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Y! MyWebBrowns looking for turnaround
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
BEREA — Browns wide receiver Braylon Edwards pressed play on the compact stereo system in his locker and suddenly the room filled with that signature song.
First, the horns: Bum, bum, ba-da-da, bum, bum. Then, Sinatra.
"Start spreadin' the news, I'm leaving today," belted Ol' Blue Eyes. "I want to be a part of it ... New York, New York."
"All right," quarterback Brady Quinn said. "I've been waiting for some Sinatra all day."
The Browns, who have an upcoming Monday night game against the unbeaten Giants (4-0), are in a New York state of mind this week.
They see the defending Super Bowl champions as role models. The Browns (1-3) believe they can rebound from a disastrous start, renew confidence in their shaken quarterback, take the heat off their embattled coach, turn their season around with a long winning streak and hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
Why not? The Giants did it.
"It inspires the entire league," Browns linebacker D'Qwell Jackson said. "Everyone talks about it. The way they started and the way they finished gives everybody hope."
Coming off a wild-card playoff appearance in 2006, New York entered last season with high expectations. Then an 0-2 start had the Giants on the doorstep of major upheaval.
Quarterback Eli Manning was being criticized for not living up to his status as a No. 1 overall pick or being as good as big brother, Peyton. Coach Tom Coughlin was thought to be on his way out the door. The New York tabloids were having a field day with the plunging G-men.
New York trailed in its third game, 17-3 at Washington, before scoring 21 unanswered points to win. It was followed by five straight victories, and except for a few minor missteps, the Giants have hardly looked back.
"Nobody gave them a chance," Edwards said. "Even when they started playing well they still didn't get a chance."
So, how'd they do it?
"They just played football," he said.
Following a 20-12 win over Cincinnati and a week of needed rest, the Browns are feeling much better about their season and see a prime-time TV appearance as a chance to prove their worth.
"It's a great opportunity," said quarterback Derek Anderson, who barely escaped the Bengals game with his job. "It's Monday Night Football. I've never played on it, other than preseason. You dream about it as a kid. I know everybody here's going to be ready to go. You don't want to go out there and lay an egg."
Anderson, who remains the NFL's 31st-rated passer, was possibly down to his last series in Cincinnati when coach Romeo Crennel decided to keep him in. The Pro Bowl quarterback responded by throwing a 4-yard TD pass on Cleveland's next possession and led the Browns to 17 points in the fourth quarter.
Before the game, Crennel had contemplated a switch to Quinn but stuck with Anderson, who rewarded his coach's faith.
"I felt like he gave us the best chance, that's why I stuck with him," Crennel said. "In the fourth quarter it began to click and hopefully that clicking will continue going. We took a step in the right direction with that win in Cincinnati. It gave us a little confidence and something we can build on."
Manning's redemptive road from despair to Super Bowl MVP last season had its share of potholes. He threw a career-high four interceptions — three were returned for touchdowns — in a late November home loss to Minnesota. And in New York's Dec. 16 rematch with the Redskins, also at home, Manning had a remarkable 34 incompletions in 53 attempts.
Still, he pushed on and led the Giants to playoff road wins at Tampa Bay, Dallas and Green Bay before guiding New York to its comeback win over previously unbeaten New England in the Super Bowl.
"He just kept working, kept plugging away," Anderson said. "It wasn't always pretty at times. Next thing you know, they start winning a few games and win the dang Super Bowl. It can turn around in a hurry."
The Browns believe they are better than what they've shown through four games, and with starting wide receiver Donte' Stallworth and right tackle Ryan Tucker likely to return from injuries to make their season debuts, Cleveland will finally field a team on Monday closer to the one it expected to have in '08.
In August, the Giants scored 30 unanswered points in the first half and beat the Browns 37-34 in a game that wasn't close when both teams played their starters.
"They embarrassed us," Anderson recalled. "It was about 10 to 15 minutes of chaos for everybody involved."
Cleveland has a chance to atone for that ugly night, as well as three losses they can't get back. The Browns want to make a Giant comeback of their own.
As far as Edwards is concerned, there's no better place to start than on Monday night.
"It's a big game for us," he said. "We feel like we have a small bit of momentum as we get ready to play a team that's arguably the best in the league. It's a chance for us to really get back in the thick of things."
