Cleveland Browns (2008 Season)

[osugrad21]

CPD

Swagger indeed: Anderson revives Browns season and his status as offensive leader

by Bud Shaw Tuesday October 14, 2008, 12:15 AM


In declaring the swagger rediscovered after Cincinnati and then validating the claim Monday night, Derek Anderson overcame full-blown skepticism.
OK, more than that. Outright ridicule.
Not at first, though. At first the Browns lined up in an illegal formation on the game's opening play.
After a bye week. That's quite the deception.
You wondered. Swagger, right? He said swagger. Not stagger?
But the thought that the Browns may have spent the bye week watching Beverly Hills Chihuahua instead of studying Rob Chudzinski's excellent adventure of a game plan quickly passed.
So, too, any image of Brady Quinn and a white horse.

Anderson saved his job, helped rescue a season with a 35-14 win over the defending Super Bowl champs, steadied the heart rate of the TV guys who believed them prime-time worthy and limited all discussions of Brady to Marcia's tell-all. At least for now.

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[osugrad21]

CPD

Pluto's post-game scribbles after a Browns romp

by Terry Pluto Tuesday October 14, 2008, 12:02 AM


Scribbles in my notebook after the Browns stun the Giants ...
Perhaps the most important part of the Browns' stunning 35-14 Monday night victory over New York was that it happened at home. A year ago, the Browns rode a 7-1 home record to a 10-6 season. This year, they opened with losses at the Lakefront to Dallas and Pittsburgh. Another bad game would have led to booing, discontent and a dismal remainder of the season. Instead,the Browns started fast, drew the crowd in and they forced the Giants to take some timeouts because of the crowd noise. It sounds so simple, but the stadium rocks when you give the fans a reason to believe.
It was great to see Rob Chudzinski spent the 15 days between games giving serious thought to recreating the Browns' offense. He had more players involved, different looks and, yes, more success than in any game this season. The second-year Browns offensive coordinator did it against a Super Bowl-caliber defense. Just like a young quarterback, Chudzinski is learning to adjust as the opponents had 16 games of tape on him from his rookie season calling plays in 2007.
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[osugrad21]

CPD

Browns Insider: Edwards energizes offense, quiets critics with big night

by Mary Kay Cabot Monday October 13, 2008, 11:38 PM

Tracy Boulian/The Plain DealerBraylon Edwards straight arms the Giants' James Butler (37) during a 49-yard catch and run to start the Browns' offense in the first quarter Monday night.
Braylon Edwards came tumbling out of the tunnel for pregame warmups with a cartwheel-backflip and kept the acrobatics going all night long. He finished the game with five catches for a career-high 154 yards and an 11-yard touchdown catch that gave the Browns a 27-14 lead five seconds into the fourth quarter.
Before the TD catch, Edwards had receptions of 49 and 70 yards in the first half. The 70 yarder, on which he beat cornerback Aaron Ross down the right side on an out-and-up, set up Jamal Lewis' 4-yard touchdown run two plays later.
"I wanted to be like Reggie Bush [who had two TDs last week on Monday night football]," said Edwards.
Edwards' 129 yards in the first half were more than the 95 total he had coming into the game.
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[osugrad21]

CPD

Final: Browns 35, Giants 14

by Dennis Manoloff Monday October 13, 2008, 11:37 PM


What happened: Browns took 27-14 lead with 14:55 left on Derek Anderson's 11-yard pass to Braylon Edwards. It capped a 14-play, 87-yard drive that lasted 8:16. Eric Wright's 94-yard interception return made it 33-14 with 8:07 remaining. Anderson connected with Edwards for a two-point conversion to push the advantage to 35-14.
Browns nuggets: Edwards is having a blast. His 11-yard TD reception gave him a career-high 154 yards. ... Wright reached to his left along the sideline and picked off Eli Manning's pass to the right. Wright's is the fourth-longest interception return in franchise history. He avoided Manning on his way to the end zone, signing off with a Deion Sanders high-step. ... Browns have every right to celebrate into the morning hours. ... The offensive line, in particular, was outstanding all night. .. Jamal Lewis moved past Earl Campbell on the all-time rushing list.
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[osugrad21]

Canton

One giant step forward as Browns top New York
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
BY STEVE DOERSCHUK
[email protected]

CLEVELAND It doesn't matter how big you are when the entire nation is being shocked. You can't believe it, either.

