The Cleveland Browns orchestrated the season's wildest comeback in a 29-28 win over the Tennessee Titans at LP Field. Our takeaways:
- For the fourth game in a row, the Browns caused heart attacks all across the state of Ohio as quarterback Brian Hoyer led Cleveland to 26 unanswered points and the win. Over the first 30 minutes, Hoyer was exactly what his critics believe him to be: a game-managing placeholder not worthy of your time. In the second half, though, he and the Browns made enough big plays -- and saw enough key penalties go their way -- to trigger the biggest blown lead in Titans history. Hoyer makes his share of dangerous, head-scratching throws, but he also showed fine touch on two gutsy, fourth-quarter scoring strikes to Travis Benjamin:
- Jake Locker opened 6-of-6 passing and took advantage of a mistake-prone Browns defense in the first half. Locker made plays with his arm and feet, but it didn't last, as the Titans starting passer left before halftime with a thumb injury. Charlie Whitehurst came in to throw a pair of touchdowns on his first three passes, but the backup looked lost in the second half.
- The game's officials would be wise to charter an immediate flight out of Nashville. Flags played a major role down the stretch as Jason McCourty's long interception return of an ill-advised Hoyer pass was wiped out by an illegal contact penalty on Tennessee's Brandon Harris. Madness ensued as a resulting scuffle generated personal fouls for Cleveland's Joe Thomas and Titans defender Derrick Morgan, the latter of whom was ejected.
- The Browns also saw another potentially ugly turnover eliminated when Benjamin's fumbled punt return was overturned by a penalty on Marqueston Huff, who was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct after going out of bounds before returning to the field of play.
- Coming off a knee injury, Ben Tate ran with power and carried the load early for Cleveland. With rookies Isaiah Crowell and Terrance West spelling him, Tate ran for 123 yards at 5.6 yards per carry for a team averaging 143.3 rushing yards per game this season.
- It's a mystery why Tennessee abandoned the run down the stretch. After rumbling for 120 yards at 6.3 yards per clip before intermission, the Titans piled up just 29 yards in the second half as Mike Pettine's defense tightened up.
- After knocking off the Saints and losing to the Ravens and Steelers by a combined five points, Cleveland simply refuses to play dully. Their 25-point bounce back against Tennessee -- a franchise record for the Browns -- marked the largest comeback by a road team in NFL history and stands tied as the third-largest regular-season comeback win in the history of the league.
- After the game, this happened:
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