Browns quarterback Derek Anderson's comments after the victory over the Ravens:

(On the TD to Braylon Edwards): It's always good to take a shot after a turnover. I think Chris (McAlister) kind of guessed and I threw it out there and Braylon made a great catch and finished it off for us.

I'm not sure if they messed the coverage up, but Ed was rolling over the top strong. I knew I had Braylon on a chance with Chris and Chris kind of stuttered his feet a little bit. I threw it out there and let him make a play. I was just reading, going off Ed.

(offensive output): I've felt it for a while. Guys have confidence in what we're doing. We've had good weeks of practice. That's a tough defense and guys really studied it and knew their stuff going in.

(Offensive line): They're playing awesome. I told them today, that's a heckuva job. The second game I haven't been really touched. I got hit a couple times, guys bouncing. They're picking up the blitz great, run-blocking great. I'm happy with the way we're playing.

(offense): I wouldn't say it's a surprise. We've done it in practice, we've seen the playmakers we have on offense and it's carrying it over to the game.

(fast start): That first drive let them know we were going to be physical, we were going to make plays and it forces them to show their hand a little bit. We got in a nice little rhythm. We only had six or seven plays and we had two touchdowns. Got the adrenalin going a little bit, that's big. When it starts like that, it's great.

(Rob Chudzinski's offense): Shift, motion, it's nothing that we're out there doing that's amazing. We're making the defense think and we're catching it here and there. At the beginning we had two 3-yard runs and then we pop one. They're trying to make adjustments to our formations. It sets the tone for them rather than them setting the tone for us.

With 2:38 left, the Browns lead 27-13

1 — Defense gives up a fourth-quarter touchdown, but Baltimore cannot afford a mistake the rest of the game.
2 — Willis McGahee is averaging 7.4 yards per carry for Baltimore at this point.
3 — Down 14 with less than six minutes left, the Ravens go to a no-huddle, hurry-up offense. Baltimore just does not seem to have enough time left to take this game.
4 — They don't. The Browns force a turnover on downs, which should lead to a win. If only they hadn't had that field goal blocked in Oakland … but then again who'd have predicted they'd start 2-2 with this opening schedule.

Cleveland 27, Baltimore 6

1 — Steve McNair looks old. Matt Stover misses two field goals. It would take a miracle for the Browns to lose this game.
2 — Braylon Edwards continues to play extremely well. The guy has lived up to his draft position, and to the vows he made in the offseason.
3 — Same for Kellen Winslow, who is playing through a tough shoulder situation. Yet he keeps coming up with big play after big play. This is the kind of game that changes the expectations for this Browns team.
4 — Something must be going right with the play-calling — and the offensive line. Baltimore punished Charlie Frye a year ago. They pressure every passer. But they are not getting near Derek Anderson. Anderson is getting rid of the ball, but the passes being called are quick routes. Combine that with good protection and you have a 27-6 lead.

Cleveland 24, Baltimore 6

1 — Surprising success by the Browns on the ground. Baltimore started the game giving up 61.7 yards per game on the ground, and the Browns had runs of 28 yards (Jamal Lewis) and 15 (Jason Wright) on a field-goal drive.
2 — With 9:17 left in the first half the Browns have 65 yards rushing.
3 — Phil Dawson misses a field goal and Baltimore is offside on the kick. Amazing. Might this be the Browns day?
4 — Did not look like Jamal Lewis scored a touchdown, but the Ravens for some reason waited to challenge. Brian Billick waited too long to throw the flag. The Ravens just do not seem into this game. The Browns score 24 points in the first half — more than most figured they'd score the entire game.

Cleveland 14, Baltimore 0

1 — Nice opening drive by the Browns, sparked by Joshua Cribbs' return of the opening kickoff. Derek Anderson's ability to get rid of the ball was a key again.
2 — Go figure. Baltimore faces the 31st-ranked run defense in the league. And the Ravens open the game with four straight passes and six passes on the first eight plays. It ends with an interception. Just doesn't make sense.
3 — Browns turn it into a touchdown with a perfect call on first down to take advantage of the Ravens' defensive aggressiveness. A 78-yard touchdown pass to Braylon Edwards gives the Browns a 14-0 lead with 5:46 left. Credit Rob Chudzinski for the call, Anderson for the throw and Edwards for getting by Chris McAlister. Now … can they hold the lead?
4 — After Matt Stover misses a field goal, Anderson telegraphs a throw to Joe Jurevicius. Ed Reed intercepts. The good Derek Anderson started the game. The bad one made that throw.

Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Troy Smith of Ohio State slipped to the fifth round in April's draft, largely because he stands 6-feet tall. Baltimore kept only two quarterbacks last season, but Smith survived the final cut and is No. 3 behind 34-year-old Steve McNair and Kyle Boller.

Ravens coach Brian Billick was curt in his assessment of Smith's progress this season when he said, "Like most first-timers."

But 12-year veteran linebacker Ray Lewis said he's trying to help Smith.

"In minicamp I walked up to him and told him, 'I wanted you to know that I am a Troy Smith fan. Anything you need from me in this business, you just let me know,"' Lewis said. "We are with each other two or three times a week. He’s another one of the young guys that I took under my wing to teach him the business side of things and really, just to have fun. That’s what I’m trying to do. I just want them to have fun. I want to teach them that there is a business aspect, meetings and the different things, but when it comes to football, just let football be football and everything else will take care of itself. Troy is definitely one that I grabbed on to."

