Tasteless Victory

In the immortal words of Vin Diesel, “it doesn’t matter if you win by an inch or a mile, winning is winning.” This adage proved to be true on a day when the box score would suggest extremely adverse weather conditions. Thanks to another incredible special teams performance and solid hard-nose defense, the Browns removed themselves from the winless team category.

Offensively, Jamal Lewis’ solid running and a well-executed wildcat style reverse by Josh Cribbs were about the only highlights. DA pulled his Tommy Thompson impression with a smooth 2-17 for a stellar 23 yards. If his quarterback rating were a mere 15.1 points lower, he would have tied Thompson and six others for lowest all time passer rating in a victory. At least Thompson had a legitimate excuse following a poor performance, he could only see out of one eye. Punter Dave Zastudil earned his filet mignon dinner landing an impressive seven of nine punts landing the 20. One of his only poor punts of the day resulted in a key turnover that helped the Browns get the victory.

While this game would be best remembered as Jim Tressel’s field-goal fantasy, the Browns got a win. If they could just add Buffalo to the division, the playoffs could be a real possibility. At least the Browns kept LeBron James happy by getting rid of Braylon Edwards quicker than people can leave Buffalo (they were recently named among the fastest-dying American cities). If the Cavaliers can do the same, at least one of the three sports in Cleveland will have something exciting to watch.

~Sef Gold