Your team may beat the Browns

but our team will injure your key players.

What a game. No sarcasm, I mean seriously mean it: What. A. Game. I'm not even mad that they lost. Well, not quite, I am pissed. But at least this game wasn't awful to watch. I enjoyed myself watching the Browns. And not the "wow this team sucks lets rip on 'em" fun I had on Monday night. This was a fun Sunday.

The fact that the Browns managed to blow this game doesn't even phase me. I'm in the Anchorman/wheel of cheese state right now. You managed to blow a 21 point lead, give up a 78 yard game winning drive under 2-minutes to go, to a team that's 1-8, has no timeouts and is playing a rookie quarterback? I'm not even mad, that's amazing.

It's not like I'm happy with the outcome but I'm not exactly pissed. It's the Browns! They're now 1-9 rather than 2-8. Oh noes! It's not like this game actually meant anything (besides who's landing the first overall pick- Cleveland baby!). Plus, ya gotta give the Browns credit, they keep finding new and interesting ways to lose every week.

The real shame is the fact that the Browns (especially the offense) played really well. The offense looked good (if not great): Brady Quinn threw for 304 yards and had 4 TDs. The defense wasn't great (Stafford had 5 TDs and threw for over 400 yards) but they had their moments; a couple picks and safety.

Though despite all the fun, when you lose to the Lions, you know there were mistakes. First mistake: No Jerome Harrison (who was inactive). Jamal Lewis ran the ball 24 times and got 75 yards. Awful.

With 3:40 to go, the Browns had a six point and the ball but only managed to run a minute and forty off the clock. The their last play was an incomplete pass on 3rd and 5 (and their previous first down was on a 3rd and 6 pass). If the Browns had any semblance of a running game, the Lions shouldn't have had enough time to muster a 78 yard touchdown drive. (If you want to argue that the Browns should've run on 3rd and 5 anyways, simply to run time off the clock, I'm open to that. But if it's 3rd and 2, you take the pass out of the equation).

And Coach Mangini... what can ya say. For as much as Jamal Lewis sucked, he was the guy who kept calling his number on first and second down. Yes, the Browns were whistled for a pass interference in the endzone with no time to go. That sucks. However, they managed to injure Matt Stafford's shoulder and the Lions were charged with an injury timeout (but they had no TO's left, shouldn't have there been a 10-second run off?), taking Stafford out of the game. What's Mangini do? Call a timeout, allowing the Lions to take out Dante Culpepper (who was not warmed up and ice cold) and allow the Lions to re-insert Stafford. Well done sir. Can't lose to the backup (in Mangini's defense, I was scared of the QB sneak with Culpepper).

and finally, the defense... what happened? The Lions first play from scrimmage was a 60 yard pass to their running back and it never got any better. The defense's stats haven't been great this year but they've played pretty good games (even if they got tired by the end). But 38 points to the Lions? Unacceptable.

Though, again, for what it's worth, I had fun. I watched the Browns and had fun. How often can we say that? They scored (a lot) points. They threw down field. They even converted 2-point conversions. It was enjoyable to watch.

That's better than most weeks, no?