A day later the euphoria had not worn off yet. The Cleveland Browns 14 point, come from behind, win in overtime still had head coach Romeo Crennel feeling good. The Browns had every chance to fold their tents, but rallied and won 31-28 against a Kansas City Chiefs team that is fighting for a spot in the playoffs.

The Browns played the Chiefs toe-to-toe in the fist half Sunday and went into halftime tied 14-14. The Chiefs took the opening kick-off down the field and jumped up 21-14 when Trent Green hit Kris Wilson from 6 yards out for a TD. The Chiefs then jumped up 28-14 after putting together a 14 play, 99 yard drive that was capped off with another Green TD pass, this time to Tony Gonzales. So with 12 minutes to go in the game the Browns trailed by 14 points and things did not look good.

Things looked bleak because Browns starting QB Charlie Frye injured his wrist and was not able to play in the 2nd half. Backup QB Derek Anderson got the nod and was sensational. That's not too say he was perfect, but his was legitimate and many wondered if he was going into Sunday's game.

Anderson completed 12 of 21 passes for 171 yards and 2 TD's. The 2 touchdowns came on 4th quarter drives that culminated in TD completions to TE Steve Heiden. The last TD came with just 35 seconds to go and forced the game into overtime. Overtime is where Anderson really came to life. After the defense forced the Chiefs to punt the Browns took over on their own 22 yard line. On 1st down Anderson hit TE Kellen Winslow II for 26 yards to their own 48. Four plays later, on 2nd and 15 from the Chiefs 45 yard line, Anderson took off from the pocket. Not until 33 yards later was he brought down as he tip-toed down the sideline, giving the Browns a 1st down at the Chiefs 12 yard line. Three plays later kicker Phil Dawson nailed the game winning kick from 33 yards out.

The Browns got outstanding production from the running back position on Sunday. The combination of Reuben Droughns and Jason Wright tallied a combined 213 yards of offense, 7 receptions and a TD. That's production for m the running back position this team has not seen all season.

Head coach Romeo Crennel as asked Monday about Frye and his injured wrist. Apparently x-rays showed the wrist not to be broken, but results from an MRI taken Monday were not known. Crennel was non-committal as to whether Frye would start if his wrist was indeed not broken. The fact that the Browns have a short week, playing the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday night, may make it virtually impossible for Frye to start.

Crennel was also asked if he was surprised by Anderson's performance, surprisingly he was. He was also very impressed with him as well and noted that the game plan did not change for Anderson. The team ran the same plays with Anderson as they would have with Frye.

The defense was bowled over for most of the day, yielding 28 points and 417 yards of offense, but made stops when they needed to. They also played very well against one of the leagues best RB's in Larry Johnson. Johnson averaged just 3.9 yards per carry Sunday, most importantly he was held out of the end-zone.

LB Willie McGinest had one of his best games of the season defending the run and being involved. McGinest has 9 tackles, his most this season in a single game, 2 quarterback hurries and a fumble recovery. McGinest was joined by his fellow linebackers in terms of outstanding play on Sunday as well. Both ILB's D'Qwell Jackson and Andra Davis had huge days, 25 total tackles between them and OLB Kamerion Wimbley recorded his team high 8 and 1/2 sack of the season.

The unit really stepped up at the end of regulation by forcing a sack and fumble on Chiefs QB Trent Green. The Chiefs were poised for one last surge, having the ball with 35 seconds left and all 3 timeouts. DE Simon Fraser stripped Green and McGinest fell on the ball, giving the Browns the ball at the Chiefs 42 yard line. The Browns were not able to capitalize in regulation, but more importantly they stopped the Chiefs from capitalizing.

Crennel insisted in his Monday press conference that nothing different was done on Sunday, that the team just performed well and executed the game plan. He may have been mistaken, because something was different. The Browns won a game that came down to the wire, a game in which they have lost so many times. A game where they trailed by 14 points late and came back to win. The difference is the team learned how to win a game it has lost far too many times. It may have been the game that taught this young team what it takes to win and finish games. Sunday may have been the day the franchise looks back on a few years from now and says, "that was the day that everything changed".

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