That's how the Giants must have felt while the given-up-for-Alpo Browns looked like an $89 filet mignon dinner on Broadway. The Browns' 35-14 victory Monday night came with all the fixins ? even a large tablespoon of believability.

As if to prove that, yes, these were the Browns who looked like month-old road kill, they committed an astonishing five penalties on one third-quarter series.

As if to signal that, yes, there is enough magic in the moonlight for a season of dreams ? still ? they drove 87 yards for a touchdown on the series.

It took forever for that drive to end with the Browns on top 27-14 in a still-tense third quarter.

In no time, it was 33-14. After Eli Manning drove the Giants near the goal line, he threw toward veteran Amani Toomer and got burned by a kid. Second-year pro Eric Wright knifed in front, intercepted, and sped 94 yards down the left sideline as the crowd roared in rare fashion.

Unique, maybe. This was just the second Monday nighter of the expansion era. In the previous one, Kelly Holcomb got picked off twice within seconds by Aeneas Williams.

In this one, Manning ? a Super Bowl hero who had thrown only one pick in four wins ? was intercepted three times.
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[OSUBasketballJunkie]

espn.com

Browns keep their season alive
October 14, 2008 1:29 AM

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images Cleveland's Derek Anderson rebounds in a big way with 310 yards passing and two touchdowns Monday night.

Posted by ESPN.com's James Walker

CLEVELAND -- It took six weeks, but the real Cleveland Browns -- the team everyone expected heading into the 2008 season -- finally showed up Monday.
The Browns pounded the reigning Super Bowl champion Giants 35-14 in front of a sellout crowd of 73,102 and a national audience of millions on "Monday Night Football."
Cleveland had its highest point total of the season and played its most complete game against arguably the NFL's best team. The performance showed what the Browns potentially could be if they can remain consistent and stay healthy.
"It's the guys I've been telling you about," Browns quarterback Derek Anderson said of his team. "I never doubted it -- ever. It's the same guys that made plays last year all season."

Here are three things we learned about Cleveland in the victory:

1. Anderson should remain the starting quarterback
After three consecutive losses to start the season, Anderson was put on a short leash by Cleveland's coaching staff. The losses were not all on Anderson, but replacing the quarterback is usually the easiest thing for teams to do to shake things up.

Continued....................

 

[LitlBuck]

I know that the Browns just came off of a bye week but I just can't believe that a team that looks so bad for 4 weeks can look this good especially against the Giants. Manning played a very bad game and I thought that the Giants got away from the run too much but that is besides the point. I think the Browns defense has improved or Tucker was more creative with some of the schemes, but their linebackers are a big concern. The outside ones are just not very good.

I guess I want to hold my optimism back until after the Sunday when they play the Redskins away but I'm not sure how good the Redskins really are after losing to the Rams. I just want to see if the Browns offense can play 80% as well as they did last night and then that will give me some reason to be optimistic for the rest of the season because the schedule does not get any easier.

 

[schwab]

I know that the Browns just came off of a bye week but I just can't believe that a team that looks so bad for 4 weeks can look this good especially against the Giants. Manning played a very bad game and I thought that the Giants got away from the run too much but that is besides the point. I think the Browns defense has improved or Tucker was more creative with some of the schemes, but their linebackers are a big concern. The outside ones are just not very good.

I guess I want to hold my optimism back until after the Sunday when they play the Redskins away but I'm not sure how good the Redskins really are after losing to the Rams. I just want to see if the Browns offense can play 80% as well as they did last night and then that will give me some reason to be optimistic for the rest of the season because the schedule does not get any easier.

The bright side of the brutal schedule is that, save for 2 games, we play the exact same teams as our AFC North brethren. Just gotta keep pace with them for right now, and beat all 3 on the second go-round. Beating the Giants, in that fashion, should prove to the team itself that they are capable of making a serious run at the division. Like you though, I will wait a few more games before I go streaking through the quad to the gymnasium.

