Cleveland Browns Beat New York Giants 35-14 | Career High for Braylon Edwards
After each of the first four games of the 2008 Season of Great Expectations for the Cleveland Browns, I have sat and stared at the blank computer screen searching for positives through the dreck that had been the Browns’ play on the field. It wasn’t always easy to find the positives, and sometimes even my indefatigable optimism was challenged. It started with the preseason debacle against the New York Giants and went all the way up to tonight’s Monday Night Football kickoff.
Tonight, after witnessing a 35-14 trouncing of the New York Giants by the Cleveland Browns, I am sitting trying to sift thro
ugh a stunning abundance of positives to pick out a few to highlights, lest I be up until 4:00 in the morning analyzing this game. I’m riding such high right now that reliving this game until 4:00 a.m. actually sounds pretty damn good.
Where do we start?
It has to be with Derek Anderson and Braylon Edwards. Coming into tonight’s game, Derek Anderson was the lowest rated QB in the league and his spot as the Browns’ unquestioned starter was in doubt. Braylon Edwards, coming off a 16-TD season, had been held to under 100 yards receiving through four games. The Giants had the best defense in the NFL coming in. So what happened? Well, this is the NFL (which now officially stands for No F-ing Logic) so exactly the opposite of what “should” happen: Derek Anderson threw for over 300 yards and 2 TDs and Braylon Edwards caught 5 passes for a career-high 154 yards, a touchdown, and a two-point conversion. They hooked up early a deep bomb in which only a shoestring tackle kept Braylon from the endzone, and the two kept rolling from there.
Braylon Edwards did have a few miscues. He dropped a ball and committed a pretty comical false start penalty. But tonight is not a night for nit-picking (FALSE STARTS!!!!); and Braylon Edwards delivered a huge performance in a clutch spot, living up to the old Santana Moss axiom that “big players make big plays in big games.” Despite his rocky start, Braylon Edwards is a big-time player and he proved it tonight. I said earlier in the year that Braylon Edwards is the key to the Browns season. His two best games (actually, his only two competent games) have come in the last two, both Browns victories. This team needs Braylon Edwards to be a top-5 wide receiver to compete with the elite teams. Tonight, he was outstanding and the Cleveland Browns knocked off the defending Super Bowl champs.
Derek Anderson finally looked comfortable and confident in the pocket. He stepped into his throws, he spread the ball around, and he avoided the costly turnover that has plagued him when he has come up short in key spots. Kudos also go out to the offensive line who, despite way too many false start penalties, gave Derek plenty of time to drop back, be comfortable in the pocket, and locate receivers downfield. Justin Tuck and the Giants defensive line had been dealing well with the loss of Michael Strahan. The Cleveland Browns’ offensive line neutralized them tonight. It paid off.
Other offensive highlights included continued tough running from team leader Jamal Lewis, a few more electric plays from Jerome Harrison, and the return of Donte Stallworth. Stallworth’s return should not go unnoticed. He did not stuff the stat sheet, and probably should have come up with the fade route in the endzone, but even Braylon Edwards admitted in the postgame that Stallworth opened up the field for him. Without Kellen Winslow out, another receiving threat was necessary. The speed of Donte Stallworth provided that threat. And in Kellen Winslow’s absence, the substitute soldiers Steve Heiden and Darnell Dinkins came up huge. Heiden provided a reliable safety valve for Derek Anderson all night, and Darnell Dinkins came up with a huge TD catch.
The offense was oustanding tonight and absolutely deserves an A for a stellar performance on the heels of four very subpar outings.
Now onto the defense.
Coming into the season, the biggest question mark for the Cleveland Browns was the defensive secondary. After trading Leigh Bodden, very few people gave the Browns’ secondary a chance to be a game-changing unit — at least in a positive sense. But for me, one of the lone consistent bright spots in this season so far has been the play of Brandon McDonald and Eric Wright. Tonight those two, along with Brodney Pool, played great ball-hawking defense. They gave up a few plays to Plaxico Burress (actually, those happened when Burress was matched up against Terry Cousins) and Steve Smith was able to find seams underneath, but they kept the Giants’ receivers in front of them; and obviously, the interceptions were huge. Eric Wright, Brandon McDonald, and Brodney Pool each picked off Eli Manning once. Eric Wright’s 4th quarter redzone interception and subsequent return for a touchdown sealed the deal.
The interception by Eric Wright is the most auspicious harbinger of a potential turnaround for the Cleveland Browns in 2008. Last year, even with Leigh Bodden, I never truly had confidence that the Browns’ secondary would be able to come up with big, game-changing plays when the defense needed one. Tonight, with the Browns’ clinging to a 27-14 lead but the Super Bowl champs gashing our defense and seeming poised to cut the lead to a one-scare margin, Eric Wright made a ridiculous break on a ball that Eli Manning thought was an easy completion and possible touchdown. Not only did he get there and actually catch the ball, as opposed to just knocking it down, but he ended any chance of comeback by finishing the play by high-stepping into the opposite endzone. The Browns’ secondary may be one of the most underrated units in the NFL. Tonight they highlighted their improvement on the biggest stage, but it is the culmination of five consecutive weeks of consistent improvement.
