Browns Leave Indianapolis .500

The Colts were left waiving the white flag midway through their loss to the Cleveland Browns last Sunday. After a tough loss to the Bengals at home (sorry we didn't post, the depression was just too great) the Browns headed to Indianapolis to face the Manningless Colts and displayed the type of football that we expected to see in week 1. While many of you may say, "of course we won, the Colts are pathetic" you forget (or chose to ignore) the fact that the Browns have failed over and over again to beat teams they were supposed to beat. (see Bengals) Whether its a stupid penalty, a busted play or a bad turnover, the Browns have consistently snatched defeat out of the jaws of victory.

The Browns avoided a similar fate on Sunday by playing strong defense, committing to a running game and by utilizing a stellar special teams performance. While Kerry Collins is certainly well past his prime, he still has the arm and the know how to win games at this level. We will ignore the fact that he has only had about 3 weeks to learn Manning's offense, in order to feel even better about the Browns defense.

It is great to see young defenders on the field making a difference. If I had one complaint about Mangini, its that he trusted veteran players well past their prime to play, while potential sat wasting on the bench. A shout out to Tom Heckert is also in order (again) for his drafting on the defensive side of the ball the last two years. Jabaal Sheard and Phil Taylor are looking like solid picks. While Joe Haden had two penalties (on one play), he continued to show that he is one of the top corners in the NFL. I have no reservations about him covering Brandon Marshall next week when Miami and the lifeless Brian Dabol offense comes to town. TJ Ward continues to get better at strong safety, and I think the Browns have found something in Usama Young at free safety. While Mike Adams continues to start at FS, I believe it is only a matter of time before Adams loses the job to Young. This in no way should be taken as criticism for Adams, as he has produced at a higher level than expected during his time in Cleveland.

The coaching staff swithed Jayme Mitchell and Sheard on the D Line, returning Sheard to his more natural (white pistachio nut) left defense end position. The move paid dividends this week, as Sheard had a strip sack, that he recovered. Rubin and Taylor continue to look like a formidable front. They have not only colapsed the pocket, but have shown the ability to keep blockers off of the linebackers. In thinking of the run defense, the runs that have hurt us the most have not been right up the middle. The defense needs to do a better job of setting the edge in the running game. Primarily the responsibility of the DEs and the OLBs.

On offense, we are seeing the development of the west coast offense. Colt looked much better this game, completeing nearly 70% of his passes and finding his WRs more often. The Colts did a good job of taking away Ben Watson, but Mo Mass, Greg Little and Cribbs did a nice job moving the chains between Hillis runs. Its time for the Brian Robiske experiment to officially end. He is not developing in to a NFL wide receiver. I know it hurts some of you OSU fans out there, but he sucks... alot. Every play he is on the field is a play that one of the other WRs is not on the field, thus slowing their development. I am hopeful that we will see Carlton Mitchell within the next few weeks to see if he can contribute.

Hillis had a nice game, behind a developing offensive line. For multiple reasons, do not expect to see the kind of games he had last year. I agree with Coach that he needs to get Hardesty in the game sooner than the 3rd quarter. This staff needs to have a plan with respect to the number or carries Hardesty should be getting and see to it that he spells Hillis earlier in the game. Hardesty has the talent to be a viable option in the running game. Don't worry about his fumble, I don't foresee it being a problem.

The offensive line improved and had a nice game against a decent, but small Indianapolis front 7. The run game helped neutralize one of the better pass rushes in the NFL, Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis. Freeney had one sack, but was stonewalled by Joe Thomas the rest of the game. Pinkston and Lauvao improved from week one, as did the rotating RT spot consiting of Oniel Cousins and Artis Hicks. Tony Pashos is supposedly practicing some this week, so hopefully he can return in a week or two and help solidify the line before we get to the Steelers and Ravens at the end of the season.

I cannot say enough about Josh Cribbs in the return game. He has consistently put the Browns in good field position, and the offense has responded with TDs after Cribbs' biggest returns. The kickoff rule has not slowed down Cribbs to date, as he has been returning kicks from 7 yards into the endzone. As Shurmur has stated, be ready to see teams kicking away from Cribbs as he continues to shine.

It is good to see the team win on the road against a team they are supposed to beat. This week the Dolphins come to town to try to get their first win of the season. I have absolutley no faith in Brian Dabol's ability to develop a competative offense, however the Dolphins defense is not nearly as inept. This will likely be a closer game than we saw in Indianapolis.