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Most of the luck has been good, so good that the scales are tipping in the Browns' favor after leaning the other way during a difficult loss in Oakland earlier this season. In that game, Phil Dawson kicked a 40-yard field goal to win, 27-26, on the final play, but his kick didn't count because Raiders coach Lane Kiffin called a timeout a split second before the ball was snapped. Left tackle Nat Dorsey relaxed and allowed Tom Kelly through the line to block Dawson's next kick.
Dorsey lost his job on field-goal protection and the Browns lost the game, falling to 1-2. They have gone 5-2 since - same as the Indianapolis Colts and one game better than the Pittsburgh Steelers over the same stretch.
Much has changed since the Oakland game. These Browns are being compared to the Kardiac Kids of 1980, when Brian Sipe was the quarterback and master of last-second victories. That team was magical. Songs were written about a "Siper Bowl" instead of a Super Bowl.
Call this group the Kardiac Grandkids.
In some respects, Derek Anderson is like Sipe. He is taller and has a stronger arm, but he has the same intangible leadership skills Sipe possessed. The other 10 players in the huddle believe in him. That could not be said of Tim Couch, Kelly Holcomb, Jeff Garcia, Trent Dilfer or Charlie Frye when they played quarterback.
Coach Romeo Crennel deserves credit for keeping his players focused. It would have been easy to take the "Here we go again" attitude at 1-2 with games against the Ravens and Patriots looming, but Crennel and Anderson would not let that happen.
Things have definitely gone the Browns' way, and though Crennel said the Browns were "fortunate" to beat the Ravens in Baltimore, some of that good fortune the Browns made on their own.
Consider how the Browns won three of their last four:
They beat the Rams, 27-20, on Oct. 28. In that game, Rams running back Steven Jackson left the game in the fourth quarter with a back injury. The Browns still needed a fourth-and-1 stop by Sean Jones and an interception by Leigh Bodden in the final two minutes to win, but they made those plays.
A week later, the Browns beat the Seahawks, 33-30, in overtime. In that game, a third-down scramble by Matt Hasselbeck was ruled a first down on the field and then changed to a fourth down when a replay review initiated from the booth worked in the Browns' favor. A replay review on the fourth-and-1 also worked out the Browns' way, although in that one, the spot was not adjusted.
From that point on, the Browns earned the victory by driving 49 yards on six plays. The big play before Phil Dawson kicked the game-winning field goal from 25 yards was a screen pass to Jamal Lewis covering 34 yards. Again, the Browns made their own luck.
The topper occurred Sunday in Baltimore when a field-goal try by Dawson originally ruled a miss was later ruled good. The Browns won in overtime, but again they had to make the plays to put Dawson in position for the game-winner. The good luck in Baltimore was winning the coin toss. Luck had nothing to do with the officials getting the call correct, yet had both officials under the uprights signaled "no good," the play probably would never have been discussed on the field. Then today or Friday, Crennel would have received a memo from the league office admitting its mistake.
"It's about time this franchise and this organization gets a call like that," Dawson said, referring not to any personal hard luck he has had in his nine seasons with the Browns but to losses such has Helmetgate, Bottlegate, the playoff loss in Pittsburgh and what happened in Oakland in September, to name a few.
A word of caution, however.
That 1980 Kardiac Kids team was never the same after that one amazing year.
The Browns went from 11-5 and losing in the first round of the playoffs to 5-11 in a year.
Fans should hope this Kardiac Grandkids team isn't another tease.
