Call it a Comeback

            From Green Bay’s Thursday night stomping of Minnesota, to New England conquering Cincinnati on Monday, week five of the NFL season was arguably the most exciting of the young season. In between the Packers and Patriots victories saw nine games in which the team that won, did so in comeback fashion. Of those nine teams to come back and win, five of them did so after being down by double digits. While Carolina and Buffalo both came back from fourteen down, both games were overshadowed by Cleveland’s incredible twenty-five point comeback to beat Tennessee.      

            On paper, the Tennessee, Cleveland game should have been a close one, and if you just looked at the final score, it was. What makes this game so incredible is way Cleveland came back. To be down 28-3 before halftime means neither offense nor defense played at all. And while it appeared the defense got their act together after halftime, the Browns still only scored and additional three points by the end of the third.

            By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, there was no reason to believe that the Browns were coming back. Then out of nowhere the Cleveland offense took off and went on to score sixteen unanswered points and the defense held off a last drive effort to win the game. The question is, who deserves the most credit for the Browns victory? Was it Cleveland’s offense for finding a way to score in the fourth? Was it Cleveland’s defense for not allowing the Titans to score in the second half? Was it Tennessee’s defense for allowing the Browns for score sixteen points in the final quarter? Or was it Tennessee’s offense for not putting any points on the board in the second half? I think the answer is Cleveland’s offense, more specifically the offense of line. The Brown’s o-line only allowed one sack in the game which allowed Brian Hoyer to remain healthy throughout the game. Though losing Jake Locker didn’t help Tennessee’s case.