CLEVELAND — With the the season (and maybe people's jobs) hanging by a thread, the Browns pulled one out against a good team in the Buffalo Bills, who came in to Cleveland perfect on the road and 6-2 on the year.
Not artistically beautiful, but a thriller nonetheless.
The Browns have had terrible, terrible struggles inside the red zone, and never was that more exemplified than in this game. In the first quarter, Cleveland was at the 1-yard line for what seemed like a half hour, and try as they might, they could not get the ball over the goal stripe and in.
But it was inside the red zone late in the game that the finally struck gold. Baker Mayfield hit Rashard Higgins—the forgotten wide receiver, the guy who was so valuable and so reliable all last year. He finally reappeared in the game plan on this Sunday, and it was great for him.
Listen to Jimmy call Higgins' touchdown in the player below:
Imagine: He had a dream the night before the game that he scored a touchdown, then he lived that dream out to reality on this day and pulled a much-needed win out of the fire for the Browns. It's their third win of the season, more importantly their first win at home, and it gets the out of this four-game losing tailspin.
Kareem Hunt was in the lineup, and he was terrific. Nick Chubb was even more than that: He was great, he was gutty, he was powerful, and still at times the Browns don't go to him enough. He takes them down the field, and they forget about him, and they pay for that.
The Browns defense was pretty good all game long, and it held serve on the final drive as a 53-yard field goal attempt by Buffalo fell wide and short.
They don't get a lot of time to celebrate this one, but I don't think they want a lot of time either. Thursday night beckons, and the Steelers come to town. The Browns can suddenly turn around this season and make it two wins in the span of four days, and that's not to shabby at all.
Is this the start of something big? Let's hope so. Until then, enjoy Victory Monday, and we haven't said that in a month.
BUD SHAW'S SPORTS SPIN: The Browns finally overcome the error of their ways