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The incredible ricochet ending to the Browns victory over the Ravens helped obscure one important fact that has contributed to Cleveland's surprising revival this year more than anything else: players on the team capable of making big plays in clutch situations and then actually doing so. If you're a Browns fan or just happened to catch the game on TV, there's no need to list them all here, but needless to say each one contributed greatly to the final outcome.

All successful teams in the NFL need at least 3 playmakers on both sides of the ball plus a key special teams player that can step up and make a great play at anytime, but especially in the 4th quarter with the outcome of a game on the line. Surrounding these playmakers with teammates that are solid players in their own right is vital of course, but ultimately in the NFL it comes down time and time again to the ability of the key playmakers to do what they get paid millions of dollars for: make a game changing play to turn a loss into a win. Without at least that many clutch playmakers on both sides of the ball, teams are often gambling on luck to help them win, and that won't get you very far in the NFL.

In Derek Anderson, Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow, the Browns have 3 young playmakers in the process of establishing themselves as NFL stars. Surround them with other key players such as Joe Thomas, Eric Steinbach, Jamal Lewis and Joe Jurevicius, and it's not hard to see why Cleveland has climbed the statistical charts on offense and is the main reason the team is 6-4 and contending for the playoffs during a season in which they were supposed to win no more than 4 or 5 games.

On defense, the team stats don't match up nearly as well, and in fact are near the bottom of the league in some categories, but somehow they manage to come up with just enough big plays at key moments to hold down the score and allow their own offense to pull out a victory.

Kamerion Wimbley, Robaire Smith and a mostly young group of linebackers are learning to pressure quarterbacks more consistently (helped lately by some effective blitz calls). Although the backfield has given up too many touchdown passes, a lot of that can be attributed to the lack of a consistent pass rush, especially early in the year, and lately they too have come up with big plays, witness the Browns franchise record 100 yard interception return for a touchdown yesterday by Brodney Pool. In previous years, the ball would have likely slipped out of his hands, or he would have tripped heading down the sideline. Once a team starts believing in itself and has some success at winning those kind of close games, somehow those plays are made rather than just barely missed.

Perhaps most important to all of this, however, is the weapon the Browns have developed on special teams, none other than ex-Kent State quarterback Josh Cribbs. There is no doubt that without his contributions both returning kicks (sure to be a Pro Bowler this year) and on the coverage team, the Browns likely would have lost 2 or 3 of these close games. Cribbs has been nothing short of phenomenal, and it proves the point that coaches are always making (especially winning coaches), that a team must win the special teams battle to have a chance in the NFL, and often it is the deciding factor.

In short, what's happening this year is what all Browns fans have been screaming at their TV sets for years: "Someone just make a play!". Today, those fans can relish in the fact that their team has a number of players who can answer that plea. If they keep doing so for another 6 games, the unlikeliest of situations may occur, the Browns in the NFL playoffs. Mr. Cribbs, that would be special indeed.

Tags: cleveland browns