View from the Dawg Pound Game #5 Browns at Tennessee

After he had muffed a punt and was not put back on the field for the next one, I thought Travis Benjamin’s days with the Browns were finished. He has not been the return man he once was before injuring his knee last year, and it seemed like he was getting lost in the mix at receiver. On a team with no deep passing game, he became a quiet decoy for the Browns short and medium routes.

            How wrong I was. Benjamin would come back and make two great second half-touchdown catches, both on broken routes, to lead the Browns to a stunning 29-28 come from behind victory over the Tennessee Titans.

In a game very similar to the season opener against the Steelers, it was a tale of two halves. But instead of coming up short, the Browns took a 28-10 half time deficit and turned it into a landmark victory.

            There was plenty of credit to go around for the victory. Credit the coaches with some great half time adjustments that lead to a second half defensive shutout and 16 fourth quarter points for the Browns. They made more productive half time adjustments in this one game than several previous coaching staffs made in a season. Brian Hoyer once again managed the game soundly, and hit some great passes when it counted. Ben Tate came back from injury to rush for 122 yards on 23 carries. There were sacks, clutch catches, and big plays when needed, including a blocked punt that led to a safety. It was a great team win.

            The Browns took advantage of a gift from the Titans late in the fourth quarter. Leading 28-22 with the ball on their own 42, the Titans elected to go for it on fourth and a yard instead of punting it. A punt would have left the Browns with a long field with just three minutes left and a touchdown needed to win the game. The Browns defense stuffed the Titans, and the Browns got the ball back with a short field and scored the winning touchdown with 1:09 remaining. I don’t often criticize coaches, thirty years of coaching will do that to you, but that was not a smart move by Titans coach Ken Whisenhunt. He was playing with his back up quarterback, the Browns were bleeding momentum, and the Browns offense has no long passing game. Punt the ball! Thank God he didn’t.

            Brian Hoyer was very good on short to medium passes. He hit passes in the 19 to 30 yard range to a variety of receivers, including Mike Austin, Jordan Cameron, Taylor Gabriel, and Andrew Hawkins. And don’t forget about those two touchdowns to Travis Benjamin. Like the first three games, he did not hit any long, downfield passes, but at least the Browns attempted a few of them to try and stretch the defense. One lead to a late fourth quarter interception that looked like the end for the Browns, but the Titans gave the ball back on their fourth down miscue.

            Pretty soon the ugly head of the Browns last five seasons and all of its coaching and front office changes will disappear for good, and the team will play four solid quarters of football. I can’t think of a better time to do it then this week at home against the Steelers. I know the fans in the stands will be ready to go at kickoff, lets hope the guys on the field will be too.

            I watched the game with the Central Maryland Browns Backers at La Mexicana, a restaurant in Gaithersburg, Maryland. A great bunch of mostly dislocated Ohioans, they have kept the Browns spirit alive since before the dark times of the late 90’s. Think how bad those three years without the Browns were in Cleveland; imagine spending that time in the heart of Ravens country. Then when the Browns came back they had to live through two Ravens Super Bowls plus endless trouncings of our beloved Browns. And just like those of us here in northern Ohio who have to put up with front running fans who hopped on the nearby Steelers bandwagon, those in Central Maryland also have to put up with Redskins fans. But they have carried on, and they packed the party room at La Mexican with old and new friends and parents and grandparents and babies in strollers.  

            This week we the Browns are home and we will be back in our Dawg Pound seats in section 120, row B. Hopefully it will be another beautiful day. A good day to put all of those Steelers fans who show up, in their Troy Palumolo uniforms and waving their gold towels, back on the Turnpike heading east for good.