Key stat: Through one half and one drive, the Browns had 20 points, 20 first downs and 228 yards – 114 rushing and 114 passing.
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After using all his timeouts when the Browns had the ball, McCoy had to rush his field-goal unit onto the field and Lambo’s kick was off the mark. This is a good day, and it is something that we can all wrap our arms around hopefully, and grow from because this is the way we want the locker room to be. Nineteen players on the 53 man roster are rookies, so of course they never tasted victory professionally until the Christmas Eve miracle at FirstEnergy Stadium.
The Browns won the coin toss, but coach Hue Jackson made a puzzling decision by deferring and kicking off to the Chargers. “It’s very, very tough and it hits you right between the eyes because I’m on the team, there’s something I can do about it and that’s why I’m playing”.
That included the Indians, who gave the Browns a shoutout. A fourth-down pass from Robert Griffin III to Gary Barnidge helped as well. “I can go on and on and on because this is for them”. Griffin picked up 42 yards on the ground and led four scoring drives. For this team to get a win, the time of possession advantage needed to be in their favor.
Well, for one day at least, the Browns proved them all wrong. The 49ers would have a lower strength of schedule and thus win the tiebreaker over the Browns.
Jamar Taylor picks off Philip Rivers in Cleveland territory and returns near the 30.
But picking No. 2 wouldn’t even be all that bad.
The San Francisco 49ers are now poised to pick first overall in the 2017 NFL Draft. Just in time, too. “You rely on your steps, and I didn’t have time to properly do that”.
“Finally getting that win … definitely felt incredible”, Thomas, the All-Pro tackle, said. Griffin missed 10 games earlier in the campaign with a fractured bone in his left shoulder. Once, Browns head coach Mike Pettine tried to take him out and Thomas put his foot down. “My teammates, they all played their hearts out”. However, that was the last time San Diego would see the end zone in this game. Not only for Christmas, but with the season nearly over. He might be the toughest guy in the National Football League for all those reasons. I was really happy. This is not that big of a deal.
“And I hope that they have everything riding on it, just so it makes it that kind of game”.
Not only did the Browns get their first win of the season, they maintained their place in next year’s NFL Draft. You could feel it in the stadium today how excited everybody was.
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The only thing that can mess things up is a win in Pittsburgh next week. “It’s going to be a lot better”.
