After watching his team nearly blow a double-digit lead for the 4th time in 4 weeks, Mike Holmgren can finally chalk up his 1st Cleveland win. Game Ball: Peyton friggin' Hillis. I'll be the 1st to admit that I was not on board with the BQ trade the day it happened, nor during training camp, not even following week 1. Post Hillis' shredding of the Ravens' D last week, I was cautiously optimistic. Today, you can officially add me to the bandwagon. It's not just the production (back to back 100 yard games), it's not just his hands (14 catches), it's the fire in his belly, it's the fact that he flat out enjoys getting hit and keeps asking for more. Love it. That's also why I dig TJ Ward and why I'll defend him up and down for the hit on Shipley that facilitated Cincy's last touchdown. He's a killer. TJ has that bloodlust that makes good safeties great. He's also a rookie, spiraling straight out of Cell Block Quack, so let's cut him some slack. Granted he needs to keep his head on his shoulders (& the wideouts' on theirs), but let's make sure we don't coach the backbreaker mentality out of him.
Of much greater concern to me is the remainder of the defensive backfield. It seems the ferry off of Wright Island leaves every other down. Rob Ryan needs to recognize the fact that his 2nd year corner does not have the chops to cover big, physical wide-outs (see Anquan Boldin and Terrell Owens) in one-on-one match-ups. The defensive coordinator is aware that he needs to draw up some risky blitzes (Matt Roth, Kenyon Coleman and Scott Fujita all produced momentous results today) to create any sort of backfield pressure, but the frequency of Wright's gaffs the past couple of weeks is unacceptable. Add to that Sheldon Brown falling down and the anonymity of the 2nd safety (is it Abe Elam? I'd have to look it up) and TJ Ward is still the best thing going in the Browns secondary.
It's a nice win #1, yessir. That is all it is. Let's not fool ourselves. Mangina still has to go.
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