Jones, Browns' D make critical stand
The Browns' defense, which struggled for much of Sunday's narrow victory over the Seahawks, came up big when it mattered most, writes Len Pasquarelli.
CLEVELAND -- When the defensive signal came in a bit late from the sideline, for a "double-edge blitz" on which the Cleveland Browns brought both their safeties hard from the outside of the formation, Sean Jones was confused about where he should be aligned.
Fortunately for the Browns, the fourth-year strong safety stole a glance across the line of scrimmage and saw his partner, free safety Brodney Pool, stationed to the left side of the defense and knew immediately he had to go right.
Which put him right in the path of Seattle Seahawks tailback Maurice Morris on a critical fourth-and-inches play just three minutes into overtime.
Whether it was serendipity or savvy that delivered Jones to the correct spot didn't matter nearly as much as the end result. Penetrating quickly into the Seattle backfield, Jones got the initial contact on the off-tackle running play, inside linebacker Andra Davis scraped off a block by Seattle left guard Rob Sims to stand up Morris and the Cleveland defense authored one of its few big plays of the afternoon to turn the ball over at its own 44-yard line.
Six plays later, Phil Dawson knocked home a 25-yard field goal to provide the winning margin in the Browns' dramatic 33-30 overtime victory.
"Just a great call from our coordinator," Jones said of the well-timed run blitz sent in by Todd Grantham on the short-yardage play as Seattle attempted to maneuver for a game-winning field goal of its own. "It was like he knew what was coming. Either that, or maybe he just guessed right. But whatever the case, we made the play when it counted, right?"
Indeed, the Browns don't make many plays on defense, as evidenced by the fact that the unit entered Sunday's game statistically ranked last in the league. But they do have a flair for the dramatic, that's for sure.
Especially in late-game situations.
The fourth-and-inches stop by Jones, who also thwarted a promising Seattle drive with a first-quarter interception, was his second such play in the past two weeks. In last Sunday's comeback win at St. Louis, he stopped Rams rookie running back Brian Leonard on a fourth-down play from the Cleveland 16-yard line to preserve a 27-20 victory.
A second-round draft choice, Jones is maturing into the kind of player Cleveland personnel officials felt he would become when they tabbed the former University of Georgia standout in the 2004 lottery. In 2006, his first year as a starter, Jones had 107 tackles and five interceptions. In the first eight games this season, he has 48 tackles and two interceptions. Chances are, he won't make many stops in 2007 as significant as the one on which he hit Morris in the hole.
Said Jones: "You just have a feel for where the play is going. Honestly, I thought they were going to go with a long count and try to draw us offsides. But when they snapped the ball, I got a good jump, hit him, then just held on and waited for [reinforcements] to get there. And guys just swarmed to the ball."
The play was set up by a successful challenge from coach Romeo Crennel, after officials ruled that Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck had scrambled for a first down on a third-and-8 play. The video review showed that Hasselbeck's elbow hit the ground just shy of the first down, and the game officials reversed the initial call, setting up the fourth down.
Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren, who watched his offense dominate the Browns for much of the game, challenged the fourth-down ruling. But even while officials reviewed the play, the Cleveland defense headed to the sideline.
"They could have watched it a 100 times," Davis said. "And it would have been short a 100 times. We knew we had held them. And we knew our offense would go down and win the game then."
The win was the third straight for Cleveland and represents the team's first such streak since 2001. It's only the Browns' second three-game run of success since they began their second NFL incarnation as an expansion franchise in 1999. More importantly, it leaves the Browns at 5-3, one more victory than they posted the entire 2006 season and just one-half game behind division-leading Pittsburgh in the AFC North.
Pittsburgh (5-2) hosts Baltimore (4-3) on Monday night, and if the Ravens win, it will create a three-way tie for first place in the division.
The suddenly surging Browns, who have won five of seven since the Steelers ran roughshod over them 34-7 in the season opener here Sept. 9, travel to Heinz Field in Week 10 for a rematch with a team that has mostly owned them. So, can the upstart Browns reverse their disastrous trend against their more-established division opponent?
Well, since the 2002 realignment, Pittsburgh has won 10 of the 11 meetings between the teams, and the average differential in the series is 11.2 points.
"But we're a different team now than the one that played Pittsburgh in the opener," insisted Braylon Edwards, who is developing into one of the NFL's premier wide receivers. "They didn't see the real us in that game."
At least on offense, the Browns clearly are a different club, having averaged 32.3 points per game since the opener, with 33 or more points in four of the past seven outings. Quarterback Derek Anderson, who didn't start against the Steelers in the opener but who had a career-high 364 passing yards Sunday, has energized the offense. And Edwards and tight end Kellen Winslow (11 catches for 125 yards against the Seahawks) have emerged as big-time playmakers, while tailback Jamal Lewis still is capable of getting tough inside yards.
"Definitely, we are a better offensive team," wide receiver Joe Jurevicius said.
For the Browns to evolve into a legitimate playoff contender, though, players understand they have to get better on the defensive side as well. Even the players who authored the most notable plays Sunday afternoon.
"If you want to say the 'P-word' meaning 'Pittsburgh,' yeah, that's fine, because we have to start thinking about them the minute we walk out of here," Jones said. "But don't be using that 'P-word' yet meaning 'playoffs,' OK? We've got a way to go yet before we can start thinking about that.
"But, hey, if we keep making big plays to win games at the end, who knows?"
Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.
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