Celebration in Cleveland as the Browns win their fourth in a row and eliminate Jacksonville from the playoffs. It was cold, cold, and really cold in the Cleveland Browns Stadium, but the victory melted away for good any ice cycles the fans had accumulated from the first half of the season. Weather cold as it was in Cleveland definitely impacts a game and without a doubt it affected game play today. It was the running game of the Browns once more that carried the team to victory with some good defense thrown in.What can you say about the passing game, which has been for most of the season lame. True, the freezing cold weather will affect a passing game drastically, so I will give Anderson a pass on this game and maybe, it was the Browns game plan to utilize the strong running game of Harrison and Cribbs. Derek Anderson had only 86 yds on 7 completions out of 11 attempts and one interception. Phil Dawson was perfect with three field goals and two extra points accounting four 11 of the 23 points.
The defense harassed Garrard through the whole game sacking him three times and hitting him another ten times. Garrard ran for forty yards, which would indicate pressure and coverage were good causing him to run all over place. Garrard had 202 yds on 22 completions out of 39 attempts. The Jaguars couldn't close out a fourth quarter surge.
It was a happy ending to a terrible season. Fan expectations will be higher going into next year and Holmgren's challenge will be to fulfill those higher expectations. The running game looks to be in place. The quarterback position still remains a big question mark going into the Holmgren take over. We will see what happens in the days ahead. Season over for the Browns, now the playoffs will begin. Who will it be in the Super Bowl?
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