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Photo: John Kuntz/Cleveland.com
Dan Marino said it best at halftime when describing this game: "This game is miserable to watch". The Cleveland Browns got their first win of the season, but make no mistake, this game was painful to watch. Eric Mangini received his first victory as the Browns head coach, and I am still asking myself how, but the answer is, the victory can be attributed to Dave Zastudil. That's right, the Browns victory is solely because of their punter. The Browns offense also recieved the majority of their yardage from Jamel Lewis. Lewis was in his first game back after sitting out the previous two games due to injury, and he rushed for over 100 yards for the first time since the 2007 season. In a game that somebody was bound to win, Cleveland made Buffalo pay for miscues and penalties to hang on for the ugly win.
Rookies Get The Start At WR - With the departure of wide receiver Braylon Edwards, Cleveland called upon their 2009 second round draft picks to start at WR. Mohamed Massaquoi started at the #1 receiver position and Brian Robiskie started at the #2 receiver spot. Massaquoi caught one of the TWO Cleveland completions for 16 yards, and Robiskie was never thrown to, but he did have a tackle when Anderson threw an interception to Jairus Byrd.
Welcome Back Lewis, Hope You Are Ready To Run - Jamal Lewis was back for his first game since a week #2 loss at Denver; he had been sidelined with a hamstring injury. Lewis showed no signs of being slowed by an injury as he was handed the ball 31 times and rushed for a total of 117 yards. It was the first time since week 17 of the 2007 season that Lewis went over the century mark on the ground.
Buffa-Whoas - In a game that was highlighted by horrible play, Buffalo was its own worst enemy. The Bills were flagged for 13 penalties that were accepted by the Browns for a total of 75 yards, and nine of the penalties were false starts. The penalties definitely kept the Bills out of Cleveland territory, but it was the normally dominate return man Roscoe Parrish that really shot the Bills in the foot. Parrish fumbled twice and lost both of them, but the fumble that really burried the Bills was the one Parrish lost on the 16 yard line with less than 5 minutes to play. The Browns then rushed Jamal Lewis six consecutive times that set up a Billy Cundiff go-ahead field goal with 23 seconds left to play.
Defense Brings The Wright Stuff - Don't let the ugliness of this game take away from the effort the Browns' defense displayed. The Cleveland D held Buffalo to a lone field goal and 288 total offensive yards. In particular, Eric Wright had a great game while covering T.O. for most of the day. Wright made a tough interception while playing tight coverage on Owens and had another pass deflection. The Browns also managed two sacks and pressured Edwards throughout the game.
That Is Our Starting Quarterback? - To say Derek Anderson was bad in this game would be an understatement. Now, I realize I do have an obvious bias against D.A., but he was awful today. Yes, he was plagued by drops and some were not his fault, but the majority of those drops had to do with the placement of Anderson's passes. Anderson has never had the ability to throw the short pass; he has no ability to put a soft touch or good placement on those passes and those were the majority of the passes he threw today. Today would have been a game that Brady Quinn would have excelled in; Quinn would have managed the game and not made mistakes. Anderson completed 2 of his 17 passes for a total of 23 yards, and he threw an interception on a horrible pass intended for Massaquoi. Anderson's 11.85 completion percentage was the worst by any quarterback in a victory with more than 15 attempts since the AFL-NFL merger. Since Anderson has taken over for Quinn, he has completed 39 of 84 passes for 384 yards for a 46.4% completion rate in 10 quarters of football. Also, Anderson has thrown five interceptions compared to one touchdown pass.
Zastu-Delicious - The Browns have one player to thank for this victory besides Roscoe Parrish and that's their punter, Dave Zastudil. The game Zastudil punted today was one for the ages. Zastudil put six of his nine punts inside the 20 yard line and three inside the 5. Two of those punts inside the 5 were downed on the 1 yard line. In a game where field position was key, Zastudil was the best weapon on the field. The biggest play of the game was when Zastudil was punting into the wind and did not get a great piece of the ball, but the ball skipped to Roscoe Parrish. Parrish mishandled the ball and former Bills special teamer Blake Costanzo recovered the fumble which led to the winning field goal.
Gameball goes to: Dave Zastudil. Zastudil single-footedly kept the Browns in position to win this game. I think I explained it all in the above paragraph.
Next week, the Browns head to the most disgusting place on earth, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for a meeting with the Steelers. Is there a winning streak on the horizon? We'll have to wait and see.
- J. V.
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