Cleveland Browns Beat Jacksonville Jaguars 23-17 | 2-0 Without Kellen Winslow
In a must-win road game against a trendy preseason Super Bowl pick, with one of their most talented players back home in San Diego, after a week of controversy, the Cleveland Browns stepped up and breathed new life into their 2008 season.
As predicted earlier this week on Midwest Sports Fans, Joshua Cribbs and the Cleveland Browns pulled out a hard-fought win over the Jacksonville Jaguars 23-17. Browns fans are still waiting for Joshua Cribbs to bust out a long kick return for a touchdown, but he came up with several key special teams plays today; the most crucial being a fumble recovery after a Beau Bell strip on a kickoff after the Browns had gone up 20-17. The offense stalled and only could muster another field goal, but the six point difference forced the Jaguars to go for a touchdown on their final drive — which they just missed off the finger tips of Cocaine Jones.
This was not a “pretty” victory for the Browns, as the offense stalled pretty much the entire final 45 minutes. But it was beautiful in the sense that it pulled the team to one game within .500 with a very winnable home game against Baltimore on the horizon next week.
And let’s not ignore the 800-pound elephant in the room: the team moved to 2-0 without previously suspended tight end Kellen Winslow.
But we can deal with the Kellen Winslow stuff a little later. First, some game balls:
Game Ball 1: Shuan Rogers
The big man was a beast today. Statistically, he had 9 tackles, one sack, and blocked a Jacksonville field goal. But anyone who watched the game knows that he was even more monstrous than those imp
ressive statistics might suggest. In the middle of the 4th quarter, a very informed Browns fan turned to me and said “I guess he was worth a 3rd round pick, huh?” I would say so. Shaun Rogers has been a primary reason why the Browns defense has made such a marked improvement this year, and today was the day where his star shone the brightest. Easily the MVP of the game.
Game Ball 2: Joshua Cribbs
No, he has not been the game-breaking return man that he was last year. But he has become the heart and soul of this team. He can alter games without making big returns, as he did today recovering the afore mentioned 4th quarter fumble. He consistently beat double teams as the gunner on the punts and leaves every ounce of himself on the field. You have to watch Browns games to truly appreciate the contributions of Joshua Cribbs, as he is not showing up in the stat sheet much this year; but make no mistake, he is one of the ten most valuable players on the roster.
Game Ball 3: The coaching staff
The Browns coaches have been a much maligned group this year. And by no means did I agree with every call they made. The play-calling in the redzone leaves much to be desired, and the call to run on 3rd and 5 late in the 4th quarter was without question a “playing not to lose” mentality shining through.
But…and this is a big but…they had the Browns players emotionally ready to play today, during a week in which it seemed on the outside like a difficult thing to do. With so much controversy swirling around Kellen Winslow and staph infections and suspensions and a 2-4 record, the Browns came out and simply refused to lose against a very good team. Derek Anderson was not spectacular, but he was solid. He made some throws early and, most importantly, he did not make any bad ones late. The offensive line helped pave the way to a 4.0+ yard per carry average on the ground and allowed only one sack. The defense gave up 380 yards, but continued their trend of being extremely focused in their own territory and not giving the opponent any easy points.
Romeo Crennel and his coaching staff have been an easy target this year because of the underachieving record and periodic brain farts with respect to clock and game management; but credit must be given where 
it is due. Say what you want about specific calls in today’s game, but admit what is obvious: the Browns coaches had their team ready to play in a must-win game and pulled out a HUGE victory.
Game Ball 4: Steve Heiden
Steven Heiden led the Browns in receptions with 3 and in yards with 73. He helped lead the running game with his blocking. Most importantly though, he continued to not be Kellen Winslow. The Cleveland Browns are now 2-0 when Steve Heiden starts at tight end and 1-4 with “superstar” Kellen Winslow in the lineup. The two wins are against The New York Giants (who just beat Pittsburgh as I type this!) and the Jacksonville Jaguars on the road. No one who watches the games can say that the offense has not looked better without Kellen Winslow in the lineup.
I scoffed at notions earlier this year that the Cleveland Browns in 2008 might resemble in the New York Giants in 2007 in that we could be better with our “star” tight end out of the lineup. I have now seen enough to emphatically call myself out for being wrong. Later this week we will analyze what the Browns can do with Kellen Winslow moving forward, but right now it is hard to argue that Kellen Winslow playing gives the Browns a better chance to win next week against Baltimore.
