[…] Browns are coming off of one of the most memorable wins in recent history. Quarterback Colt McCoy has won two games, both against teams considered to be […]