Castoffs and Misfits Make Up the Best Cleveland Browns Team in over a Decade

In football, a good team always trumps a good collection of talent. The Cleveland Browns proved that to be accurate once again on Thursday night with their 24-3 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.

People around the nation watched the Browns dismantle the Bengals and move into a tie for first place in the AFC North. It is Week 10 of the season. The Browns are for real and have possibly their best team since returning to the league in 1999.

But I have to wonder, how many people watching the Browns in other locations thought to themselves, “Who the hell are these guys?” It was definitely said, and not just as a hypothetical question, either. I’m sure people have never heard of most of the Browns roster.

They wouldn’t have it any other way.

The same offense that put up 24 points and 368 total yards and dominated the time of possession by over 10 minutes is filled with names of guys whom even people in Cleveland aren’t completely familiar with.

Taylor Gabriel, an undrafted rookie free agent, had three catches for the Browns offense. Travis Benjamin, a guy whom most might know as a returner but few know as a receiver, had three catches in the win. Tight end Gary Barnidge, who I would bet most people have never heard of before, had two catches for 46 yards.

Rookie running back Terrance West dominated with 26 rushes for 94 yards and a touchdown. West played his college ball at Towson and did not get the spotlight on Saturdays that most other NFL players experienced.

The Browns' second leading rusher, and the man who started the scoring for the Browns, was an undrafted free agent. No one took a flier on Isaiah Crowell in the NFL draft, but here he is as a key component in the Browns' three-headed rushing attack.

With Alex Mack out for the season, a guy named Nick McDonald has been starting at center. He had just three starts before taking over this center job. He is now in the middle of an offensive line that has six wins and is smack dab in the middle of a playoff push.

Perhaps no one personifies this cast of misfits more than quarterback Brian Hoyer. He was never drafted, sat as a backup in New England for three seasons, started just one game in Arizona and was cut by the Pittsburgh Steelers. He has finally taken hold of an NFL starting job.

Even though has played very well and has a 9-3 record as a starter in Cleveland, people still question whether or not he should be the guy behind center. There is still a group of fans who think the Browns would be better off having Johnny Manziel at the helm.

Their doubt fuels his journey.

The defense has quite a few big names and is starting to play like one of the most dominant units in the NFL. The Bengals entered this game as the 13th-best scoring offense and left with just 165 yards and three points.

David Richard/Associated Press

Despite all of the big names and talent on the defense, the heart and soul of that unit has always been overlooked. Linebacker Karlos Dansby has produced his entire career and posted numbers similar to seven-time Pro Bowler Patrick Willis in San Francisco. Even with that production, he has never been voted to a Pro Bowl and rarely gets recognition as one of the best at his position.

The man who leads this jolly band of castoffs was himself overlooked and pushed to the side. Sure, head coach Mike Pettine’s rise through the coaching ranks could be described as meteoric. In 2001, he was the head coach of a high school team, and now he has a first-place team in the NFL.

But we must remember that Pettine was not the Browns' first choice as head coach. As the team went through a process that was exhausting and at times embarrassing, Pettine’s name was nowhere to be found. All of a sudden the guy who had only spent one year as defensive coordinator in Buffalo was the front-runner for the Browns head coaching job.

It may not have been pretty, but it is starting to become glaringly obvious that the Browns ended up with the right guy. In fact, the path the Browns took to find Pettine is very similar to the path they have taken to first place in the division.

There have been embarrassing moments, like their loss at the hands of a winless Jacksonville team. It has not been pretty for most of the season—like them barely scraping by two bad football teams in Oakland and Tampa Bay. Luckily there are no style points in coaching searches or football games.

He seems to be the perfect guy to lead this team. They play like he coaches. They are focused, scrappy and have a chip on their shoulders at all times. Plenty of teams have guys on the roster with something to prove, but few make it work to their advantage quite like the Browns have.

Pettine has his team believing they can win no matter the situation. No Pro Bowl wide receiver for 10 games? No problem. No Pro Bowl center or tight end for the most important game of the year? Next man up. The leading receiver from your already depleted offense can’t play on national television? The team doesn’t blink.

So now the Browns already have six wins. Since their return to the league in 1999, they have won at least six games in an entire season just four times. Looking at how the Browns played on Thursday night, they’re nowhere near done either.

This is perhaps the best team the Browns have had since 1999. They may not have as much raw talent as in 2007, when they won 10 games. They might not have as many playmakers as the 2002 playoff team, but they play together unlike any squad before them.

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"The players have bought in to what we're selling as a staff...this is a tight team" - Mike Pettine

— Keith Britton (@KeithBritton86) November 7, 2014 "

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"We are not the same old Cleveland Browns....nobody thought we'd win 3 games" - Donte Whitner

— Daryl Ruiter (@RuiterWrongFAN) November 7, 2014 "

No, they are not the same old Browns. This unit finds ways to win. This team imposes its will on its opponents. This group is a legit contender for the AFC North crown.

It doesn’t matter that the guys who are the main contributors have never gotten their due throughout their careers. They’re getting it now. They’re getting it as a team. They’re making people learn who they are one win at a time.