Oakland 16, Cleveland 10

First — Not a good read or decision by Derek Anderson on Thomas Howard's interception. Threw it right to him, and Howard was in the short zone the entire time.
Second — Very early, but to this point the Raiders seem a little more into the game.
Third — Brodney Pool flagged for a blatant interference in the end zone as Browns safeties continue to struggle. Sean Jones recovers to break up a third-down pass in the end zone, though, which holds Oakland to a field goal.
Fourth — Oakland gets the ball back and moves down the field. Five yards every play. What is up with this?
Fifth — The drive ends on a 41-yard touchdown pass as Eric Wright fell for the play-action on third-and-inches. That touchdown ends a six-game stretch when the Raiders did not score a first-half touchdown.
Sixth — Not a good start for the Browns.
Seventh — Another poor throw by Anderson is intercepted. It followed three other poor throws. Will Brady Quinn play today?
Eighth — After a field goal the Raiders kick one to Cribbs and he brings it back. Joshua Cribbs: Football player. This might change the game.
Ninth — After a fumble, the Browns get a field goal but could have had a touchdown. Anderson overthrew Steve Heiden in the end zone on a two-minute drill that was not run well.

Oakland 3, Cleveland 0

From Oakland, California, the East side of the Bay …

First down — Not sure that using a timeout on third-and-40 (the Browns did that on their first possession) is that wise an idea … unless you've got a 41-yard play ready.
Second down — Kamerion Wimbley blows by Barry Sims on the Raiders first play to get a sack and force a fumble. Based on that play it could be a long day for Sims.
Third down — Joshua Cribbs' over-the-shoulder catch on Shane Lechler's 68-yard punt might turn out to be the best catch of the day.
Fourth down — The Browns safeties seem to be struggling. Sean Jones got turned around on a long pass to John Madsen, a backup tight end.
Gain of 18 …
First down — Sebastian Janikowski kicks a field goal and his second touchback, giving him 11-of-13 this season. Cribbs might have trouble getting those big returns today.

Jamal Lewis wasn't bragging Wednesday after rushing for 216 yards on 27 carries and a 66-yard touchdown in Sunday's 51-45 victory over Cincinnati. When the 28-year-old free agent running back from Baltimore was asked what his third 200-yard game meant to him, he said, "We can go out there and put up points. I hadn't done that in a long time."

As the Browns prepared to visit the Raiders, Lewis seemed more intent on keep his team on the right path than rehashing his big day.

"Hopefully we can put on a good offensive performance like we did before. That comes with hard work in practice, doing everything right, having the fundamentals down and having a chip on your shoulder like we did last week," he said.

Asked where that chip came from, he said, "Because of the first game we knew that wasn't us, we knew we didn't play like us. We had to get everything together and pull together as a team and have each other's back."

Lewis seems prepared to show the kind of leadership the Browns may have been lacking, at least on offense.

"Keeping things rolling. Guys knowing we can do this, we can win, we can put up points. Try to go out and do it week after week. That's our goal, so people will see this is not the same Cleveland Browns team of past years," he said. "With the leaders we have, that's what these guys are trying to push."

Lewis knows the Raiders will try to bring a safety up to stop him this week, but said, "That's what I like, bring the pressure and hopefully we can hit 'em over the top."

Lewis admitted a lot of friends called and congratulated him, but were not surprised at his performance.

"My friends know what I'm capable of. It's really nothing new," he said. "But at the same time it's been a long time."

And how did he feel on Tuesday after being the workhorse again?

"Pretty sore, but that's part of it," he said.

The Browns' first two games couldn't have been more disparate, which makes one wonder which is the real team? The one that managed 221 yards against Pittsburgh, still one of the toughest defenses in the league? Or the one that piled up 554 yards against Cincinnati, which has one of the NFL's most porous secondaries? My guess is that it's somewhere in the middle. But it was encouraging that the Browns playmakers finally made an impact. Braylon Edwards was diving for balls, Kellen Winslow was his usual consistent self, Joe Jurevicius was in the mix after inexplicably being lost, even in the preseason. Was it just the change in quarterbacks that made the offense click? Maybe so. But it was also the fact that Anderson quit trying to win the game by himself and started taking what the defense gave him. Plagued by interceptions even at Oregon State, Anderson may finally be figuring out that he doesn't need to force the ball into coverage when he has this many playmakers.