¶
Baltimore flip-flopped first-round picks with Cleveland in the 2006 draft to move up one spot and draft defensive tackle Haloti Ngata at No. 12. Cleveland preferred pass rusher Kamerion Wimbley and had no problem making a deal with a division rival. The Ravens also gave up a sixth-round pick, which the Browns used to select defensive tackle Babatunde Oshinowo, who did not make the team this season.¶
Wimbley has started 18 career games and has 13 sacks, 11 in 2006 to set a Browns rookie record. But Ngata has been a starter since his first game and Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis thinks his side got the better end of the deal. When Baltimore picked Ngata, there were rumors that Lewis wanted to be traded.¶
"You hear all the speculation and all this crazy stuff going on, 'Ray wants to be traded,' all this and that," Lewis said this week. "The bottom line is Ray said, 'If you put a (defensive) tackle in front of me, we’ll go back to being what we were.'¶
"For the first time since I have been in the NFL, we went to the number one (ranked) defense as soon as we had Haloti Ngata, because that is what you're built by. Defenses are built by front sevens. That's where your money is made."¶
Lewis said the Ravens won the Super Bowl in 2000 with Tony Siragusa and Sam Adams as the defensive tackles, but they were let go after the 2001 season. "Then we might as well just let everyone do their own thing," Lewis said of the aftermath of those moves.¶
"When you look at a young guy like Ngata, you tell yourself this guy is so young and so talented that it's scary," Lewis said. "It shows from last year to this year, it's much more of a pleasure just seeing his growth. Me and him, we’re just like a quarterback and a receiver. If me, him and (defensive tackle) Kelly (Gregg) are on the same page, then things are going to roll in our run game.¶
"That’s why we haven't seen 100-yard rushers and that's why our defense has been in the top whatever it has been for the last two years or so, because he is a great addition for us."¶
In 2006, Baltimore allowed only two 100-yard rushers — Tennessee's Travis Henry (107) and Kansas City's Larry Johnson (120).¶
But Browns' defensive coordinator Todd Grantham isn't second-guessing their choice of Wimbley, even though Cleveland is 31st in the league against the run.¶
"In a 3-4 you have to have outside 'backers because they generate your pass rush and play-making ability," Grantham said. "In theory, it's a little bit easier to find a bigger guy who can press the pocket inside and be stout later on, as opposed to a pass rusher. Generally, guys who can rush the passer are going to go pretty quick."¶
Grantham said he thinks the majority of teams would have made the same choice of a pass rusher over a defensive tackle.¶

A breakdown on the left side of the line allowed the Raiders to block Phil Dawson's 40-yard field goal attempt as time expired Sunday in Oakland's 26-24 victory over the Browns. But considering the same situation happened to Oakland the week before against Denver, when Broncos coach Mike Shanahan called timeout as kicker Sebastian Janikowski's presumed game-winner sailed through, the Browns should have been on their guard.

Yes, they knew the timeout was coming from Raiders coach Lane Kiffin. But when Browns coach Romeo Crennel said his team relaxed after Dawson's first (and unofficial) kick off the dirt sailed through, what Crennel might have meant was his players didn't realize that the Raiders weren't really trying that hard on the first one. Oakland knew Kiffin was calling timeout and didn't want to give away its blocking strategy.

Perhaps the Browns' special teams units should follow the lead of the kickoff return team and its fiery leader Joshua Cribbs. That group seems to take pride in its job. Cribbs said after his 99-yard TD return helped him tie Bobby Mitchell for the team's career record with three that his unit's motto is "Nothing less than 50 yards." Cribbs said he relies on running back Eric Wright to tell him where he stands on the field and when to bring one out of the end zone. Their professionalism and teamwork is helping the Browns and Cribbs make their mark in at least one regard.

Oakland 26, Cleveland 24 (3:33 left)

First — Easy to second-guess, but Joe Jurevicius was wide open on a third-down throw that Tim Carter dropped. Carter is a disappointment. Jurevicus catches everything. Hard to figure.
Second — Then again, it won't matter a bit if the Browns can't stop the run.
Third — What a pleasure it is watch Kamerion Wimbley, who plays hard, plays smart and does not celebrate his plays.
Fourth — A 27-yard screen pass to Lamont Jordan on third-and-23? Are you kidding me? Sets up a field goal that gives Oakland a 26-17 lead.
Fifth — Nice drive by the Browns to cut the lead to two. Braylon Edwards continues his fine start with a big catch. This game comes down to whether the Browns defense will stop the Raiders, which hasn't happened the last two drives.

Oakland 23, Cleveland 17

First — Josh McCown has a 109 rating the first half and there are cheers when he is replaced.
Second — A fumble by Mike Williams gives the Browns the ball and they capitalize with a touchdown pass to Braylon Edwards. Anderson has thrown some poor passes, but that was a good one — helped by Edwards' two moves that beat Oakland's fine corner, Nnamdi Asomugha.
Third — Joshua Cribbs' kickoff return changed the entire nature and tone of the game. At this point, the Browns lead 17-16 and the crowd is out of the game.
Fourth — The Raiders come back, though, with an 80-yard drive that was old-fashioned football. Thirteen runs that used 9:06 of time. That was smashmouth football.