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| Trent Richardson was in beast mode in this weeks game vs. Chargers. He rushed for 122 yards scoring the games lone touchdown. |
Box Score: Browns 7, Chargers 6 Final
Thanks to the weather up on the lake, The Browns (2-6) hung on to win a snoozer of a game over the San Diego Chargers (3-4) 7 to 6 in Cleveland Browns Stadium. With a steady rain fall all afternoon during the game, both teams relied on their ground attack, and the Browns got a huge game from their rookie RB Trent Richardson. T-Rich, the 3rd pick of this years NFL draft, ran for 122 yards and provided the only touchdown on the day, with his 1st quarter 26-yard dash through the Chargers defense and into the end zone, where the fans in the Dawg Pound greeted him, with rain-soaked high-fives. It was an ugly game, and over the years the Browns have found ways not to win ones like this, but this time around (thanks to a crybaby, Philip Rivers) good fortunate was with the Browns and they were able to come away with the one-point victory. This marked the 2nd straight win at home for the Browns, who have now won two out of their last three games, after starting the season 0-5. The Browns have one more game next week (vs. Ravens), before heading into their bye week. It sure would be nice going into the bye week with a win.
Offense:
With the rain and windy conditions, the Browns were forced to rely on their rookie running back to carry the load, and he didn't disappoint. T-Rich, had his best rushing output of the season (122 yards) against a Chargers defense that came into the game only giving up 71 yards/pg on the ground (2nd in the NFL). I thought the offensive line did a really nice job at times moving the line and opening up some nice gaps for Richardson to run in. That touchdown run was pretty cool to watch, and he showed a nice burst of speed once he got into the open. On a day, where Browns QB Brandon Weeden only completed 11 of 27 passing attempts for 129 yards, the Browns needed a solid running game, and they got it. Two weeks in a row the Browns did not commit a turnover, which is a good thing to see with this young/inexperience unit. While, when you only score 7 points on the day, it was one-more then the Chargers could product and in the end the objective is to be one point better then your opponent. Heres to better weather the remaining season up in Cleveland (probably not).
Defense:
You hold a team out of the endzone for an entire game, that deserves a "YO"! This marked the first time since Week 7 of last season, that the Browns defense held an opponent out of the endzone (6-3 win over Seattle). I thought the defense did a great job in bending, but not breaking against a solid offensive attack led by Philip Rivers. The Browns held the Chargers to just 265 total yards, while forcing the only turnover of the game. The Browns are +5 in the turnover margin over the last three games. The secondary benefited on a number of dropped passes by Chargers receivers, but in the end when the game was on the line, they were able to come up with the stops that they needed, and so many times over the years, they would all but certain have lost this game 9-7. It would be nice to see this unit continue to get better, and improve over the remaining rest of the schedule, as they are working with a number of new faces due to a few key injuries.
Next Week:
The Browns (2-6) riding a two out of three win stretch of games, now turn their focus to their AFC North division rivals the Baltimore Ravens (5-2). Baltimore is coming off their bye week and haven't lost to the Browns since the 2007 season. The Browns look to split the season series this week up in Cleveland, after dropping a hard-fought Week 4 lose (23-16) in Baltimore on Thursday Night Football.