But the most encouraging thing about Sunday was the performance of the offensive line. Cleveland sank millions of dollars into Joe Thomas and Eric Steinbach and it looks like it was money well spent. They've spent only two games together after Steinbach's preseason injury, which bodes well for the future. Browns fans have finally gotten their wish — an investment in the offensive line — and it looks like they were right all along in what the organization's priorities should have been.

SCORE

First down — Before the play, I say I agree with the Browns decision to go for it on fourth-and-inches with more than 14 minutes left. Gotta keep scoring to win this game, and punting the ball does not let you score.
Second down — The Browns don't make it. Guess they should have punted.
Third down — Well it's safe to say that Derek Anderson has justified the faith the Browns front office and coaching staff showed in him. Ditto for Jamal Lewis.
Fourth down — Apparently both teams agreed before the game that rushing the passer and tackling would be illegal in this game.
Fifth down — Braylon Edwards lays out for a touchdown pass. Anderson now has five. This is the team that was described to the world during preseason. Gigantic credit to them for hanging tough after a dismal opening week.
Sixth down — Carson Palmer is pretty unbelievable. And where does Glenn Holt come from? With 3:39 left, the Bengals cut it to six. Now is when good teams win games by running the ball and the clock. Can the Browns do it?
Seventh down (we've completely lost the concept on this down thing, by the way) — You would hate, hate, hate to give Carson Palmer one more chance to win this game when you're ahead by six.
Eighth down — Leigh Bodden's interception ends the game. What a game. What a win. What an effort by the Browns, who rebounded from an amazingly tough opener. Credit to them all.

Browns 41, Bengals 38

First down — Hate to start the second half with an interception on the first play, but that's what happened. But the Browns defense does a good job holding the Bengals to a field goal.
Second down — Another good drive by the Browns after they hold Cincinnati to a field goal, with Kellen Winslow converting a key third down before a 32-yard score to Braylon Edwards. This is the team we were told about prior to the season.
Third down — The Browns are using Winslow effectively as a third receiver on third down. Which is smart in a game that is pretty much defenseless.
Fourth down — Cincinnati responds with a touchdown. Someone in the press box looked up and said, "This is like a MAC game."
Fifth down (bear with us) — Jamal Lewis runs through a huge hole for 66 yards and a score. Browns lead 41-31. At this point you wonder if the first one to 50 wins.
Sixth down (hang in) — As Cincinnati drives again, the same guy looked up and said, "This is like a high school game." Doesn't matter if it's like grade school if it's a win.
Seventh down — Palmer throws his fifth touchdown pass. Now 41-38. First one to 50 does win.
Eighth down — Both teams could have used Donald Rumsfeld for this game.

Browns 27, Bengals 21

First down — Browns cornerback Leigh Bodden is limping noticeably. He hurt a groin muscle during the week. That has to affect him covering Chad Johnson.
Second down — The defense forces a fumble, with Antwan Peek ripping the ball from Rudi Johnson. Big chance early in the second quarter for the Browns to seize the momentum. They do that with a touchdown — Kellen Winslow's third-down catch setting up Joe Jurevicius' 17-yard touchdown catch. The Browns take advantage of turnovers to take a 13-7 lead. Now it's up to the defense.
Third down — The Bengals throw a touchdown pass to T. J. Houshmandzedeh, who just gets his feet down (or so the official said). But the play clock had run out … Cincinnati clearly snapped the ball after the play clock hit zero. It should have been a delay of game. The Bengals take a 14-13 lead when they should have had second-and-15.
Fourth down — Joshua Cribbs sets up another Anderson-to-Jurevicius touchdown pass. The Browns lead 20-14, and provide the kind of effort that was missing a week ago. This is more like it. A week late is certainly better than never.
Fifth down (bear with me) — Brodney Pool levels Glenn Holt after a catch down the sidelines and is penalized. The fans don't like it, but Pool led with his helmet, and the rules say that's illegal against a defenseless player, which Holt was. Chad Johnson ends the drive with a touchdown, aided by three defensive penalties. Johnson gave Leigh Bodden an inside-out move, and you wonder if Bodden was able to turn to cover him.
Sixth down (keep bearing with me) — Joshua Cribbs? Football player.
Seventh down (this is getting hard to keep up with) — Derek Anderson leads the Browns to a touchdown and Cleveland scores on five possessions in a row. Officialy, let it be known: This is impressive.

