CINCINNATI - Three leftover observations in the aftermath of the Cleveland Browns 24-3 destruction of the Cincinnati Bengals...
1. The Browns needed to win in the trenches. They did. Decisively. The offensive line looked like the Browns offensive line of the first month while the defense looks anything but the way it looked in the first month. The Browns set the tone early by turning Craig Robertson's interception into a five-play, five-runs touchdown. The Bengals kept trying to pass, that kept going horribly and the Bengals were embarrassingly bad. The Browns hadn't been able to run through a three-game slump -- two of those were wins, anyway -- and they found their running game again at the right time. After rushing for 158 yards total in the three previous games the Browns ran for 170 and could have had more -- both more yards and more than the 3.3 per carry they got -- if they'd needed to. They didn't. The game was over by the last five minutes of the third quarter. It was a total wrap, and a total domination.
2. After the game, Mike Pettine talked about the Browns players trusting one another and their coaches. He said there was an atmosphere of caring and trust, and that can lead to an atmosphere. It's a week to week world in the NFL and both happiness and misery are generally only a Sunday away, but in 10 weeks the Browns have built a culture. The Browns believed they'd win that game, and as it played out the Bengals never had a chance. On Friday, Pettine talked about mental toughness and team football and those things are both real and cliche. The bottom line for the Browns is this: They have become a team that's unquestionably greater than the sum of its individual parts. They're playing with confidence and togetherness and those things matter. One way to go on the road and pull an upset is just to end it right away, and the Browns did. And now the rest of the season -- Texans at home next, Josh Gordon eligible to return soon after, four of seven on the road -- becomes very interesting.
3. I'm not much for rah-rah speeches or gimmicks like the Browns defense wearing dog collar chains, but these things are as old as football is. And though I'm sure Donte Whitner did deliver an inspirational speech Thursday his defensive teammates will never forget, that's not why the Browns won the game. The Browns are winning because they invested in Whitner and Karlos Dansby -- and past administrations in Paul Kruger and Joe Haden -- and those guys bring the kind of maturity and leadership winning teams have. These seasons are long, little comes easy and windows of opportunity only open every so often. Dansby said earlier this season that writing a guy a big check doesn't make him a leader; he has to want and to embrace that role. Dansby does. Whitner does. They know where they are in their careers, what happens on winning teams, how these seasons go. The Browns faced their biggest moment Thursday and delivered. The Bengals may not recover. The Browns really can go somewhere -- where, we don't yet know -- from here.
