UNLEASHED/ New York, New York

vin·di·cate - ” to get revenge for; avenge “

par·al·lel - ” anything parallel or comparable in direction, course, nature, or tendency. “

Dawgfather

Browns Backers,

September 21, 1970 - It was a cool fall night under the lights down by the lakefront, as a scrappy Cleveland Browns team got ready to square off against the Joe Namath-led New York Jets and with this being the first ever game played on a Monday Night, it would be an exciting and very raucous record crowd of 85,703 that helped fuel the Browns to a 31-21 upset victory. History has a way of repeating itself and 38 years later on a cool night in 2008, would another New York City team come to the shores of Lake Erie and lose in front of a national audience?

Can a maligned, embattled young QB who was one INT away from losing his starting job to the popular pretty boy backup last week rally his team against the defending Super Bowl champions who had won 12 straight away from the bright lights of Broadway? Can a talented yet mercurial receiver, who has hands of concrete morph into Jerry Rice? Can a loyal, yet stubborn coach get a big win to keep the hot seat from turning into a blast furnace? Can a team without its best receiver stand a chance?

Somehow it seemed only fitting that two former heated rivals from the NFL’s golden era, who are not strangers to each other would meet once again, and after a embarrassing 37-34 defeat handed to them by the Giants back in August that seemingly sent the Browns on a downhill spiral, it would be the perfect vindication for them to only be able to revive their season that was on the brink.

Memo to the so-called “experts” over at BESPN - listen to Steve Young and Emmitt Smith more, they actually played and happen to know a thing or two about the game, notwithstanding, Mike Ditka, Keyshawn or Cris Carter but with the exception of Ron Jawrowski, Young is very cerebral and is also 6-0 after picking the Browns to upset the Giants, and did they ever come through!

Now I’m not sure if Derek is officially back but this was the Pro-Bowl, aggressive QB that many fans(including myself!) that we are used to watching and fueled behind his 310 yards and 2 TD’s the Browns not only beat the Giants convincingly, but totally served noticed that it is a long season and on any Given Sunday(or Monday as in the case) it only takes one game to turn a season around, and this can be the turning point and compass that guides them in the winning direction.

I’m not sure if my column got into the hands of key personnel in Berea but they most certainly got back to basics by reestablishing Jamal Lewis as the focal point in the offense as he would pound the Giants all night with some solid hard running, and they even used Harrison on some screens and used some nice “Wildcat” plays with Cribbs under center, I guess Chud must have found his old playbook from last year and dusted it off because this was the offense that many fans(and critics) were hoping to see!

I have to say is that having Donte’ $tallworth on the field really opened up the passing game for Anderson and he made some nice catches in his debut, but I think the unsung heroes of the game were Steve Heiden, Darnell Dinkins and Syndric Steptoe who really helped bail out DA with some big catches but the player of the game in my eyes was Braylon Edwards who had his best game of the year with a career high 154 yards receiving and one TD as he pretty much slam-dunked on the Giants like Jordan dunked on the whole NBA in his prime.

The Browns not only played for their season on Monday but also to silence the critics over at BESPN, Yahoo, FoxSports etc, as I’m sure all they heard during the bye was how good the Giants were and how they were going to roll into Cleveland and smash the Browns just like they smacked Seattle, and I’m sure they heard about Eli and Plax, and their No. 1 ranked offense for two whole weeks, many talking heads were already writing them off and planning their obituaries, and 6 out of 7 BESPN “experts” picked the Giants to waltz all over the Browns.

I guess the morning commute into Manhattan isn’t going to be so sweet when they read the New York Post and see that their Giants are now 4-1 and no longer undefeated, or see that they gave up 455 yards to the #31 ranked offense, these are the defending Super Bowl champs who looked more like chumps and Eazy E played like he choked on his Super Bowl XLII ring!

This game not only restored the lost swagger the Browns lost back in August to these same Giants, and it was great to finally see the offensive line finally look cohesive and healthy and protect DA with a 7-man max protection scheme, they went back to a two tight-end set with Dinkins and Heiden and seeing Stallworth take some heat off of Edwards helped open up both the running game and the play-action downfield, but it is good to see Anderson finally appears to have his groove back by throwing the ball with confidence.

Not to put a damper on anything nor take away from enjoying the euphoria of this shocking upset but what is up with all the stupid offsides, false starts and illegal shifting penalties? This is stuff that even a high school team doesn’t do, and we are supposed to challenge the AFC? it was like watching a football version of the two-step!

I have to give big props to my fellow Heights alumni, Mel Tucker for once again having the defense looking good, as they made Eli look like Derek Anderson pretty much all night by holding him to a 57.1 QB rating as he threw 3 picks after only throwing two in his last eight games combined, including one that Brandon McDonald looking like Willie Mays back in the 54 Series, but the nail in the coffin came when Eric Wright did his Billy Andrews impersonation by running a pick 94 yards to the house and sealing the game and leading the 73,000 plus fans to serenade the champions to a chant of “Overrated”

As we savor this upset and listen to BESPN backpedal faster than Floyd Landis, and their beloved man-crush, Red Sox got smacked at home by upstart Tampa, the Browns clearly sent a message to the NFL, that at 2-3 they are far from dead and the season is far from over, it’s not how you start but how you finish, and it looks like Corey Williams got the last laugh after all.

And the best part is that no one gave the Browns a prayer, and we shocked the world!!!

Dawgs In The House!!!!

Dawgfather