Game Ball 5: Jamal Lewis
He got 20 carries, and the Browns got the win. This is not an accident or an anomaly. The Browns are now 11-1 when Jamal Lewis gets 20 carries. He churned out 80 tough yards and a TD with his carries, and once again carried the offense with Derek Anderson struggling to find his receivers consistently. Jamal Lewis often gets overshadowed by the big name receivers and quarterback issues that are typically the big stories of the Browns offense, but he continues to prove Browns management right in resigning him. Jamal Lewis is a beast, and bring consistent effort and heart and tough running every single week.
This was a tremendous victory for the Cleveland Browns, and should give the team a great deal of confidence as they head home next week for Baltimore. Sure, none of us expected the Browns to be 3-4 at this juncture in the season, but we are 2-1 in our last three games and starting to resemble the team that many people picked to make the playoffs in the preseason. I still think this is a team that goes 9-7 and plays in January, a road win over another potential AFC playoff team is a big step in the right direction.
Congratulations Browns. Now hopefully we can focus more on football and the players who are on the field rather than the players who are not.
[tags]cleveland browns, jacksonville jaguars, nfl, football[/tags]
Tags: Cleveland Browns, football, jacksonville jaguars, jamal lewis, joshua cribbs, kellen winslow, NFL, shaun rogers, steve heiden
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Excellent recap and analysis, Jerod. Could’t agree more. We should start charging money for our game predictions. Cash in our our genius and foresight. I was right about the Giants game (twice), you were right about the Jags game, and i am currently 5 for 5 in our pick em contest.
F**k the Steelers, and lets go Titans.
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And, for the record, two things I forgot to mention:
1) We had our best day against the run today. Jacksonville was held below their season average, and to less than 4.0 yards per carry. Other than David Garrard getting out and scrambling, we bottled up Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor very well. A huge key to the game that completely went against when I, and everyone else, thought would happen.
2) More kudos to the coaches — only one penalty today. That is huge. In the Giants win, we were getting false start penalties left and right. But the teams’ discipline and heart allowed it to overcome the redzone mistakes today.
Just a huge, huge win today. This needs to be a sign of how we will play for the rest of the year, not a one game anomaly.
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Yes, the Browns on Sunday not only proved they could play nearly penalty-free football on the road, but beating Jacksonville was even more impressive considering last week’s “distraction” — the saga of Phil Savage, outraged general manage,r verses Kellen Winslow, “piece of meat” tight end (you know what I mean).
After being suspended one game and what amounted to more than $2.1 million, Winslow flew home to San Diego to strategize his appeal hearing set on Tuesday. After the Browns found out Winslow had copies of text messages from the Browns communications department, warning him not to say anything about his latest staph infection, the ball game was essentially over. The Browns knew it , punted and let the game clock wind down. Score: Winslow 1, Savage, 0.
One can only picture Kellen in San Diege Sunday, sitting in his Dad’s (K-1?) living room watching TV. I wonder if he watched the Browns game — the Steelers — or maybe the latest road bike races.
The fact that the Browns won two of its three games without Winslow doesn’t bode well for his future contract negotiations — and has got to hurt his ego.
For the record, I love Kellen as a player;. He is a difference-maker with sure hands and great moves. Stay tuned, folks. The whole story is yet to be told.
The weakness of the Browns were also apparent against the Jaguars, Sunday.
First, quarterback Derek Anderson only showed up for the first half of the game and was saved from having an official interception only by an offsides penalty committed by Jacksonville before the play unfolded. (Usually DA takes two or three quarters to warm up, so this time he was ready to go, but petered out early.)
Along with this weakness comes the inability of the Browns to get into the end zone from the one-yard line. That same problem happened in Washington — and cost Cleveland the game.
Here is my suggestion: When the Browns are within five yards of the goal line, put Joshua Cribbs in as quarterback. Cribbs played the position at Kent State University and would have the option of keeping the ball or providing additional blocking for Jamal Lewis. (By the way, Lewis did , indeed, get into the end zone against the Redskins — but the referee didn’t call it.)
Next week, the Ratbirds (Ravens). More on the match-up later in the week.
One last thought. Living in Cleveland amidst the grey and gloom and rain in late October, one reason the Browns played so well was it felt good to be playing in warmth and sunshine, again.
And a Browns victory yesterday made today’s grey and rainy day a good day.
Go, Browns!
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JRod-
You mentioned that the Browns are 2-1 in their last 3 games. They are also 3-1 in their last 4 games. If only the NFL played a 13 game season that started in the last week of September…….
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Hey Rusty — while you’re patting yourself on your back about your great Steelers-Giants prediction, you might want to review what you really predicted:
“this blogger expects Sunday’s game to be a blowout”
Considering the Steelers were leading the game up until a few minutes before the end, you might want to ease up on ol’ ego strokin’, if ya know what I mean.
Then I again, I’m sure you have difficulty ever stoppin’ with the self stroking. So we’ll give you a pass on this one.
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