As Derek Anderson and Braylon Edwards go, so go the Browns — and, boy, did they get going on Monday Night Football.
Anderson played his first superb game since last November and Edwards had the most prolific day of his still young career, leading Cleveland to a remarkable 35-14 victory over the Super Bowl champion New York Giants.
“We are the Cleveland Browns and we showed we are a pretty good football team,’’ coach Romeo Crennel said. “Braylon Edwards, he looked like the All-Pro wide receiver we expected him to be like (all year). The quarterback has a lot of resolve to him and he’s beginning to come together.
“It’s pretty good to see them on the same page because they make plays.’’
For the first time this season, the quiet quarterback and the brash wide receiver looked like the same guys who went to the 2007 Pro Bowl and led the Browns to 10 wins along the way.
Even more satisfying to the sellout crowd at Cleveland Browns Stadium, they did it against an undefeated team on the biggest stage in the sport with a worldwide audience watching.
Anderson passed for a season-best 310 yards, two touchdowns and a 2-point conversion, while Edwards had a career-high 154 receiving yards, caught one TD and was the recipient of the deuce.
“Braylon and I, we could just look at each other tonight and know what they were doing,’’ said Anderson, who completed passes to eight receivers. “It felt just like it was all last season for us.’’
Since their success went hand in hand with the team’s prosperity last year — and their struggles have sabotaged it this fall — it was appropriate for Edwards and Anderson to bounce back under conditions that appeared bleak at best.
As ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski said earlier in the day: “Strange things tend to happen on Monday Night Football, especially when a team like the Browns knows their season is on the line. I predict they’ll play a very good game and they’ll feed off the raucous crowd that’s going to be behind them.’’
Anderson and Edwards did just that, at least temporarily saving Cleveland’s season and putting them back in the ranks of the respectable at 2-3.
“You could feel it and you could see it in guys’ eyes before the game,’’ Anderson said. “We never lost faith that we were a good team.’’
Fittingly, Anderson went over 300 yards on the same play that Edwards surpassed his previous career best of 149. Even more appropriately, it was an 11-yard touchdown that gave Cleveland all the momentum and a 27-14 lead.
“I watched Reggie Bush (on MNF last week) and I wanted to play like that,’’ Edwards said. “We got the win, so that makes it even more special.’’
While Edwards and Anderson were true playmakers from start to finish, the mystifying offensive game plan of Giants coach Tom Coughlin also played into the Browns’ hands.
Instead of allowing bruising back Brandon Jacobs to wear down Cleveland’s injury-plagued defensive line, he only gave him five carries in the first 33 minutes.
Browns defensive coordinator Mel Tucker, on the other hand, adopted an aggressive approach. He blitzed early and often, which paid off as Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning made one poor decision after another.
Manning threw a first-quarter interception to Brodney Pool, a third-period pick to Brandon McDonald, then allowed Eric Wright to put the icing on the cake with a 94-yard theft for a touchdown in the fourth.
The New York golden boy finished with 114 fewer passing yards than D.A. and just 42 more than Edwards had through the air. So much for the talk that Eli was the better Manning brother.
“I think he felt the presence of our guys in the pocket,’’ Crennel said. “You also saw that our defensive backs compete and they compete, and they’re getting better.’’
At least for one evening, the same could be said about the entire Browns team. Notching two straight wins after opening the season with three ugly losses shows clear progress, which is something no one outside of Cleveland’s locker room believed was possible.
“It was a great team win for us and for this season because it kind of puts us back into the thick of this in the NFL,’’ Crennel said. “The team did a great job, the coaches did a great job, and congratulations to the fans tonight because they did a great job.’’
Contact Brian Dulik at (330) 721-4059 or brisports@hotmail.com.

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