The Cleveland Browns seem to be back to what they were once known for: smash-mouth football!
We remember what worked so well from the mid-1980s to the early-1990s, establishing the ground game with Byner, Mack, Metcalf, etc., and setting up the big play passing game with Kosar to Slaughter, Langhorne, Newsome, Brennan and Weathers. The offense's success translated into success for the defense and the Cleveland defense was one of the most feared in the league.
Maybe this Browns team has begun to copy that blueprint?
On Sept. 27, after the Browns had started the season 0-3, I wrote "State of Browns? Ehhh, iffy" - and for good reason.
At that point the season didn't look promising. But then again, they'd only lost those first three games by a combined 12 points and could have just as easily been 3-0 at that point. At any rate, the Browns were finding ways to lose football games.
They were just about to enter a brutal stretch of their schedule with upcoming games against CIN, ATL, PIT, NO, NE and NYJ. Those six games looked like six more losses. But something happened and the Browns - now having just completed five of those six games - are 3-2 during the rough stretch.
Overall they are sitting at 3-5, yet could easily be 6-2 right now.
The Browns are actually playing good football. In their last 12 games dating back to last season, they are 7-5.
They closed out 2009 with 4-straight wins:
- 13-6 over Pittsburgh,
- 41-34 over Kansas City,
- 23-9 over Oakland,
- 23-17 over Jacksonville
Their three 2010 wins:
- 23-20 over Cincinnati,
- 30-17 over New Orleans,
- 34-14 over New England
Dating back to last season's bye week, the Browns have lost nine games by a combined 73 points. That's an average loss of just 8.1. They're in just about every game.
The one common trend with the Browns' winning ways this season has been the success of running back Peyton Hillis. In the Browns' five losses, he's averaging 12 carries for 58 yards. In their three wins, he's averaging 24 carries for 118 yards.
See the trend? Establish the ground game with Hillis and the Browns have been unstoppable. What Hillis did to the Patriots' run defense in Week 9 needs to be looked at further. For starters, he carried the ball 29 times for 184 yards and two scores.
He victimized several Patriots defenders and the Browns offensive line was easily winning the battle in the trenches. In the first quarter, Hillis had 9 carries for 63 yards. Second quarter he had 2 for 10 yards. Third quarter he had 9 for 41. Fourth quarter he had 9 for 70.
Hillis' 184 yards on the ground against the Patriots were the most rushing yards gained by a player against the Patriots since Ricky Williams rushed for 185 yards on Dec. 29, 2002. That's almost eight years people!
According to ESPN, of his 29 carries, Hillis ran the ball 21 times for 133 yards and a touchdown on attempts between the tackles (72.4 percent of his carries). Entering Week 9, only 49ers RB Frank Gore (69.5) had a higher percentage of his carries go up the middle than Hillis (65.4).
Hillis carried the ball six times for 59 yards (9.8 avg) and a touchdown when the Patriots had eight or more defenders in the box. Entering Week 9, the Patriots had allowed only 1.3 yards per carry with eight in the box, fourth-best in the NFL. Hillis also rushed for three first downs in those situations, half the total the Patriots had allowed in their first seven games this season (6).
On the season, Hillis has 133 carries for 644 yards (4.8 avg), 5 TDs rushing; and 30 receptions for 229 yards (7.6 avg), 1 TD receiving. Of the Top 10 running backs in the AFC, he ranks 7th in yards, but also 7th in total carries out of those 10 backs.
The Hillis surge has given the Browns' offense a jolt like no other. They've jumped up a bit to 25th in total offense (25th in passing, 13th in rushing). This has translated to having a better overall defense, because with the offense clicking they are starting to eat-up some time of possession battles. Coming into this season the Browns' defense was considered middle of the road at best. They started out slow because the team was getting killed in time of possession. Currently, the total team defense ranks 21st (24th in passing D, 15th in rushing D). They are 11th in points against and are now actually +2 in the turnover margin.
Through Week 6, the Browns were being outscored 125-81 (48-14 in the fourth quarter). The team record was 1-5. In the last two games (Saints-Patriots), the Browns are winning 64-31 (with a slight 21-20 fourth quarter scoring deficit). The team record: 2-0. In the Saints-Patriots games the Browns outscored both teams by a combined 44-10 in quarters 1 through 3.
What the Browns are doing is involving Hillis more, and playing games to win by coming out fast, putting points on the board, and limiting 4th quarter damage by killing the clock with the ground game. And they aren't making stupid mistakes.
The team is showing more discipline and looks like it has finally bought into Mangini's system (by the way, Mangini is now 4-1 coming off bye weeks).
Now, even if the Browns lose to the Jets next week and slip to 3-6, that four-game span against JAC, CAR, MIA and BUF looks quite promising. The Browns could easily take 3 of those 4 and be sitting at 6-7 with CIN, BAL and PIT to round out the season. And by that time, with the final two games in cold-weather Cleveland, anything can happen.
