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Cleveland Browns (2007 & prior)

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CPD

Browns turning fans into playoff believers


Monday, December 10, 2007
East Rutherford, N.J.
- This was the kind of game that makes you believe the Browns will make the playoffs. They ran the ball when they had to - and when the Jets knew the run was coming. They made several solid defensive stands. In the second half, there were no turnovers, impressive given the sleet and rain and slippery surface along with a slick football. The Jets made it interesting, but the Browns kept control of the game. They did it on the road where they were 2-4 before this 24-18 victory over the Jets. A perfect game? Nope. But it's exactly what the Browns needed, and when they needed it.
The Browns are 8-5.




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CPD

Defense solid - less 3 minutes of unwanted excitement


Monday, December 10, 2007Mary Kay Cabot
Plain Dealer Reporter
East Rutherford, N.J.- For about 57 minutes, you never would've guessed that the Browns had the league's 32nd-ranked defense, the one that gives up the most yards, touchdown passes and points per game.
They were getting interceptions (two), sacks (four), quarterback hits (seven) and had a goal-line stand early in the game that made head coach - and former defensive coordinator - Romeo Crennel proud. They didn't allow a touchdown in those first 57 minutes and surrendered only two field goals.
Then, for the final 2:59, they reverted to the defense that Crennel described this way last week, "We're not good."




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Canton

Browns control their own playoff destiny
Monday, December 10, 2007
BY Steve Doerschuk
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. In August, miracles were easier to believe than the prospect of Cleveland reaching the playoffs.

That was then.

As of Sunday?s 24-18 win over the Jets, Browns fans are strapped in for a wild ride. Cleveland surged back into the lead for a wild-card spot, thanks to San Diego rallying past Tennessee, 23-17, in overtime.

Jacksonville has the first wild-card spot for now with a 9-4 record heading into a game at Pittsburgh. The Browns have a monster home game against 7-6 Buffalo.

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Canton

Sweet smell of success enjoyed in suite, on field
Monday, December 10, 2007
BY Todd Porter
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. On a cold, rainy night and his team teetering between disaster and brilliance, Randy Lerner could hardly contain himself. The owner of the Cleveland Browns, the man who?s seen so much go so wrong on his watch, didn?t know whether to leave his owner?s suite or stay put. His common-man pants, after all, were bringing the Browns enough luck parked right where he was.

Then ? in the New York minute Lerner is all too familiar with ? it changed. Jamal Lewis, a powder keg, squirted through the line of scrimmage and arm tackles like he was suds on a shower wall and Lerner could breathe again.

WHAM!

Lerner?s hands pounded the table in front of him.

?I didn?t see it, but I heard it,? General Manager Phil Savage said, finally allowing a smile to cross his face. ?He was a little excited, I guess.?

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Canton

Browns' defense makes key stop
Monday, December 10, 2007
BY Todd Porter
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. Newton ? Isaac, not Nate ? wouldn?t have needed to look at the Browns defense and the Jets offense to come up with a new law of motion. Sunday night at The Meadowlands the resistible force met the moveable object.

Which is to say the worst defense in the league, Cleveland?s, matched up with one of the worst offenses in the NFL. This wasn?t Peyton Manning and the Colts against the Steel Curtain as much as it was a bunch of colts and a rusty rod.

But for three quarters, Cleveland?s defense was proving not to be the team?s curse. In fact, it was the reason the Browns took a 14-6 lead into the fourth quarter.

?Defensively, we did good things for three quarters,? Head Coach Romeo Crennel said. ?Then we let them move the ball a little bit in the fourth quarter.?

Let them? A little bit?


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MJ

Browns control their own playoff destiny after putting away Jets
JEFF SCHUDEL, Morning Journal Writer
12/10/2007




EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Rain was falling in the final minute yesterday in Giants Stadium, a cold, bone-chilling, gloomy rain and the Browns were in danger of succumbing to the weather and the Jets.


A lead of 17-6 with less than four minutes left had dwindled to 17-15 with 1:43 to play. The Jets tried their second of three onside kicks in the final three minutes, and this time Joe Jurevicius recovered for the Browns.

The Browns faced third-and-four at the New York 31 with 1:31 left. The Jets had one timeout remaining. There was never a doubt the play would be a run to Jamal Lewis when Derek Anderson began to call the play in the huddle.

''I said, ?Let's do this. Give it your all. All we need is four yards,''' Anderson recalled saying.

Four yards? The left side of the line gave Lewis the only crack he needed. He burst through the first wave of tacklers and then shed three more at the 5 on his way to the end zone.


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Dispatch

Browns rebound
Cleveland improves its playoff chances by weathering late New York push
Monday, December 10, 2007 3:04 AM
By James Walker


The Columbus Dispatch
1210_nfl_browns_lewis_sp_12-10-07_C1_A08NTTJ.jpg
BILL KOSTROUN Associated Press
Browns running back Jamal Lewis breaks free from the Jets defense for a critical 31-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.



EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The Cleveland Browns continued their trend of bouncing back after losses with a 24-18 victory over the New York Jets yesterday.
The Browns (8-5) haven't lost two in a row all season. Last week, the team was sloppy -- committing 10 penalties and four turnovers -- in a loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
But yesterday Cleveland had just one turnover, and despite a late push by New York, improved to 8-0 when winning the turnover battle (plus 1).

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Dispatch

Notebook: Defense is stout when it has to be

Monday, December 10, 2007 2:49 AM
By James Walker


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
1210_browns_a_12-10-07_C7_A08NTLP.jpg
Julie Jacobson Associated Press
The Browns' Brandon McDonald intercepts a pass during the fourth quarter.



EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The Browns' last-ranked defense put forth a solid effort for the second time in three games yesterday in a 24-18 victory over the New York Jets.
Cleveland allowed 387 total yards, but it also forced two turnovers and limited New York to field goals at crucial points.
Cleveland's most telling statistic on a rainy, dreary night in the Meadowlands was holding New York to 2 of 12 on third-down conversions.

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CPD

As playoff scenarios form, Browns have eyes on Bills Postseason clinch possible with win Sunday; here are other ifs
By Marla Ridenour
Beacon Journal sportswriter

Published on Tuesday, Dec 11, 2007
BEREA: Browns fans need not wear themselves out rooting against the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Jacksonville Jaguars.
There are more pressing matters at hand.
The Browns (8-5) could clinch their first playoff berth in five years Sunday as they host the Buffalo Bills (7-6) in a game crucial to both teams' wild-card hopes.




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CPD

Cleveland Browns might clinch playoff spot with win over Buffalo Bills

Win over Bills, and some help, would clinch playoff spot
Tuesday, December 11, 2007Mary Kay Cabot
Plain Dealer Reporter
The Browns can clinch a wild-card playoff spot Sunday with a victory over the Buffalo Bills and a little help from other teams.
Here is the scenario for clinching:
No. 1. The Browns (8-5) would have to beat the Bills (7-6) at home, where they're 5-1 this season.




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CPD

Cleveland Browns coach Crennel a unique witness to perfection, Bud Shaw says


Tuesday, December 11, 2007Bud Shaw
Plain Dealer Columnist
Romeo Crennel comes from a kinder, gentler era of New England Patriots football, a time when they were only winning Super Bowls and not riding off with the opponent's head on a stick.
Crennel sees a focused football coach preaching attention to detail when he looks at Bill Belichick's role in creating the biggest spectacle of this NFL season and the 30-odd years that went before it.
Others see Belichick as the producer of NFL Films meets "The Sopranos."




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Canton


Defensive struggles temper Browns' status as legitimate playoff team
UPDATE: 11:01 PM, Monday, December 10, 2007
BY Steve Doerschuk
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

BEREA Browns Head Coach Romeo Crennel dispensed with the just-another-game shuffle regarding Buffalo.

?Big game,?? he said on the Monday after a 24-18 conquest of the Jets. ?A huge game, as a matter of fact.??

Crennel, though, isn?t ready to engage in a discussion of a postseason drive just because his team is three games over .500 for the first time in the expansion era.

?Playoffs? Playoffs? I don?t know anything about playoffs,?? he said.

The former three-time Super Bowl defensive coordinator qualified his little white lie:


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Canton

What a December this could be
Monday, December 10, 2007
BY Todd Porter
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

BEREA Thinking about the Browns and playing meaningful football games in December ... against the Buffalo Bills.

Can Cleveland really make the postseason with this defense?

Yes. This defense, the one that played three quarters against New York on Sunday isn?t bad. It isn?t great, but it isn?t gawdawful.

The Browns are weak up front, but Shaun and Robaire Smith seem to be settling in. Leon Williams is a find at linebacker, but Willie McGinest is showing his age and Andra Davis, a nice guy, is a weak link at linebacker.


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Canton

Browns can clinch playoff berth Sunday
UPDATE: 11:01 PM, Monday, December 10, 2007
BY Steve Doerschuk
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

BEREA Page 33 of the 2007 NFL Fact and Record book doesn?t quite say, ?Attention, Browns: Beat Buffalo, or your season could be toast.??

It might as well.

Listed on that page are NFL postseason tie-breaking procedures.

If the Bills win at Cleveland Sunday, both they and the Browns will be 8-6. If both Cleveland and Buffalo then win out to finish at 10-6 ? and the second wild-card spot comes down to one of them ? tiebreaker No. 1 for two clubs not in the same division would kick in:

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DDN




Savage making a case for NFL's top executive

By Sean McClelland
Staff Writer

Wednesday, December 12, 2007
It takes a village to raise a football team from the depths to which the Cleveland Browns had fallen. So let's credit the builders, most notably General Manager Phil Savage, but also owner Randy Lerner.
Some (OK, me) wondered whether Lerner should think about selling the team in the dark days following that season-opening 34-7 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.



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