Browns Hand Giants First Loss
Oct 14, 2008
Author: DawgBones.com

Monday night was supposed to be a coronation for the New York Giants. They were considered the best team in the NFL and their opponents, the Cleveland Browns, were merely a footnote. The Browns were the sacrificial lamb and hand no chance of winning according to the "so-called experts" in the media. The Browns responded by being more physical the Giants and beating the defending Super Bowl champions by three touchdowns, 35-14.

The Browns set the tone early by taking the games opening drive 74 yards in nine plays eating up almost five minutes of the clock and finishing with a Phil Dawson field goal and an early 3-0 lead. The nine play drive was one of four drives the Browns had on the night of at least nine plays. The drive of the night obviously was the teams 7th possession. The Browns started at their own 13 yard line and 14 plays later, overcoming 25 penalty yards on the drive, the Browns finished with an 11 yard touchdown pass from Derek Anderson to Braylon Edwards and a 27-13 lead. The Browns amassed 112 yards of offense on that drive alone.

Browns QB Derek Anderson, who has been much maligned all season, had one of the best games of his career. The second year starter threw for 310 yards, two touchdowns and a QB rating of 121.3 against the Giants.

WR Braylon Edwards caught five balls for a career high 154 yards and a touchdown and looked like the All-Pro receiver we saw in 2007. RB Jamal Lewis also ran hard and put the game away with five straight rushes with 3:58 remaining in the game tallying 28 yards and two first downs. The Browns offense also showed they were willing to be creative against the Giants. On a double reverse backup RB Jerome Harrison scampered down the left sideline for 33 yards setting up another Phil Dawson field goal.

By and away it was the best play calling 2nd year offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski has had all year. Out of 59 offensive plays the Browns ran the ball 30 times showing great balance and amassed a season high 454 yards and 28 offensive points.

The return of veteran offensive linemen Ryan Tucker seemed to energize the offensive line. The unit did not let the Giants lay a finger on Derek Anderson and gave him time to throw and make plays in the pocket all night. The Giants came into the game with 15 sacks, but were shutout and only hurried Anderson once.

The Browns defense was also a big contributor to the Browns win Monday night. They forced three Eli Manning interceptions, the last one was returned 94 yards for a touchdown by CB Eric Wright to put the Browns up 35-14 and seal the victory. The Browns only had one sack against the Giants, but had five quarterback hurries and had Eli Manning out of sync most of the night.
The run defense was also much better then the stats would show. Though the Giants tallied 181 yards on the ground, 87 of them came with the Browns playing prevent defense and protecting a 13 and 21 point lead.

The Browns have now won two in a row to get their record to 2-3 on the year and seem to be returning to the form they had in 2007 when they went 10-6. Up next for the Browns is a road game against the Washington Redskins and an opportunity to get back to .500 and squarely back in the playoff hunt in the AFC.

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