Braylon And The Browns Whip New York 35 - 14

The Cleveland Browns shook off their mediocre early season performances last night and in their first Monday Night Football victory since 1993 creamed the Giants 35-14 . In what most people saw as a potential cakewalk for New York, the Giants looked unprepared and were outplayed and outhit by Cleveland all night long.

Braylon Edwards lit up the Giants secondary up for five catches, 154 yards and a touchdown. Meanwhile the backfield got 144 yards from a combination of the power rushing of Jamal Lewis, and trickery from Joshua Cribbs and Jerome Harrison.

Derek Anderson, looking far from the skittish performer he has been most of this season reverted to last years pro bowl form going 18-29 for 310 yards and two touchdowns.

The Browns defense got into the act also with three interceptions, one of which Eric Wright returned 94 yards for a touchdown. Eli Manning looked confused by the fronts and coverages he saw from Cleveland, which rendered the passing game ineffective.

Football games are won on the field and this one was no exception, Cleveland was the far superior team last night. But the biggest difference was coaching. The Giants looked unprepared in every phase of the game and Cleveland took total advantage. Every defensive adjustment that Steve Spagnuolo made, Rob Chudzinski countered. Every wrinkle Kevin Gilbride tried, Mel Tucker had an answer for. It looked a little like one team had something to prove, and the other just showed up.

But Giants fans can take some good out of last night. The ground game was stellar again, gaining 181 yards on 25 carries, the big mystery being why they didn't run more as Cleveland was having no luck stopping them. Also, as a non-division and non-conference game, the loss means almost nothing in the larger scheme of playoff position in the NFC East.

There were no serious injuries except to players pride. After a good night rest, a look at the game films and a good old fashioned dose of humility, the Giants should be ready to tackle San Francisco on Sunday.