A.M. Cleveland Browns links: Denver wishes it were still Peyton's place

Denver is doing what a lot of arm tacklers are doing this year: missing Peyton Hillis.

Updated at 12:09 p.m.

Cleveland, Ohio -- Peyton Hillis is a heck of a lot of fun to watch as he runs the ball like an elephant chasing down the last peanut on earth. Nobody -- NOBODY -- is gonna stop him. So far, he's rushed for 322 yards and four touchdowns on the year, averaging 4.88 yards per carry. On top of that, he's the Browns' second leading receiver, with 16 catches to Ben Watson's 18.

Geez, who wouldn't like that?

Uh, Broncos fans, that's who. Hillis came to the Browns as part of the Brady Quinn deal. So far, Cleveland is getting the better of that swap, by far. And that's much to the chagrin of the folks in the Mile High City. Check out what Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post had to say today:

At the risk of angering coach Josh McDaniels and offending families with small children, we dare to print the two dirtiest words in the Broncos' language:

Peyton Hillis.

So far in 2010, Hillis has gained 322 yards rushing for the Cleveland Browns and deducted 50 points from McDaniels' IQ.

Like Bigfoot, the 240-pound Hillis and his myth grow larger by the hour. Run, Peyton, run. He is the first good reason during the entire recorded history of man that Colorado has ever been envious of Ohio. We would gladly trade Longs Peak for Hillis, even up. Deal?

Most fair-minded Broncomaniacs admit McDaniels might have been correct for trading away Jay Cutler, don't miss Brandon Marshall as much as originally thought and now have trouble remembering what jersey number Alphonso Smith wore during his brief stint in Denver.

The sin of dumping Hillis, however, is unforgivable.

In Cleveland, the peeps have made a folk hero of Hillis, breathlessly mentioning him in the same sentence as tough guys Larry Csonka, Earl Campbell and Chuck Norris. Since joining the Browns, Hillis has buckled his chin strap and run to infinity. Twice.

Hey, Denver. Remember The Drive? 'Bout time Cleveland got one on y'all.

More on Peyton
CBSsports.com has a nice little piece on the top 10 surprises of the admittedly young NFL season. One should be no surprise to Browns fans who watched Derek Anderson struggle in Cleveland: That would be Max Hall, who's taken over for DA in Arizona. Hall is No. 9 on the list. No. 1 goes to ... HILLIS:

It was supposed to be Montario Hardesty and Jerome Harrison running the ball in Cleveland. Hillis – who was traded from Denver in the Brady Quinn deal this past offseason – was supposed to be just an afterthought. Baltimore’s Terrell Suggs  had never heard of the guy until he ripped off 180 total yards (144 on the ground, the most Baltimore has allowed in five years) against the Ravens.

With Hardesty out with a season-ending injury and with Harrison failing to make an impression on the Cleveland coaching staff, Hillis has taken advantage, tying the league high with four touchdowns and averaging 4.9 yards per carry. Like Gehrig, it appears that Hillis has no future plans to give up his starting spot.

And if he did? Browns fans might riot.

Let's not print the Super Bowl tickets yet
Barry Barnes, writing for fanhouse.com, almost gushes about the Browns' win over Cincinnati. And really, to a fan base starved for success, it's almost understandable, even if the win was over a team with a quarterback who's just millimeters away from having a Jake Delhomme ca. 2009 year.

Still, there is something on which to build (The Ancient Grammarian -- aka our eighth grade English teacher, Miss Simms --  would be so proud; Starting Blocks reconfigured that sentence to avoid ending it with a preposition):

The Browns are a dangerous team right now with nothing to lose. Most teams who experience a three=game losing streak would normally start pointing fingers and feeling disappointed in themselves. The Browns are an exception because they felt more confident after each of their losses, knowing if they could have held on a little long and played smarter, they could have been 4-0.

Instead, they are 1-3, have learned from their fourth-quarter mistakes and are looking for their next win.

"Our biggest problem in the first three weeks has been not closing it out," said Browns tight end Evan Moore. "We got close three straight weeks and we learned from it. Now we can learn from what we did right and go forward and win next week."

That might be a little tougher against Atlanta than it was against Cincy. The Falcons beat the defending world champion Saints in overtime, and last week triumphed over the 49ers with a last-second field goal in an admittedly sloppy win. Matt Ryan is on the upswing in his career, as opposed to Carson Palmer, and then there's that tight end, perennial Pro Bowler Tony Gonzalez. According to an espn.com projection, he's on a pace for 76 catches this year.

From the Plain Dealer
T.J. Ward's devastating blow to Bengals receiver Jordan Shipley is getting all the headlines. Cincinnati's Carson Palmer and Terrell Owens called the shot in the end zone brought to a screeching halt what was turning out to be a productive day for the rookie a dirty play. Coach Eric Mangini, talking to PD beat writer Mary Kay Cabot, disagreed. It was just good, hard, aggressive football. Mangini did concede that Ward will learn a little better to play within the rules, but he doesn't expect him to turn into Mike Milquetoast.

Columnist Bill Livingston also tackles -- you'll excuse the expression -- the hit, noting that it's part of the intimidation aspect of Ward's game that made him such an attractive draft choice.

And finally, Cabot's Browns Insider column noted that all signs point to quarterback Jake Delhomme returning to his starting role, three weeks suffering a high ankle sprain in the Browns' opening game loss to Tampa Bay.