 

[osugrad21]

CPD

Crennel cools Browns after win

Cleveland coach says 2-3 team needs to keep things in perspective after Monday's win over Giants.


By Tom Withers
Associated Press

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

BEREA ? Fans hugged each other in disbelief. Quarterback Derek Anderson asked to keep the game ball, then tucked it under his arm and headed to the locker room amid delirium rarely seen inside Browns Stadium.
All that was missing from the wild celebration following Cleveland's shocking 35-14 win Monday night, Oct. 13, over the New York Giants was the obligatory bucket dumping.
Head coach Romeo Crennel saved the chilly dousing for Tuesday.
One day after the Browns' stunning upset of the defending Super Bowl champions, Crennel delivered a sobering message so his team, still trying to dig its way out of a 2-3 start, doesn't get carried away by 60 successful minutes.
"We still have a lot of work to do," Crennel said during his news conference. "The season is still a long season, and just because we won one game, it doesn't put us in the playoffs. We're not even .500."
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[osugrad21]

ABJ

Now that's more like it Anderson finds groove, Browns hush naysayers with big upset
By Marla Ridenour
Beacon Journal sports writer

Published on Wednesday, Oct 15, 2008

BEREA: While observers and fans were speculating whether Monday night would be Derek Anderson's final game as Browns starting quarterback and if coach Romeo Crennel really would yank him on national television, Anderson was holed up watching the History Channel's MonsterQuest series on Bigfoot.
Anything to avoid the overanalysis of the Browns' matchup against the undefeated Super Bowl champion New York Giants, which would include his disappointing start. A Pro Bowler who threw 29 touchdown passes in 2007, Anderson came in with a quarterback rating of 49.9, lowest of any NFL regular.
But even while Anderson was trying to think about other things, an us-against-the-world feeling was building within him and his team.
''Guys during pregame were talking about it,'' Anderson said. ''They said nobody was giving us a chance. They said our offensive line wasn't good enough.''
So after Anderson threw for 310 yards and two touchdowns and the 71/2-point underdog Browns emerged with a stunning 35-14 victory, center Hank Fraley encouraged him to enjoy the moment. The Browns (2-3) hope the triumph turns around the season.
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[osugrad21]

CPD

What went right? In felling the Giants, there were plenty of heroes for Browns

by Mary Kay Cabot Tuesday October 14, 2008, 7:04 PM

Chuck Crow/The Plain DealerThe victory celebration began in full force with still half of the fourth quarter remaining on Monday after Eric Wright crossed the goal line with his 94-yard interception for a touchdown.
So, that's what they were talkin' about. That was the Browns team -- the one that took it to the defending Super Bowl champion Giants in a 35-14 victory Monday night -- that everyone expected to come out at the beginning of the season and cut a swath through the NFL. That was the team networks picked to be on prime time five times this season and some experts predicted to win the AFC North.
"This is us and we're going to keep fighting," said quarterback Derek Anderson. "We set the bar high for ourselves."
That was the team coach Romeo Crennel thought he was going to field this season until injuries destroyed the chemistry.
"We thought we'd have a very competitive team," said Crennel. "We thought we'd have an offense that could score some points and a defense that would be improved. We knew we had good special teams. That's what we thought we'd be able to get on a consistent basis."
So what got into the Browns that enabled them to upset the undefeated defending Super Bowl champions, who humiliated them on national television just two months before?

Here are a few of those things:

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[osugrad21]

CPD

With praise ringing in their ears, Browns must not listen to a song of overconfidence

by Bill Livingston Tuesday October 14, 2008, 6:36 PM

Chuck Crow/The Plain DealerShowered with cheers after their surprisingly lopsided victory over the Giants on Monday night, can the Browns keep their heads and build on the momentum with a win in Washington on Sunday?

