Just Win Baby

It was one of those games that you should win. At home, against a team that hadn't won a game yet, and traveling into a raucous environment. But for 55 minutes it looked like, well, something you would typically see out of a Cleveland football team.

It was one of those frustrating ones to watch. And it looked like opportunity slipping away from us. The defense had done it's part, playing twice as long as the oppositions defense, and giving the team a chance to win. But the offense, that's what was so frustrating, and it took a huge blow before the game even started. Peyton Hillis was sent home with strep throat a couple hours before the game started, and you could just hear the whispers swirling around this on, "it's the Madden curse." On top of that, the wide receivers were non existent for the first three quarters and Colt McCoy was struggling to get the offense going.

Down 16-10 late in the 4th quarter I felt myself getting that mad feeling knowing what could have been if the Browns would have played to their potential. Then even more angry realizing we were about to lose to a team that was 0-for-the-year, on our home turf. Embarrassing, no excuse, unacceptable, just some of the thoughts running through my mind. Then I took a deep breath, realized I am a Browns fan, and began to accept it.

When we got the ball back on our own 20-yard line with less than 3 minutes to go needing a touchdown to win, there was no reason to believe we could gain 80 yards in that amount of time with the way our offense had been playing.

But as I watched with those thoughts spiraling in my head, my speculation about Colt McCoy began to come to fruition. I liked the Browns decision to draft McCoy, despite the fact he was "undersized" an lacked the "prototypical" arm strength coming out of college, I liked him because he won. He left the University of Texas as the all time winningest quarterback in NCAA history.

Sunday, he proved that. He struggled, the receivers struggled, the whole offense struggled throughout the day. But, when it mattered most, when his team needed it the most, he rose up to the challenge, he took the pressure, and his team, and put it on his shoulders. His numbers at the end of the day weren't flattering: 19/39, 210 yards, 2 td, 1 int, 71.5 passer rating. But the one thing that trumps all of those statistics is Ws.

And rookie wide out Greg Little put it best after the game, "I think the greatest statistics in the league are wins and losses. I don't think Colt cares about his completion percentage. You win the game, so that's all our team cares about anyway. He just stayed composed and made a lot of good plays. He was just very vibrant and upbeat and you could see that pouring out of him in his eyes. He made it happen for us."

That look in his eyes? That is the look of a winner. Someone not afraid to be "the guy" with the ball in his hands with the game on the line. And for the first time in as long as I can remember, the Browns seem to have found that guy.