It's only been four games, but what's not to like after watching Peyton Hillis? And last Sunday, one carry tells fans all they need to know about the player, his abilities and, most importantly, his priorities.
View full sizeThe Browns are coming out way ahead in the deal for Peyton Hillis, above, for Brady Quinn.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Browns fans need to pinch themselves.
Their team needed to give up whom, exactly, to acquire 24-year-old running back Peyton Hillis from the Denver Broncos in the offseason?
Oh, that's right: Brady Quinn.
I don't want to overreact to four games, 416 total yards and four touchdowns -- especially where the Browns are concerned -- but this trade at least has the potential to be as lopsided as Mike Tyson vs. Marvis Frazier.
In Week 4, alone, Hillis made you go wow more than Quinn ever did in his brief time in Cleveland. Hillis rushed for 102 yards on 27 carries and scored once in the Browns' 23-20 victory over the Bengals. One week earlier, he ran over the Ravens for 144 yards and one score.
When I watched the Browns-Bengals game from the stadium pressbox as part of my job at The Plain Dealer, I thought I knew how hard Hillis was running. Then I watched the CBS telecast on DVR. He was killing fools.
The guy is 6-2, 250 pounds of pure beast -- a-gile, hos-tile and mo-bile.
I enjoyed the performance so much, I went back and watched each of the 27 carries again at high volume, so as to get the full effect of the helmets and shoulder pads crunching.
One carry stood out. It told me all I needed to know about the player, his abilities and, most importantly, his priorities.
With 2:46 left in the fourth quarter, the Browns had a second-and-7 from their 30. They were protecting a 23-20 lead. Hillis received the handoff from Seneca Wallace and took a couple of steps up the middle before bouncing to the right behind fullback Lawrence Vickers and pulling left guard Eric Steinbach. Vickers, as usual, got his man. Steinbach, putting the finishing touches on a dominant afternoon, got his man and slowed another.
Hillis turned upfield at the 30. He kept moving right as he moved forward to avoid safety Chris Crocker, who had the angle. They finally met at the 45. Crocker wanted to ride Hillis out of the bounds to stop the clock, and appeared to be in prime position to do so. At the Cincinnati 49, it was a done deal. Hillis was going to get the first down, and more, but the clock was going to stop.
View full sizePeyton Hillis is quickly becoming a fan favorite.Then came a move I needed to replay five times to believe actually happened. A tumbling, off-balance Hillis, refusing to allow Crocker to make him stop the clock, quickly turned his right side and buried it into the turf inches inside the white paint. Hillis's head hit the ground awkwardly at 2:40. He rolled out of bounds at the Cincinnati 46 as Crocker bounced off him and fell.
After the game, Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer said he thought Hillis had been tackled out of bounds. In real time, it certainly looked that way. But a remarkable freeze frame showed Hillis upside down, his entire body barely tucked inbounds. It is difficult to imagine how a player that big could stop his momentum enough to accomplish the objective in such a small amount of space.
Credit head linesman Steve Stelljes, who raced up and signaled to keep the clock moving. Browns reserve offensive lineman Steve Vallos stared at Stelljes and cranked his arm, just in case Stelljes had any doubt.
Hillis popped up with the ball, but he was dinged. Starting right tackle Tony Pashos, understandably excited, grabbed Hillis by the shoulder pads and head-butted him. Browns linebacker Matt Roth slapped him on the helmet. A third teammate slapped at the helmet before Hillis motioned to his head, as if to say, ''Please don't do that again.''
On the sideline with 2:07 left, Hillis had the helmet off and seemed to be in some degree of discomfort above the shoulders. At the two-minute warning, Hillis motioned that he wanted to return to the field.
The Browns didn't need him, though, in the victory formation. Wallace knelt on the final three plays.
Bottom line: When the easy (and safe) way out was out of bounds, Hillis opted to put himself in potential harm's way, and might have given himself a stinger, to ensure tick, tick, tick, tick, tick. What's more, he wanted to get back on the field as soon as possible.
That mindset, combined with his skill set, makes Hillis fun to watch and a natural fan favorite.
Other observations from watching the Browns-Bengals game on replay:
• Steinbach continues to play at an extremely high level. When he pulls, he squashes people. If there is a guard playing better through four weeks, I'd like to know who he is.
• Right guard Floyd Womack won the vast majority of his confrontations. "Porkchop'' delivered one pancake and almost had a second. Womack might not be the most technically sound lineman ever to walk the earth, but he is a load when the motor's running, and it was running hard against the Bengals. Womack drew the critical holding call against Bengals defensive tackle Pat Sims late in the fourth quarter. Easily forgotten was Womack hustling to recover Chansi Stuckey's fumble in the second quarter.
• Tight end Ben Watson had a terrific afternoon. He caught a team-high six passes for 60 yards and made crisp block after crisp block. I'll give Watson a pass on the unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty for joining Evan Moore in the stands for a TD celebration.
• Helmets off, as well, to end Kenyon Coleman, linebackers Roth and Scott Fujita and Wallace. Wallace engineered two drives, in particular, that were impressive from start to finish.
• It's amazing to me that the Browns won a game by three points without completing a pass after 12 minutes remained in the third quarter. The Browns had 24 plays from scrimmage in that span.