National Football League

Browns win brings much rejoicing

Published Sep. 14, 2014 8:05 p.m. ET

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CLEVELAND - Andrew Hawkins running loose behind the Saints secondary in the final 10 seconds doesn't happen if not for Miles Austin's strong hands and good balance along the sideline on the play before, and everybody's gone home angry before that if not for Brian Hoyer's fourth-down throw to Gary Barnidge.

The Austin catch was reviewed, the clock was corrected and the stage was set for Hoyer's floater to Hawkins, a play that beat the blitz and setting up Billy Cundiff's kick that sealed the Cleveland Browns winning a home opener for the first time in 10 years.

None of it happens if not for Karlos Dansby's sack on third down to set it all up, the one that knocked the Saints out of field goal range and kept it a one-point game. None of these bounces or chain reactions usually have gone the way of the Cleveland Browns, and what started as the slowest, most horizontal and unhurried final drive against the clock of all time by a team down one point ended with the Browns and those fans who almost went home celebrating wildly.

Fourteen methodical plays, 85 methodical yards, one kick from Cundiff and all of a sudden a botched PAT early in the game didn't matter, the Saints waking from a slumber to rally from 16-3 down didn't matter, what seemed like 72 catches by Jimmy Graham didn't matter and the ghosts of Dwayne Rudd and Pat Shumur and other disasters of opening days past didn't matter, either.

The Browns are in the win column, 26-24. The optimism train is rolling. The celebration is deserved.

"It feels great," Mike Pettine said after his first win as an NFL head coach. "I have a big old cigar with my name on it waiting for me."

A week after showing up for two quarters and faltering late, the Browns showed up on time, got worn out over the middle quarters and still had something left. Hoyer threw a few ducks but threw the most important ones on the money. He's up to 139 straight passes without an interception and is now 4-1 in five starts with the Browns. He might be just a game manager, but business is currently good.

The Browns scored 10 points in the second half, first getting a Terrance West touchdown run to cap a 14-play, 80-yard drive that included a Johnny Manziel cameo and a third and 13 conversion from Hoyer to Barnidge, who was playing more than usual with Pro Bowl tight end Jordan Cameron out.

The 85 yards that came later to set up the win came a chunk at a time, too, but they came at the right time. The Browns aren't going to score many style points but they'll run the ball and play good defense and for as much as Graham just overwhelmed them for two-plus quarters, when Drew Brees had a chance to put the game away the Browns bent but forced third and five on the 11th play of the drive, and Dansby came untouched.

"It's crazy, but you see we've got a chance to be special," Dansby said. "That's what we're going for."

Dansby dropped Brees back at the Browns 38 for a seven-yard loss, forcing a punt that landed at the Browns 4 with 2:46 left and setting up a drive that ended with Cundiff hitting from 29 yards out with three seconds left. When those three seconds expired, Hoyer kissed the ground.

"You just have to play to the end and see what happens," Hoyer said. "Good things tend to happen when you do that."

As a Clevelander, Hoyer knew he was a redshirt freshman at Michigan State the last time the Browns won a home opener. Pettine had reinforced that during the week as he tries, at least a little at a time, to be the guy that stays and build the team that wins amidst all of this forgettable recent history.

"Last week Pittsburgh made one more play than we did and we made one more today," Pettine said.

It has to start somewhere, and maybe it started here. After Manziel got two plays in a row, Hoyer finished the game by completing 15-of-19 passes for 137 yards.

There was much rejoicing. Joe Haden said after the game that he wasn't sure he "even felt this happy after we won the national championship at Florida. It's been a long time coming."

Dansby went on, too, saying the locker room believes in Hoyer and believes that this team can be different.

"My attitude and passion are contagious," Dansby said, making no mention of his humility.

The defense held on. The offense delivered. Cundiff calmly kicked the game winner. One win apparently felt like 100, and that's understandable.

"We understand we aren't the same old Cleveland Browns," Donte Whitner said.

More chances to prove that are coming.

More cigars, presumably, will be waiting in the coach's car.  

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