The Cleveland Browns

Too often on the shores of Lake Erie, we end up complaining. We end up disappointed and heartbroken at another blown season, another blown playoff game, another embarrassing performance in front of a national crowd. Finally, we have a moment that makes Cleveland proud. The Browns beat the Super Bowl champion New York Giants in front of a home crowd and a national television audience as a huge underdog going into the game. Not a single sane person would have picked this team to win after the tough start to the season and anemic offense led by Derek "just playing catch with DBs" Anderson. All those sane people, however, proved to be wrong. The Browns made a statement during this Monday night game. It was a statement that should ring loudly through Cleveland and the entire NFL. The Cleveland Browns can play some football. While everyone in the league was ready to cut the cord on Anderson and Crennel after the 1-3 start, the team didn't panic or give in to outsiders and came away with one of their best performances in 5 years. It was a moment where as an avid fan, I finally started to understand the genius behind the team. The offseason moves to bring in some lineman that can actually hold their own and cause trouble for defenses finally paid off. The Browns rarely got to Eli Manning, but their defense caused trouble enough to force Manning into looking like that good old fashioned Gomer Pyle rather than the Super Bowl MVP. The highly drafted secondary made big plays to inhibit any momentum from building against the team. The lineman protected Anderson brilliantly and gave him time to throw. The offensive plays showed creativity and even a rare simplicity that allowed Anderson to succeed. It proves that you don't necessarily need an all star behind center, but just someone who can manage the game and not make any mistakes. The lines on both side of the ball played tough and made a highly touted defense look like an average NFL defense. As far as the Browns go for now though, this is the team that the fans wanted. This is the team that we love. The underdogs, the doubted, the team that no one really cares about in the NFL is a team that is dangerous. Of course, any NFL coach with the talent that Crennel has behind his roster should be able to prepare and put up a good showing against anyone with two weeks between games. What really matters though is that from the opening kickoff to the last snap, the Browns played like a team that cared about each other and a team that wanted to win. Since they have had that attitude, they are 2-0.