CLEVELAND — What a night on "Thursday Night Football." Two teams that desperately needed this one to get up and over that 3-3 mark and get their season back on track, and they fought right down to the end.
But in the end, it was the running back D'Ernest Johnson who was too much for the Denver Broncos all night long and certainly on the last drive of the game. What a night he had.
Filling in for the great Nick Chubb (and the great Kareem Hunt, for that matter), he stepped in and gave the Browns an amazing performance. One to remember: 146 rushing yards and a touchdown.
But it was the last drive of the game, when Denver had cut the margin down to three and the Browns needed possession (if not points). D'Ernest Johnson ran them down the field and would not be denied.
These were not wide-open runs; these were muscle runs, where he carried Bronco tacklers to the first-down stick and beyond it each time to keep the Browns on the field. He is Hero No. 1.
Hero No. 2? Case Keenum, the old pro who at 33 years of age stepped in for the injured Baker Mayfield and won the game. He operated the Browns' offense just flawlessly, using 10 different receivers to throw for 199 yards and a quick touchdown pass to Johnny Stanton that gave Cleveland a 10-point lead.
Overall, he just smoothly ran Kevin Stefanski's system, which, of course, he knows so well from his year in Minnesota with the Vikings when Stefanski was his quarterbacks coach.
The Browns got a shot in the arm late in the afternoon, when it was announced that Jarvis Landry was ready to go. In a badly needed win, he gave them five gutsy catches, and he is the motor that makes the Browns' offense move. Any time they start to wheeze and sputter, they throw that slant to Landry and he gets the job done.
Landry might've nicked up that leg again late in the game, unfortunately (remember, he's just back from a sprained MCL), but he was sensational in the ballgame to help the Browns carry through and get the win.
As for they Browns' defense, they came up with a turnover when John Johnson III picked off Teddy Bridgewater in the end zone early in the second quarter. They only gave up a couple of touchdowns and held serve, playing much better that they had in the previous two weeks.
Overall, the Browns are now 4-3, that two-game losing streak is beyond them, and they get time (which is the most precious thing for them) to heal and hopefully get some players back. Then, a week from Sunday, they finally get into the AFC North — their first division game when they take on the Pittsburgh Steelers on Halloween, no less.
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What a Thursday night for D'Ernest Johnson. From a kid that worked out of a fishing boat to get back into football, to the star in a nationally televised game.
Enjoy your "Victory Friday," and make it all weekend long, for that matter.
Listen to Jimmy's top calls from the game in the player below: