Browns Extra Points: Gabriel's big day, West emerges and Mingo's first
Browns at 5-3: The Browns are 5-3 at the halfway point of the season for the first time since 2007. Pettine knows how big the win was but also knows the Browns have little time to celebrate as they travel to play the Bengals in four days.
"It's big, and we'll celebrate a little bit tonight, but with the emphasis on a little," Pettine said. "It is a short week. Then, after Thursday it's like having a mini-bye. That'll be good for our guys.
Pettine knows the importance of this week's game as the Browns will go to Cincinnati with a chance to play for first place in the AFC North.
"We'll be all in on this one -- whatever it takes to find a way to go down there and get the 'W' then get that long weekend off," Pettine said "I think we're in a good spot and our guys are confident, but this is one here where we know we've got to be all in this week. It's a very compressed time frame."
"Things have changed quite a bit," DB Joe Haden said. "To be 5-3 is just amazing. I think five games is the most I've won since I've been here and for it to be only halfway in to the season, it is really exciting for me and for this team. Just to know we are halfway through, we have five wins and we can do so much better. It's just looking good going forward."
Hoyer agreed.
"It feels pretty good," Hoyer said. "We came into the game 4-3 and it feels good to be 5-3."
League Leader: DB Tashaun Gipson intercepted his sixth pass of the season to give him 11 since 2013. Gipson intercepted the pass in the end zone with Tampa Bay at the Browns' 15.
Big Day for Gabriel: Rookie WR Taylor Gabriel had a big day with five receptions for 87 yards, including a 34-yard touchdown that proved to be the game-winner with 8:59 to play in the game.
"I knew I had time," Hoyer said. "Gabe's did a great job and it was a touchdown."
Besides Gabriel, WR Miles Austin had three catches for 54 yards, including a 25-yard pass that set up a field goal to close the first half. WR Travis Benjamin had two catches for 52 yards, including a 31-yard reception.
For Cameron: The tight ends combined for three receptions for 42 yards in place of TE Jordan Cameron, who was inactive with a concussion. Barnidge had two catches for 16 yards with a long of 13 yards. Dray had one reception for 26 yards and had a catch for 16 yards reversed after a challenge by Tampa Bay.
West Emerges: The Browns running game was inefficient for the third-straight game picking up just 50 yards on 28 carries (1.8 avg.) and no touchdowns. RB Ben Tate started and was held to three yards on 10 carries and RB Terrance West had 48 yards on 15 carries (3.2 avg.).
West also caught a two-yard pass for a touchdown in the third quarter for the Browns first touchdown of the game. Tate caught four passes for 29 yards.
RB Isaiah Crowell was active but didn't carry the ball.
Brian's Day: QB Brian Hoyer finished 21-of-34 for 300 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Hoyer's rating was 85.4. His longest completion was a 34-yard touchdown pass to WR Taylor Gabriel.
Hoyer was sacked three times on the day.
Hitner's Pick: DB Donte Whitner had his first interception of the season on a tipped ball from DB Joe Haden. Whitner returned the ball 54 yards to the Buccaneers' 21, which set up a 29 yard field goal by K Billy Cundiff.
"I was running for the play and I looked up and saw Donte," Haden said. "I knew I wasn't going to be able to catch it, so I just tried to tip it because I knew he would be there to make the play. I knew as long as I didn't smack it down, he was going to make a play on it."
Whitner finished with eight tackles, while DB Buster Skrine had nine.
Mingo's First: LB Barkevious Mingo picked up his first sack of the season on QB Mike Glennon. Mingo also had four tackles, a tackle for loss, quarterback hurry and a pass broken up. He also ran Glennon out of bounds on two third down plays short of the first down.
Kruger's Pace: LB Paul Kruger picked up his sixth sack of the season to put him on pace for 12 on the season. He entered the game tied for 10th in the NFL in sacks. Kruger finished with two tackles and a quarterback hurry.
Good Looking Rookie: QB Johnny Manziel's former teammate from Texas A & M had a big day with seven receptions for 124 yards, including two touchdowns. He had 24- and 31-yard scores for an average of 17.7. WR Vincent Jackson had six catches for 86 yards, as well.
However, Evans had one of the biggest plays in the game when he was called for offensive pass interference on fourth-and-one on the Buccaneers' final drive. Evans caught the pass to give Tampa Bay the first down, but after the penalty QB Mike Glennon threw incomplete on fourth down to allow the Browns to run out the clock.
"In the rule book, I was told that within five yards you can do a lot of things," Evans said. "I watched a lot of film and you can. The defender grabbed me and then I slightly pushed off, broke out, caught the ball, got the first down and then--you know."
The Browns chose to bypass Evans in the draft when they traded down to select DB Justin Gilbert. Tampa Bay selected Evans with the seventh overall pick.
Hawkins Banged Up: WR Andrew Hawkins left the game after making a 12-yard catch in the second half. He was taken out but returned a few plays later. However, later in the game he tried to get back in the game but was held out. Hawkins finished with three catches for 34 yards.
Heads Up: The Browns suffered at least two players that were taken to the locker room for concussion symptoms. DB Johnson Bademosi suffered a concussion in the first half and didn't return and rookie DB Justin Gilbert was taken to the locker room late in the game after suffering a hit to the head. Pettine didn't give out any information on any of the injuries other than to say the Browns got "banged up a bit."
Captains: The Browns won the toss and deferred to the second half. Captains for the game were P Spencer Lanning, LB Jabaal Sheard, DB Jim Leonhard and LB Chris Kirksey.
Old Friends: Former Browns RB Bobby Rainey, OL Oniel Cousins, LB Brandon Magee and OL Garrett Gilkey are on the Buccaneers. Rainer started and Cousins started at left tackle.
Rainey led the Bucs with 19 carries for 87 yards, including a long run of 21 yards. He also caught a pass for 34 yards. However, the Browns held Rainey to just seven yards in the second half as he had 80 yards on 15 carries at halftime.
