MVN - Most Valuable Network

Browns Lose, Then Come Back to Win in Overtime…

Okay, lets try to explain this one.

The Browns were up 27-14 going into the fourth quarter against the Ravens in Baltimore. A win was very much in sight, but I wasn’t taking anything for granted after last weekend’s debacle in Pittsburgh. And rightfully so, because the Ravens put together four decent drives, including a Matt Stover field goal with 0:26 remaining on the clock to put the Ravens ahead 30-27. “Christ, not again,” I was thinking. “Get the Christmas Ale ready.” And then something happened that I’ve never seen as a Cleveland sports fan: Another team got screwed.

Josh Cribbs returned the kick to almost midfield, and after two Derek Anderson completions down field, Phil Dawson stepped on the field to attempt a 51-yard field goal. And from there, all hell broke loose in Baltimore.

At first glace, Dawson’s field goal appeared to be no good, as it first hit off the up right, then hitting the horizontal part of the goal post and bouncing back on the field. The call was no good, but something was fishy, so the referees decided to review a non-reviewable play and at second glance, the second ricochet appeared to hit the back-portion of the goal post, thus crossing the plane for three points. Good.

The bottom line, I think we got a break today. Yeah, the field goal was good, however, it was a play that shouldn’t be up for review. The ref’s though otherwise and after “further discussion” it was good.

From there, the Browns won the toss, Josh Cribbs had yet another awesome return, and Phil Dawson iced it with a game-winning 33-yard field goal in over time for the victory. Browns 33, Ravens 30.

On the afternoon, Cribbs had seven returns and averaged 35 yards per return and although he didn’t take one all the way this afternoon, he was basically the most valuable player of the afternoon and if the Browns happen to make the playoffs, Cribbs should be the team’s MVP.

But after today, I’m not so sure this team is good enough to make the playoffs. They could have easily been up huge this afternoon after Baltimore turned the ball over four times, but they could only make one of those turnovers really hurt. If they can’t capitalize on other team’s mistakes and keep blowing huge leads like this late in the game, I’m not so sure what their destiny is going to be.

For the Ravens, Kyle Boller was terrible. Why they keep giving this guy a chance is beyond me. I would’ve liked to see them put in Troy Smith and give him a chance to beat the team he grew up rooting for, but it was not to be. Against a good defense, Boller probably would have thrown 4+ INT’s today. You know you’re terrible when the Browns’ defense makes you look bad.

With the win, the Browns currently stand with a 6-4 record and have the weakest remaining schedule in the AFC. If they can play like they are capable of playing and don’t blow leads like they have the past two games, anything could happen. Next week, they have the Houston Texans (5-5) in Cleveland, after the Texans rolled to a 23-10 win today over the New Orleans Saints. The Texans seem to be a better team this year, but if you look who they beat this season, it’s not all that impressive.

All in all, I’m still somewhat in shock after this win. These things almost never happen to work in our favor, but it seems like there are a million stories of this happening to us. The Dwayne Rudd incident comes to mind. But as they say, a win’s a win, and I suppose that’s the bottom line after today’s game.

Mike Beckwith will have a Browns/Texans preview sometime in the near future, so until then…

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 18th, 2007 at 4:13 pm and is filed under Game Recaps. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.