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'Wide Right': Browns beat Buffalo Bills 29-27 in Monday night thriller
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Monday night ended with luck finally going the way of the Cleveland Browns. The Browns defeated the Buffalo Bills 29-27 at Ralph Wilson stadium on national television. They won on a Phil "awesome" Dawson field goal from 56 yards out.
The Bills Ryan Lindell missed a 47 yard potential game winner that went "wide right" and reminded Bills fans that Scott Norwood is alive and well. Trust me, Bilsl fan. You're not the only team with ghosts in your closet. You can look west along the shore of Lake Erie to find some comfort.
Cleveland had big plays from Jerome Harrison (yeah, the guy I've been hyping all year), Shaun Rogers, and of course Phil Dawson.
The Brownies had terrible performances from the rest of the Browns defense (see over a million missed tackles) and the special teams unit. After Harrison ran for a 71-yard touchdown the Browns gave up a kickoff return for a touchdown the very next play.
While the Browns defense did force four turnovers, they killed themselves with bad tackling and poor angles all game, allowing almost 200 yards rushing from Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson. Both running backs averaged 5 yards a carry.
Enough of the bad and more with the good.
Brady Quinn gets his first win as a Browns starter and played very efficient. He did what he was supposed to do in a poor offensive effort -- he managed the game. He went 14/36 for 185 yards and most importantly threw zero interceptions while moving the ball down the field to give Dawson a chance for the win. Dawson, one of the best kickers in football history, made this one count.
I have never been a big Phil Dawson fan, until tonight. His accuracy and clutch kicking has convinced me that he is one of the game's most consistent kickers. Dawson made five field goals Monday night and was the Browns MVP.
Jerome Harrison is a player that I have been talking about all year. He has been lobbying for more playing time and I can't understand what the Browns coaching staff is thinking.
As I commented in one of my first articles,"I have been raving about Jerome Harrison since the beginning of the season. He is an incredible change-of-pace back with, dare I say, Reggie-Bush-like game-breaking skills."
You heard it here first, folks.
Tonight, Harrison had three rushes for 80 yards and a touchdown. He had over 100 yards of total offense on only four touches! Imagine if you gave him the ball ten 10 or 15 times a game. If Cleveland could have utilized both Lewis and Harrison all year, Brady Quinn might not be the starter right now.
Attention Browns coaches! It's called giving your offensive attack a "dynamic."
The Browns have a lot of athletes that can can make our offense very dangerous but only until now do we see more touches for Harrison, Cribbs, and Quinn. This lack of talent evaluation should not be overlooked in light of this win. If I can see it and Harrison can see it, why can't professional coaches see it?
Cleveland improves to 4-6 and looks to possibly make a wild card playoff run. Most importantly, Cleveland came together as a team and won a game with Quinn as the leader. Now, they can take each game as a step forward to the future.
No matter what happens for the rest of the season, this could be a game the Browns build upon.
Now, bring on the Texans!
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