Cincinnati 7, Cleveland 6

First down — Rudi Johnson finishes an easy opening drive with a 13-yard touchdown reception for Cincinnati. That's the first touchdown reception of his career. The Browns continue to set marks in the wrong way.
Second down — First Browns series is three-and-out, with two Derek Anderson throws behind Braylon Edwards. The next possession starts with good field position and a first down, but Braylon Edwards drops a pass and Anderson loses the ball, then overthrows an open Joe Jurevicius in the end zone. The Browns get a field goal, but field goals are not enough points against this Bengals offense.
Third down — Anderson drops the ball or has it knocked out more than any quarterback in recent memory. It happened several times during training camp. He must have the smallest hands in the league.
Fourth — The Browns come up with another field goal and trail by one, which is encouraging. Still, getting field goals against the Bengals just doesn't seem like enough.

The Browns have not been able to bounce back on the field under coach Romeo Crennel, failing to post back-to-back victories in his two-plus seasons. But Thursday's mood in the locker room was surprisingly upbeat after Sunday's 34-7 loss to Pittsburgh and Tuesday's quarterback upheaval. It seemed Wednesday that players like Kellen Winslow and Braylon Edwards were saddened by the loss of their friend. But Thursday Winslow grabbed a radio reporter's microphone and playfully asked Leigh Bodden a couple questions. (Not newspaper-worthy though: "Who was the Madden champ last year? Who was it the year before?" Bodden said he won both years.) The funniest part was Winslow's exasperation in trying to get a question in.
It may not translate to a victory Sunday against Cincinnati, but at least the debacle against Pittsburgh seems to be behind them.

Charlie Frye could be upset or bitter at the way the Browns' quarterback competition was handled this summer, but he's not that kind of person. He's probably more excited about where he ended up when he was traded to Seattle Tuesday. As recently as Monday night, ex-Browns tackle Doug Dieken said he thought Frye was a West Coast quarterback. As the Jeff Garcia experiment showed, the Browns have never known what to do with those type players. They also haven't shown any knack for building a team around what their players do best. Heaven forbid Brady Quinn turns out to be a West Coast guy.

Frye can learn under Matt Hasselbeck and coach Mike Holmgren. Ex-Browns quarterback Trent Dilfer raved about the time he spent with Hasselbeck and chances are he told Frye the same thing in the past few hours. Holmgren may not have been able to handle general manager duties, but he got the Seahawks to the Super Bowl after the 2005 season. He has another quarterback who can run in Seneca Wallace, so there should be plenty in the Seahawks playbook that will fit Frye if he's called upon. Plus, Seattle comes to Cleveland on Nov. 4. It's not likely to happen, but just imagine a Frye vs. Quinn matchup….

Listening to general manager Phil Savage Tuesday brought no clarity to the Browns quarterback situation except for the fact that they refuse to rush rookie Brady Quinn. They're presumably willing to sacrifice wins to keep him from getting shellshocked by the tough defenses they face the first six weeks. Derek Anderson couldn't handle the pressure when he was handed the quarterback job at the start of training camp, so how will he react to merely keeping the seat warm for Quinn? Not exactly an easy assignment.

Let's hope that Frye, a good guy to the end, enjoys his football life in what has to be a less-dysfunctional organization. After Quinn's holdout, the Browns wanted Anderson to be their starting quarterback all along. Now opposing defensive backs who have incentive clauses for interceptions in the contracts must be licking their chops.

Savage tried to dispel the notion that there's no experimenting going on in Berea. Whatever they're doing, it may result in forcing Quinn to the fore long before the Browns wanted.