The run defense was just okay, and that’s probably being ridiculously generous as the Giants rushed 25 times for a 7.2 yard per carry average. You probably won’t win too many games giving up 7.2 yards per carry, unless of course you don’t turn the ball over, don’t punt once, and come up with 3 INTs. If the recipe for winning an NFL game is comprised on ten ingredients, the Browns successfully brought 8 to the table tonight. Shoring up the run defense and eliminating penalties will be points of emphasis for the Browns’ coaching staff as we move forward, but the ingredients the Browns were able to add still coalesced into the sweet taste of a 35-14 victory on national TV in front of the home fans against the undefeated defending Super Bowl champions.
In his postgame interview immediately following the game, Braylon Edwards said, “Everyone watched this game on TV and forgot about the first three games. We’re 2-0, with a brand new 14-game season.” I don’t know if he meant it this way, but a 14-game season assumes three playoff games. At the beginning of this Season of Great Expectations, many Browns fans thought a deep playoff run was a possibility. At 0-3, not even the most audacious Browns fan could still have maintained complete confidence that this team would even get to 8-8.
Can this team make the playoffs? At 2-3, it’s still an uphill battle. But at 2-3, and with parity running rampant across the NFL landscape, the Browns are still very much in the picture.
And at least for one glorious Monday night, in front of a nation of football fans watching on Monday Night Football, the Cleveland Browns looked like one of the NFL’s elite. Are they? We have 11 more games to find out for sure, and there are plenty of rough edges that need to be smoothed out; but this is one hell of a giant step in the right direction.
Congratulations Browns! And to all you haters: Ryan Russell and I told you so!
[tags]cleveland browns, nfl, monday night football, new york giants, football, braylon edwards[/tags]
Tags: braylon edwards, Cleveland Browns, derek anderson, donte stallworth, eric wright, football, Monday Night Football, new york giants, NFL
BEER WE GO BROWNIES, BEER WE GO!!
i can’t wait to see what that giant douche steeler fan has to say. i also cant wait to watch Big Gay Ben and the steelers get f*cked in the a$$ when they play the giants.
Lerner owns the browns, the browns owned the G-Men, and the New York Football Giants are gonna skullF*ck the Steelers on October 26th.
Much Needed Penis Enlarger, wanna bet on that game?
Reply
Russell — simply an outstanding job there of censoring yourself to get around our comment rules here at MSF, but still letting your rancor and venom towards Much Needed Reality Check shine through.
I still think that Steelers-Browns game at the end of the year will have AFC North title implications. As the Ravens fade, and the Browns rise, and Steelers come back to the pack in The Year of Parity in the NFL, there remains a good chance that 9-10 wins will take the AFC North, and many other divisions across the league as well for that matter.
The great thing is, no one remembers what your record was in October, only what it is December and January. This Browns team, especially as it gets healthier, is more than capable of beating anyone one its schedule. And not just if they play perfectly. A lot of confidence and momentum can and should be gained from last night’s win, and Washington sure looks a lot more beatable today than they did last week.
3-3 with back-to-back wins over NFC East foes will look mighty nice. If the Browns can force some turnovers next week and protect D.A., that is a perfectly reasonable possibility.
And it does not require “Browns Fan Delusion” to say so.
Reply
Well, glad to see all the Brownie fans are back — what a surprise! Good thing, it was getting like crickets chirping on some of those other Brownie threads. Like they say, there’s always room for one more on the bandwagon.
And hey Rusty, I don’t think you’re in any position to call out others on bets, considering you don’t even have the balls (oops, sorry KW2) to own up for this one:
Ryan Russell Says:
August 27th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
“I dare you to come back to this site after week 9 when the Steelers are 2-6 or 3-5.”
——————————————————————————————————
Whoops! Looks like somebody’s predic already went up in smoke! Hey, what do I win?
Anyway, congrats on your Super Bowl victory, and enjoy eating the Steelers’ dust the rest of the way. Shame on ya, Rusty, didn’t even show here and congratulate Big Ben on being named AFC Player of the Week last week? Tsk tsk.
Reply
Much Need Penis Enlarger!!! Hahahahahahaha. That’s it.
Reply
Yeah, sure beats “Much Needed Scrotum Shrinker” huh?
Reply
Well, we have now officially succeeded in producing a comment thread that includes references to sodomy, as well as the words “penis” and “scrotum” after I attempted to produce a completely serious recap of last night’s game. (All we need is a reference to “ball sac” and the holy triumverate of funny and yet not-totally-inappropriate words to describe the man region will be represented).
