It’s a day of jubilation, but in typical Browns fashion, the ironies abound. Yes, the Browns came through in the clutch, breaking their home-field jinx by beating a good team at home. A playoff slot was ours if Miami could hold an 11-point lead with five minutes to go. Nope: New England rallied and beat them in overtime. So we needed the New York Jets to upset the Packers. These Jets started the year 1-4, including losses to Miami and New England by a combined 74-10. Amazingly enough, the Jets won 42-17, knocking the Fish and Pats out of the playoffs, and the game ended with both teams using their ex-Brown backup QB (Testaverde and Petersen).
And speaking of backup QBs, the Browns will be relying on Kelly Holcomb, who broke his leg earlier this year, because Tim Couch broke his leg today. (By the way, my TV reception was fuzzy, but it seemed that every time FOX discussed Couch’s injury, they showed the play AFTER he was injured, so I still haven’t seen what happened.) In any case, I’m wishing #2 a full recovery and many more exciting seasons of his great competitive spirit.
As for my predictions from last night, I was .500, which I’m glad to report does not match the Browns’ 9-7 mark.
YES: Griffith did have a huge game: one INT, two passes broken up, five solo tackles (three on Vick) and an assist.
NO: Morgan didn’t get the 68 yards he needed for a 1,000-yard season. In fact, his habit of mental mistakes resurfaced in the form of three penalties and a key fumble.
YES: Couch had only seven completions, but they were indeed distributed to seven different receivers.
NO: Dawson didn’t kick a game-winning FG, but his pooch punt was pretty, and, besides, I’ll take a hard-hitting goal-line stand over a figgie any day.
So the ironies will continue at 1 p.m. next Sunday, when two teams will start their former backup QBs. The Browns will miss the two players they drafted with the first overall picks (Couch and Courtney Brown) as well as their only Pro Bowler of the expansion era (Jamir Miller). But they will still have a great chance to avenge their two narrow losses to the Steelers this year, not to mention the 43-0 shellacking in their first game of 1999 or the 29-9 loss in their last playoff game in 1995. In case you haven’t been paying attention over the past 17 weeks, when it comes to the Browns, absolutely anything can happen.
