Written by Brian McPeek

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This is not an easy development to understand. The ‘new’ Browns have been back on the scene since 1999 and the last five years have been excruciatingly bad. So what are we to do when the weekend sees the beloved Brown & Orange thoroughly dismantle the Kansas City Chiefs to run their modest win to streak to three, while the rest of the division all went down in flames? I know, I know, I’m as stunned the rest of you.

It’s The Weekend Wrap.

Dominating

The first play from scrimmage in the Browns-Chiefs looked familiar. That’s a play and a start to a game I’m accustomed to. Jamal Charles took Brady Quinn’s handoff and went 80 yards, nearly untouched, to give Kansas City a 7-0 lead after just 12 seconds had come off the clock and while a good portion of the seats in CBS remained empty (to be fair a lot of seats remained that way the entire day).

But after that punch in the gut the Browns played perhaps their best defensive game of the season for the remaining 59 minutes and 48 seconds.

The 30-7 win over KC featured five sacks of Quinn and he was also picked off once. The Chiefs had just 230 yards of offense after Charles went for 80 yards on that first play. Quinn went just 10-21 for 130 yards due in large part to being accosted by any number of Browns defenders on nearly every play and the Browns knocked Chiefs receiver Dwayne Bowe out of the ballgame early on with a rib injury.

It was a complete game for the defense.

The offense wasn’t bad either. Brandon Weeden gave what he’s given so far all year, a relatively uneven performance where he looked like the next big thing on one throw and then a bumbling rookie on the next. Weeden was 17-30 for 198 yards but he wasn’t intercepted (though, again, he could have been twice had Chiefs defensive backs not had blenders for hands).

What Weeden did do well was (gasp) execute an imaginative game plan from Browns offensive coaches and handed the ball off effectively to Montario Hardesty, Trent Richardson, Josh Cribbs and even Greg Little. The Browns mixed in a couple wide receiver runs, including a double reverse, and also flanked Weeden out wide on one play when Cribbs lined up as a Wildcat QB. That particular play earned next to nothing but it was nice to see Pat Shurmur and Brad Childress open things up.

The coaches also opened things up on a punt return that jump started the Browns after they fell behind. Cribbs lined up to return a Dustin Colquitt punt and then suddenly ran toward the line of scrimmage as if he was going to sell out to block the punt. Travis Benjamin rotated back to receive the punt leaving the gunner on his side a decision as to whether to stay wide and cover the punt or help in punt protection.

He made the wrong choice.

Benjamin took the punt back 93 yards for a TD amidst the Chiefs confusion, setting a new Browns record for longest punt return TD (eclipsing Eric Metcalf’s 92-yarder over a decade ago) in the process. That return for a TD energized what fans were in the stadium and the Browns never looked back.

As mentioned above, the win moves the Browns to 5-8 on the season and will no doubt lead to talk all week about playoff chances still being alive. Technically that’s true but realistically it’s lunacy to even discuss. Adding fuel to the talk-radio fire all week will be the fact that Robert Griffin III was injured late in the Redskins thrilling OT win over the Ravens Sunday afternoon. RG3 looked to bang up his knee pretty good and had to leave the game late in the fourth quarter. Kirk Cousins replaced RG3 and led the Redskins to the tying TD and 2-point conversion, as well as the winning FG in OT, after the Ravens were unable to get a first down.

So the Browns are hot and the Redskins may be without their biggest weapon (a circumstance I all but guaranteed when I purchased Browns- Redskins tickets six weeks ago so my youngest could see the rookie Redskin). We’re not accustomed to the cosmos lining up in our favor here in Cleveland but we’ll take it.

Nobody wake us up. We’re doing just fine in this new realm.

On the Other Hand…

There’s nothing wrong with window shopping or browsing. Going to look at new cars and kicking the tires or heading out to the mall to look at big screen TVs is fine. But you don’t window shop and browse for groceries and it sure seems to me like that’s the Indians approach when it comes to the offseason and to the winter meetings.

And then when they do look to buy something they pay reach into nearly empty pockets and look to purchase nearly expired eggs at Heinen’s when they’d be better served shopping at Giant Eagle.

The Tribe’s cupboards are nearly bare. I think we can all agree on that. So what the hell are they doing offering Shane Victorino $44million over four years, Kevin Youkilis $18million for two years and Nick Swisher $50million for four or five years? Why would you go out and try and acquire solid players (if not aging players) like that while at the same time trying to unload Asdrubal Cabrera and Shin-Soo Choo?

What sense does it make to sign guys like that to plug holes while you’re just creating more holes at the same time?

I don’t understand the reasoning. Guys like Victorino, Youkilis and Swisher would be great additions to a team looking to round out a lineup of professional hitters with another veteran, professional hitter. But they aren’t (anywhere other than in Cleveland) marquee players you can build around for three or four years.

I understand the Indians are trying to sell tickets and trying to generate interest in the 2013 team but that trio of targeted players isn’t going to bring anyone down to the ballpark while the rest of the guys on the roster help contribute to what’s likely another 90-95 loss season.

The Indians would be better off sticking to a plan that involves acquiring as many young, talented, nearly Major League-ready players as they possibly can and go from there. Victorino, Youkilis and Swisher would be lipstick on a pig and any short term buzz generated by acquiring one of those guys would be lost in the storm of crap that’s coming down the pike.

Pocket that money and dump it into Latin American scouting or into the minor league system in general. But don’t try and sell the knowledgeable fans that are still following the team that Youkilis or Swisher are where this ship turns around.

That’s it for this week, folks. Short on time and no use talking about the Cavaliers. They’re neither worth the time nor the keystrokes at this point.

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