Don't try to understand it, just enjoy it

[Frenchie]

 

People on this board are going to hate me for saying this but here it is: "I can't enjoy this win over the Steelers because I don't understand it." I tried relating it to the Giants win last year and the two Browns teams had a few things in common: they were both beating the crap out of the defending world champs and playing like a team that didn't resemble anything shown earlier in the season. As much as I was fist-pumping,I was also saying to myself who are these people and why haven't they played like this all season long. However, with the Giants, we were healthy and Anderson played one of his few jem games. It was the only game in which the starting O-line was intact and the game didn't mean that much to the Giants. This year's game was later in the season (1-11) with a bunch of second string players and a QB who didn't play a gem of a game. There was no star like Winslow, Edwards, or Lewis to carry the team to victory. We were missing 4 key starters on defence, another 4 on offence, and the Steelers needed the victory badly.

 

I was expecting the Browns to play their hearts out and manage a competitive first half. In no way did I expect a defence to man-handle the Steelers, tackle and sack they way they did. It leads to one of many possible questions about both the Browns and the Steelers:

 

1) The Steelers are on a lengthy losing steak. They have some injuries but is there something fundamentally going wrong with this year's team? Losing to some competitive teams in close games is one thing, losing and scoring 6 points to the 1-11 Browns is beyond comprehension.

 

2) Are the Browns driven by the Prime-Time spotlight? Whether they win or lose, their recent "best" games have been outside of the Sunday 1PM to 6PM schedule.

 

3) Are the Browns finally understanding the Mangini system? Did somebody finally find the light switch? I'm finding this hard to believe - but I'm not an expert.

 

4) Is this all about confidence? A competitive game against the Bengals leads to a competitive game against the hot San Diego Chargers, leads to a victory against the Steelers and more victories to come? Again, I'm not an expert. Yes you have to believe you can win, in order to win. But can a 1-11 team find confidence in losing?

 

Look, we all choose to be happy or not happy -and I'm sorry that even after the victory, I am not happy. It we were 5-7 or something I would be overjoyed at the victory over the rival Steelers. But nothing that happens now will replace the 1-11 start. I expected more than that from this team and this coach. I am happy for the players and the loyal fans that we were able to win a game against Pittsburg.

 

Having said that, I would love to see the core of this team start to show some promise. If we're suddenly starting to see improvement on the lines, the running backs, TE, QB, it sets up a very different offseason and draft. We can comcentrate on improving our weak areas instead of rebuilding the entire team.

 

 

[DAWGPOUND16]

2) Are the Browns driven by the Prime-Time spotlight? Whether they win or lose, their recent "best" games have been outside of the Sunday 1PM to 6PM schedule.

No, we lost to Broncos (2008), Steelers (2008), Eagles (2008), and Ravens (2009) all on prime-time

[osusev]

I think "beating the crap" might be a bit of an exaggeration. The Giants game was pretty damn good all the way around. This game we totally offensively looked exactly like we normally do.... the only difference offensively was that Cribbs..... Defensively we looked different.

 

Really I could give a hoot how or why we did it just that we did and we pretty much knocked out the playoff hopes to the yinzers... lmao not so almight now... I live near PA so all I get is grief from them.

[Thaak]

There was no star like Winslow, Edwards, or Lewis to carry the team to victory.

 

who was that guy playing with the initials of J.C.?