No cartwheels during the week, vows Romeo Crennel, 61, who knows one when he sees one. At this stage, however, he passed on demonstrating the maneuver. He said he did not notice if Braylon Edwards did a round off (landing on both feet) or a true cartwheel (landing on one) when he came onto the field like Mary Lou Retton Monday night. (Make it Kerri Strug, since exhibition season was devoted to Edwards' bad foot.)
The Browns have often treated events like the 35-14 thumping of the Super Bowl champion New York Giants with a spasm of self-congratulation, usually resulting in rough landings immediately thereafter. Their entire off-season was pretty much a strut. Then along came injuries, the most severe being a concussion to quarterback Derek Anderson, coinciding with an exhibition game thrashing by the Giants.
That was when their ludicrous chocolate pants convinced the nation that mocha was less, and so were the Browns.
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[osugrad21]

CPD

Tony Grossi's Scouting Report: Redskins

by Tony Grossi Tuesday October 14, 2008, 6:26 PM

Nick Wass/Associated PressRookie head coach Jim Zorn has led the Redskins to a surprising 4-2 start in the tough NFC East.
Few anticipated the Washington Redskins to be much of a factor in the congested NFC East race. After all, if Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs couldn't bring the luster back to the venerable franchise in his second stint as coach, why would anyone expect Jim Zorn to do better?
Zorn, in fact, wasn't even on a reported initial list of 50 candidates to succeed Gibbs upon his second retirement after the 2007 season. The former NFL quarterback, who toiled 10 years with Detroit and Seattle as a quarterbacks coach, was originally hired to take over the team's offense as coordinator.
When the Redskins named Zorn head coach two weeks later, it was out of the blue.
More shocking, however, was the rapid turnaround in the Redskins' fortunes after an opening game loss to the Giants. They ripped off four wins in a row, including consecutive road games at Dallas and Philadelphia, to vault into the division lead.

Higher expectations have a way of humbling teams in the NFL, as the Browns know. A home loss to winless St. Louis followed.
In a sports society of instant re-evaluation, the question about the Redskins now is this: Have they peaked already?


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[osugrad21]

Canton

Browns rally around Romeo en route to victory
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
BY STEVE DOERSCHUK
[email protected]

CLEVELAND Never shy about rocking the boat, Jim Brown raised some 11-foot waves on Lake Erie recently when he suggested switching to Brady Quinn might jolt the Browns out of their comatose start.

Brown, a chief adviser to the team owner, is regarded by some as history's greatest football player. It wasn't just another opinion.

What does Brown think now? How does he explain Cleveland's stunning 35-14 blowout of the Giants on Monday behind a breakout game from quarterback Derek Anderson?

"It was two weeks of everybody getting behind Romeo, going in the same direction," Brown said a few feet from Anderson's locker. "Everybody."

Including Brown?

"Oh yeah, including me," the Hall of Famer said. "Of course."

Brown made his comments about Quinn possibly replacing Anderson after an 0-3 start capped by a 28-10 loss at Baltimore. Crennel seemed to bristle. General Manager Phil Savage seemed chafed.

As Monday night slipped into Tuesday morning, Brown said the organization adopted this mind-set after falling to 0-3: "Coach, we're gonna get behind your (butt) 100 percent, and what you think is the right thing, we're gonna, you know, whatever ... for these two weeks, you do your thing."

The Browns have won two straight heading into a game at Washington.

Brown was a tone-setting running back like none other with the Browns from 1957-65.

He loved what Jamal Lewis gave the Browns against the previously-unbeaten Giants' No. 3-ranked defense.
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[LitlBuck]

Browns must not listen to a song of overconfidence

I think this is key to the rest of the season. If the Browns release saying that they are better than they really are they will start to go downhill from here pretty fast. They have to remember what happened when they played Dallas and Pittsburgh. They had two weeks to scheme for the Giants and also to rest where as the Giants played the week before. Nobody is talking about that.

One of the interesting things about the Redskins is that when Jason Campbell came out there was a lot of discussion that the Browns were going to take him in the draft but the Redskins were a couple slots ahead of them and so he was not there when the Browns picked.

Jason Taylor has not played much all season due to injuries and while I don't like to see a guy suffering from injuries maybe he shouldn't play too much this Sunday. The same holds true for their OT Chris Samuels. They really need to rest up and get better.:)