What a Win!

This was one of the best games of Cleveland Browns football I've ever had the privilege to watch. It was a game full of story lines - Mangini vs. Belichick, McCoy's first start at home - and the Browns came out as if they were the 6-1 team and spanked the Patriots to the tune of a 34-14 victory.

There are so many good things to write about this game, but I'm going to focus on Peyton Hillis first. I don't have to tell you how great #40 has been for the Browns, but he had a career day today with over 200 total yards. He rushed for 184 yards on 29 carries and two touchdowns, the longest of those carries a 35 yard touchdown run to seal the game. Hillis also caught 3 passes for 36 yards. When you're talking about the midseason MVP of the Browns, it's got to be this guy. So far he has 644 yards and 8 total touchdowns, 7 of them rushing.

I could gush about Hillis for days, but I'd also like to give some props to rookie Colt McCoy who again managed the offense quite well en route to victory today. His final numbers on the day? 14/19 for 174 yards. Does that set the world on fire? No. But it was exactly the type of performance the Browns needed today.

I feel like everyone is saying this, but I think it's worth repeating - McCoy shows such an incredible amount of poise and determination when he is on the field. Most people just stop with the "poise in the pocket" but I think that the kid simply has a winning personality. You look at the play where he ran 16 yards for a touchdown in this game and, to me, it just shows how much he wants to win. When I look at McCoy playing, he just doesn't seem to panic. He lets the play develop, and if it breaks down, then he'll scramble. Because of his mobility, he extends plays well and can then throw a very accurate pass - as he did today in the red zone throwing a dart to Josh Cribbs for a first down. I don't think the Browns have had a quarterback with this kind of potential since they ruined Tim Couch's career, and they also haven't had such a good game manager since the days of Kelly Holcomb (who's #10 jersey I'm proudly wearing today).

But that's enough about the offense, Rob Ryan's defensive crew yet again came out to play today. They may not have had the same type of special performance that they did against the Saints a couple of weeks ago, but anytime you can hold the Patriots to 14 points you're doing your job well. Tom Brady had a pretty good day on paper, going 19/36 for 224 yards and 2 touchdowns, but a lot of those incompletions had him reeling in frustration. The Browns also forced an interception off of Cleveland native Brian Hoyer in the last 3 minutes of the game to get the ball for the end of the game. But the Browns offensive dominance really helped the defense as evidenced by the measly 68 yards on the ground. I sort of hate to say this, because selfishly I don't want the Browns to lose him, but I think Rob Ryan may be coaching himself onto the short lists of teams that will be searching for a head coach after the season. We'll see about that.

But what's the bottom line today? The Browns dominated an excellent team for an excellent win. I say props to everybody in the Browns organization, especially coach Mangini and coordinators Daboll and Ryan. Next week we've got the Ryan bowl as the Browns take on the J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets, who (barely) defeated the Motor City Kitties (a.k.a. Detroit Lions) in OT today. But for now, we've got a lot to celebrate about Browns fans!

~MAS