Browns 24 - Vikings 0
The Cleveland Browns (3-0) continued their winning ways by knocking off the Vikings at the Dog Pound. The Browns were without star WR Trent Platt for the first full game and the team simply did not miss a beat. It was certainly a team effort in this one as the defense only gave up 118 yards to the Vikes. Peyton and the passing game chipped in with 141 yards through the air while the running game racked up a season high 146 yards.
Peyton Manning last season had a very rough season but finds himself in the grove early this year. Manning leads all QB's with a 75% completion percentage as well as QB rating with a 140.1. The Browns defense has also only yielded 21 points through the teams first 3 games. Last year the Browns gave up the most points in the league.
Game Recap:
The game started off fairly slow as the Vikings were forced to punt early to the Browns after getting the ball on the opening kick off. The Browns responded quickly on the strength of a Trent Richardson rushing TD to take the early 7-0. Fast forward to the second quarter when Trent Richardson scampered in for the 11 yard TD run for his second of the game. After another Vikings punt, the Browns came knocking on the door once more on the heels of Peyton Manning to Antonio Bryant for the the 21 yard TD pass. This closed out the half with the Browns leading 21-0.
The second half was for very uneventful other than a last attempt rally by the Vikings which was stalled at the Browns 30 yard line. The Browns put away a FG early in the 4th quarter to seal the victory. The win did cost Cleveland something though as Chad Greenway injured himself in the 4th quarter. He will now miss the next 4 weeks.
Trent Platt is set to return soon as he only has 3 weeks left to heal after the conclusion of this week. Lucky for the Browns, they have their bye coming up right after next weeks date with the Bengals.
Browns Stats
Peyton Manning - 7/9, 141 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT's
Trent Richardson - 20 carries, 85 yards, 2 TD's
Troy Franklin - 2 Carries, 57 yards
D'Antwone Baltimore - 3 Receptions, 76 yards
Enoch Williams (DE) - 3 Tackles, 3 Tackles for a loss, 1 Sack,
Vikings Stats
Sam Bradford - 7/19, 72 yards, 0 TD's, O INT's
Stevan Ridley - 13 carries, 49 yards
Nick Barnett (LB) - 7 Tackles, 1 Tackle for a loss,
Next week the Browns face off against their division rival; the Bengals. Last year the Bengals swept the season match up but both games were decided by less than 10 points.