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Browns are finally rolling

Browns are finally rolling

By Dan Ralph

Maybe it’s time to start taking the Cleveland Browns seriously as a potential playoff team. The Browns captured a 27-17 win over the Houston Texans on Sunday to register their fifth win in six games and improve their record to 7-4 in the AFC North. Following Pittsburgh’ 3-0 win over the Miami Dolphins on Monday night, Cleveland trails the first-place Steelers by just one game with both clubs having five contests to play. Now, there’s still plenty of football to play, but consider this: The Browns have the fifth-best record in the AFC to date and would be in the playoffs if the post season were to begin right now. The fact remains Cleveland is very much in control of its playoff destiny heading into the stretch run of the regular season. The Browns’ schedule would appear to be a favourable one, with games remaining against the Arizona Cardinals, New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals and San Francisco 49ers. Cleveland’s opponents have an accumulated record of 19-36. Quarterback Derek Anderson has been Cleveland’s biggest surprise this season. He started the year on the bench behind Charlie Frye, who was quickly dispatched to Seattle following the Browns’ season-opening 34-7 loss to Pittsburgh. Anderson was given the starter's job when Frye was traded and he’s run with it. The third-year pro from Oregon State has completed 212-of-365 passes for 2,758 yards with 22 touchdowns against just 11 interceptions. Anderson’s 22 touchdown strikes are the most for a Browns quarterback since Bernie Kosar had 22 in 1987 What’s more, Anderson has been sacked just 10 times this season. On Sunday, he finished 24-of-35 passing for 253 yards and two touchdowns against the Texans. There were serious questions about Anderson’s ability to be a starting NFL quarterback. Last year, he registered just three starts for a Browns team that posted a dismal 4-12 record and came into this season having thrown just 117 career passes with five touchdowns against eight interceptions. Installing Anderson as the starter was a gutsy move by head coach Romeo Crennell, whose job many thought was dependent on a solid '07 season by the Browns. But the play of the six-foot-six, 230-pound Anderson has given Crennell and the Browns the luxury of being able to bring first-round draft pick Brady Quinn, the heir apparent to the No. 1 job, along very slowly. Anderson has done a very nice job of getting the ball into the hands of wide receiver Braylon Edwards and tight end Kellen Winslow. The six-foot-three, 215-pound Edwards, in his third season out of Michigan, is sixth among NFL receivers with 55 catches for 894 yards and 11 touchdowns while Winslow, after being plagued by injuries early on, has 62 catches this season for 874 yards and five touchdowns and is again showing the promise the Browns saw when they made the six-foot-four, 250-pound Winslow their first-round draft pick out of Miami four years ago. Edwards needs just two more TD grabs to match the Browns’ team record of 13 established in 1963 by Gary Collins. Veteran Jamal Lewis also gives Anderson a bona fide rushing threat. The former Baltimore Ravens star ran for 134 yards on 29 carries against Houston and his one-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter put the Browns ahead 27-10 and essentially cemented the victory. Houston managed to score late but Cleveland recovered the onside kick and was able to run out the clock for the win. Lewis has been very productive for the Browns, having amassed 741 yards rushing on 181 carries for a respectable 4.1-yard average. He has also run for eight touchdowns. The Browns’ special teams are also in very good hands with receiver Josh Cribbs. The third-year pro from Kent State has accumulated a league-high 1,529 yards on kickoff returns - averaging 32.5 yards per return - and has two touchdowns. He’s also averaging 11.1 yards on 18 punt returns. If there‘s a concern, it‘s Cleveland‘s defence. The unit is ranked an abysmal 30th in the NFL this season and did give up 314 total yards to Houston on Sunday. But the Browns did register two interceptions, including one by rookie cornerback Brandon McDonald which set up Lewis’s touchdown run in the fourth. McDonald also did a nice job on Houston receiver Andre Johnson, limiting him to just three catches for 37 yards. Johnson had surpassed the 100-yard receiving plateau in the three games prior to facing the Browns. And if Cleveland can tighten up its defence down the stretch, there’s no reason to believe the Browns can’t only get into the playoffs, but also make some noise once they’re there.