Surprise play-calls, Peyton Hillis and solid defense have the mighty Patriots on their heels.
View full sizeTight end Evan Moore out-jumps Patriots cornerback Devin McCourty to make the catch and set up the Browns' first touchdown in the first quarter at Cleveland Browns Stadium.CLEVELAND — Observations, opinions and some facts about the first quarter ...
• Good opening return by Josh Cribbs for 36 yards to the 37-yard line. Two good head-fake moves.
• Surprise first play: Colt McCoy deft play-fake and bullet to Mohamed Massaquoi for 21 yards. Followed by a Peyton Hillis blast for 18 yards out of the three-WR formation. Nice.
• McCoy's pass for Chansi Stuckey on third down should have been intercepted by Jonathan Wilhite, but Stuckey did well to break it up. Ball needed to be on Stuckey's outside shoulder. Phil Dawson's 38-yard FG makes it 3-0.
• First big special teams play goes to Browns. On short pop-up kickoff after the field goal, the Patriots' Sammy Morris lets the ball drop. The Browns' Ray Ventrone recovers at Patriots 19.
• McCoy's fade for tight end Evan Moore is short, but Moore towers over CB Devin McCourty and makes the catch on the right sideline at the Pats' 2. That's an 8-inch height advantage. Hillis rams it on the very next play for 10-0 Browns' lead.
• Let's see how patient Pats offense is down by 10 points before getting the ball.
• On Pats' first third down, Browns line up with no linemen, five linebackers and six defensive backs. Tom Brady's pass for Aaron Gronkowski is broken up by Mike Adams. Three-and-out.
• Browns go for it on fourth-and-1 from their own 36. They show tight jumbo formation and then motion into a spread, empty formation. McCoy then sneaks for 3 yards and the first down. Good grief, is Bill Belichick getting schooled?
• Hillis has another blast and while he's churning for 16 yards, McCourty rips the ball out and Brandon Meriweather recovers at the Pats' 36.
• Browns defense holds. Third-down blitz out of two-down linemen formation forces Brady incompletion.
• McCoy to Massaquoi again, for 22 yards. Massaquoi is lining up all over -- left side, right side, in the slot. Now that's a change.
• Browns call time to avoid delay as play-clock almost runs out. That's the first time that's happened in three games with McCoy. Now a false start by Floyd Womack. Oops.
• McCoy throws the ball away when he can't find anyone open. Punt.