Browns fan reaction: Cleveland Browns beat Carolina Panthers 24-23

"They've been losing ugly for a decade," one emotionally exhausted Cleveland Browns fan said to me after John Kasey's kick boinked off the upright. "It's about time they started winning some ugly ones."

The Browns defeated the Carolina Panthers 24-23 on Sunday afternoon. A full game recap and box score can be found here.

The good : Look at it this way, distraught-yet-relieved Cleveland fans. Every Browns Backer I spoke with believes Cleveland's foundation is much, much stronger than what's found in Carolina. They'd take Colt McCoy over Jimmy Clausen, Peyton Hillis over all of Carolina's running game (no, really) and T.J. Ward/Joe Haden over any of Carolina's younger pass defenders. Every person watching Sunday's Cleveland-Carolina game, Browns fan or not, commented that these were two football teams in very different places. How was the game's ending so dramatic, you ask? More on that later.

Peyton Hillis, a "100 percent guaranteed multi-year Pro Bowl running back" as one individual said to me on a few occasions, is approaching Cleveland Browns history. He currently has eleven rushing touchdowns, making him only the third running back in Cleveland history to have at least eleven rushing scores in one season. The other two? Jim Brown and Leroy Kelly. Not bad company for Mr. Hillis.

The APB for Cleveland wide receiver Brian Robiskie can be called off for at least seven days. He finished the game with seven receptions, the most for any Cleveland player during Sunday's contest. Before the Carolina game, Robiksie had only nine total catches during the 2010 season. Plenty of Cleveland Browns fans I've known through the years are also OSU followers, and they were very excited to see the former Buckeye look like a real NFL receiver. This team could use any and all WRs you can think of, and it'd be nice to think we haven't seen Robiskie's best performance of the season just yet.

The bad : "Why is Jake Delhomme still in the game?" angry Cleveland fans demanded to know after the pick-six in the second half, Delhomme's second interception of the half. A lot of these individuals ignored the fact that Delhomme wasn't awful against the Panthers. He completed 24 of 35 attempts for 245 yards, and took the Browns down the field for what resulted in an eventual game winning field goal. Nevertheless, the turnovers are killing Cleveland fans, Jake. These people can't take two interceptions a game. Cleveland Browns fans are emotionally unstable as it is.

The officiating was another topic brought up after the game concluded. In the closing seconds of the game, Carolina QB Jimmy Clausen completed a 25 yard pass to Brandon LaFell, putting the Panthers in field goal range. LaFell was clearly touched down before rolling out of bounds but the clock was stopped before the play was reviewed. Why was the clock stopped? To toy with the emotions of Browns fans?

The ugly : The tackling. Good God, the tackling. It cost them against the Jets. It absolutely killed them against the Jags. And it almost cost them a win against the Panthers. With every week, Browns fans I know continue to come up with video game analogies for the team's inability to bring down ball carriers. The final drive of the game that saw roughly 23 missed tackles on two plays (sadly, not too much of an exaggeration) has been compared to playing Madden against a person that's never played the game before, and thus just hits the "dive tackle" key over and over again. These guys learned to tackle during Pee Wee football, yes?

Overall : The 2010 Cleveland Browns remain undefeated against teams with under .500 records. It's a start. Yeah, there's a lot to be unhappy about after Sunday's victory. When you look back at the past 10+ years, though, you quickly remember that no win can be taken for granted.

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