Wait…there it was.
This is absolutely the high point for Midwest Sports Fans.
All significant goals have now been achieved. My work here is done.
Reply
Well Jerod, congrats then — let me see if I can help:
Winslow Jr.’s grotesquely large BALL SACK compensates for Rusty’s extremely shriveled, tiny one. It’s the universe’s way of equalizing things I guess.
Hope that was helpful.
Reply
To borrow a line from the great Bill Simmons:
Yep, these are my readers.
Reply
[...] Edwards had an outstanding game last night in the Cleveland Browns’ 35-14 victory over the New York Giants on Monday Night Football. He finished with a career-high 154 receiving yards, helped build early [...]
i can not wait to get the last laugh on BOTH the Steelers, and the white-trash coal miners who root for them. They are getting worse week by week, year by year; and the Browns stock is on the rise.
Do me a favor, Much Needed Time Machine back to 2005? Say “hi” to the “Palmer brothers” for me when you get to the bottom…
Reply
You know Rusty, you remind me of Chad John- er uh Ocho Cinco and his famous “Steelers are the black and white TV, we’re the new color model” trash he spewed the one year the Bungals squeaked out a game against the Steelers.
Come to think of it, that WAS around ‘05. And where are the Bungals now? Yeah, pretty much the same place as the Brownies — staring up at the Steelers. Hey second place ain’t bad, is it? I just wondered, since the Steelers always finish first.
By the way, I heard the Steelers sent Chad a brand-new black and white set after they won the Bowl. Is that cool or what?
Reply
Like I said, get your shit talking done ASAP, because your team is on its way down. T minus ten months until the rebuilding process begins…
the division is ours.
Reply
[...] I am sure that many Cleveland Browns fans feel about like I do right now: still euphoric. The 35-14 victory over the New York Giants on Monday was clearly the high point of this still young 2008 season and has given the Cleveland [...]
[...] has been a great week for the Cleveland Browns, beginning Monday night with the 35-14 victory over the New York Giants, and moving into today when Eric Wright was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week. (And, of [...]
Whatever you say, Rusty, whatever you say.
By the way, leave the forwarding address for your trailer, and I’ll send you a spankin’ new black and white TV set after the Steelers win the division. You’ll LOVE television, by the way, it’s this cool thing with a screen and lots of little moving guys inside. Maybe you can invite Ocho Cinco over to watch the Steelers in the playoffs.
P.S. I’ll throw in a new set of rabbit ears too. Plus a roll of foil to go with it, on the house.
Reply
[...] The report says that Winslow claimed it’s “good to be back” (well I would hope so) but that no decision has been made regarding his status for the game against the Redskins. There was also no further information disclosed regarding the mysterious injury (which had been reported, but not confirmed, as some kind of swelling of Kellen’s dangling soldiers) that has kept Kellen Winslow out of practice and out of Monday night’s game against the Giants. [...]
[...] Steelers “fans” will have an additional excuse as to why they didn’t fare as well as Cleveland did against the exact same [...]
Leave your response!
Got a tip, question, or suggestion for MSF?
Click here to send us an email
Lijit Search
NFL tickets are always hot, and with the Super Bowl looming, you'll be looking for Philly Eagles playoff tickets to go along with Panthers playoff tickets (or even Titans tickets). No matter who your team is, you'll want the best tickets, so get them from GoTickets!
Best of Midwest sports betting websites here, along with online casinos and games.
Find superb free sports betting information, including reviews on sportsbooks, vegas odds for sports betting, and NFL super bowl odds at NSAwins.com!
Free expert NFL picks, NBA picks and MLB picks. ATS Consultants' top-ranked handicappers make all selections using the most up to date NBA lines, NFL lines, and MLB lines.
Cheating Liars Music Video
Written and produced in January of 2007 by JRod and KVB, and performed by Davey Heritier, this video is an "ode" to the steroids era in Major League Baseball.courtesy of Flash Sports Tonight
And as the June 16th report about Sammy Sosa by the NY Times proves, "Cheating Liars" is sadly just as relevant today as it was when it was written.
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
Poll of the Day
Affiliations
Recent Commenter Love
~by Get Smart on 3/14
"A lot of ads for money but little detail. Just another money site."
~by jdavis on 3/14
"Hey dummy, OSU won yesterday, so they play MSU at 1:40, not Wisconsin. Moron."
~by msujunkie on 3/14
"You’re not actually dumb enough to believe that IU would never have another minor infraction, right?"
~by Jimmy on 2/25
Most Popular Posts
Most Emailed
Blogroll
Procrastinate your day away with laughter.
Family and Friends
Who is using MSF right now?
Most Commented