CLEVELAND — Let’s be accurate here. This wasn’t exactly a Yeti sighting at the lakefront Sunday.
It was a Yeti riding a unicorn.
This romp over the Falcons ended a four-game losing streak, gave us the longest run in Browns history, an actual first-quarter touchdown and —perhaps rarest of all — a three-win season, for the first time since 2015.
Along with the reminder of what dominant Browns football can look like came another flashback: The Wishbone?
“I don’t know the name of it,” said Nick Chubb, whose 92-yard TD run on a ho-hum basic rushing play made “Run William Run” look like a fullback plunge.
What made that play work?
“It was a great handoff,” Baker Mayfield deadpanned.
The Browns 28-16 win over the Falcons was so completely in hand it had Atlanta’s radio broadcasters saying the Cleveland offense looked “unscouted.”
With Freddie Kitchens as the new offensive coordinator and embracing what boxing promoter Don King coined as “trickeration,” maybe there was something to that.
Kitchens called a trick play on the game’s first series — a direct snap to Chubb with Mayfield purposely looking confused — that didn’t work. Then he called a halfback pass intended for Mayfield that was intercepted at a time when Mayfield was proving himself laser accurate.
“A good concept,” Williams graciously called that.
Coupled with some Wishbone formations, even those two failures may have worked to the extent they created hesitation on the Atlanta defense. OK, so that's a stretch.
Not sure the Browns were unscouted but they were unstoppable for big chunks of the afternoon. In the meantime, the defense put up one goal line stand to Matt Ryan’s utter frustration, and then almost another.
“We have a long way to go and we have a lot of games to play,” said Williams, sounding the exact proper tone.
And now that you can’t wait to see the Browns on the field again riding Mayfield’s arm and Chubb’s legs, you must.
With the bye week here, Browns fans being Browns fans have time to both savor the promise on display Sunday while also fretting that momentum — attained so infrequently in this stop-and-go season — will be temporary.
Even if that’s the case, something of greater importance and permanence is even more settled: the identity of the franchise quarterback and the franchise running back.
Neither one was in serious question, but absent the coaching and play calling to maximize their talents any reluctance to become believers was entirely understandable.
Mayfield wasn’t the reason for the Browns stunted growth offensively in previous weeks. We know that for sure now. Chubb lacked only opportunity.
“You can tell Coach Freddie loves his running backs,” Chubb said of his former running backs coach. “Because he got us all involved.”
Nine Browns players caught passes, three of them running backs. Mayfield completed 17 of 20 passes (including his first 13) for 216 yards and three touchdowns. Chubb ran for 176. The Browns had 211 yards rushing on 29 carries.
Did Mayfield feel this kind of game coming during warmups?
“No...but when I woke up this morning I was feeling pretty dangerous,” he joked after posting a passer rating of 151.2.
The Falcons may have missed their wake up calls. That possibility exists. But there’s at least as much evidence gleaned from the Kansas City game and this one that the Browns are improving offensively and might still finish this season on a high note if the defense can get healthy and stay fresh.
Whether Williams gets to coach Mayfield and Chubb beyond this year, or Kitchens gets to coordinate them is a question for another month.
The season’s purpose has been revived just two short weeks after the departures of Hue Jackson and Todd Haley.
The Browns can say the purpose is the playoffs. They’re players. They pour their sweat into it.
But the bigger purpose is growth, offensively first and foremost since NFL rules continue to encourage it at every turn.
Mayfield’s perfect first half and his overall numbers is promising not just for two weeks hence but for years to come.
Chubb’s huge game (aren’t you glad they didn’t use a Top FIve pick on Saquon Barkley now?) doesn’t only raise hopes for games at Cincinnati and at Houston after the bye but for what this team could be with a No. 1 wide receiver to complement him.
“I thought Baker played well, ran the team well, ran the clock well,” said Williams. “It was nice to see Chubb get a franchise record with a pretty good run.”
Williams is preaching rest and relaxation during the bye. Mayfield, asked where he sees himself next Sunday, said, "healthy and on my way back to Cleveland.”
As long as his itinerary doesn’t include Vegas and a wig, things might really be looking up around here once and for all.
