If Cleveland sports fans were ever going to have a reason to retreat from the ledge after LeBron James stabbed them in the back in July, most would’ve preferred to find it in the Browns.
Recommended Stories
They just didn’t expect to.
Since the franchise restarted in 1999, the Browns have managed only two winning seasons while enduring 15 different starting quarterbacks, a group that includes two failed franchise first-round picks: Tim Couch (No. 1 overall in 1999) and Brady Quinn (No. 22 overall in 2007). They also have a young coach, Eric Mangini, who remains more embattled than experienced, even if he is imaginative.
Until now, the diversion down at Quicken Loans Arena was a welcome one.
But Cleveland knows what they should do, especially after the Browns thumped both the defending Super Bowl-champion New Orleans Saints and the perennially powerful New England Patriots in consecutive games — by an average of two touchdowns.
The margins of victory prove that the Browns (3-5) are no fluke, and that their 0-3 start by a combined margin of just 12 points was more predictive than two later losses by a combined 28 points.
They also have building blocks, none better than running back Peyton Hillis, a put your head down and run in the mud bruiser who couldn’t be more appropriate for Northeast Ohio. And he came in a trade with Denver that got rid of Quinn, sending him the other way.
Promising, young quarterback Colt McCoy, a guy known for winning and making very few mistakes instead of where he was chosen in the draft, is a bonus.
A third-round pick — a.k.a. “We’ll take a chance on him but there’s no guarantee,” — McCoy is 2-1 as a starter despite playing his first three games against Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks (Ben Roethlisberger, Drew Brees and Tom Brady).
After beating the last two, McCoy must face another Super Bowl contender this weekend in the New York Jets. But the Browns have at least four winnable games (at Jacksonville, vs. Carolina, at Buffalo, at Cincinnati) left on their schedule.
Of course, they also finish up against Baltimore and Pittsburgh, making it likely that the season still ends with a losing record. But it will come with far more promise than James delivered.
