As is becoming a theme on the season, Browns coach Pat Shurmur won the toss and elected to kick. A large amount of callers to talkback radio in the week leading up to the game had keyed in on the Browns' run defense after it was decimated by the Miami Dolphins a week prior.
Indeed, it seemed the loss of Scott Fujita (who will return for week 5) and Pat Taylor (who will return in week 6) had left these Browns ripe for the picking by Chris 'CJ2K' Johnson as he looked to carry the Titans to their fourth straight win.
A collective groan went up around the stadium as Johnson took the handoff on the first offensive play and quickly found his way 11 yards upfield.
This didn't escape the Browns' front 7. It is amazing what can and cannot be heard on the field and a silent home crowd is deafening. The next two plays saw Johnson stuffed at the line, then a 4 yard gain, forcing Matt Hasselbeck to attempt his first pass of the game.
He wouldn't even get a chance, as he was sacked for a 6 yard loss.
On the ensuing possession, the Browns - as they have so many times this season, but never so early in the game - went for a QB sneak on 4th and 2 with 8:36 left in the 1st quarter, on their own 40. They were successful. This aggravated the Titans defense, who would stop Hillis for a 5 yard loss on first down, catch him in the backfield for a 3 yard loss on second, then pick off Colt McCoy on third down.
Now on Cleveland's side of halfway, Hasselbeck had the ideal canvas to work with. An incompletion to Johnson on first down saw him throw a 15 yard strike to Nate Washington on 2nd. Washington would complete the play, only to have the ball ripped away from him by a defense which is leading the league in takeaways this season.
The Browns would get the ball just to their side of halfway through one pass to Watson before being forced to punt as they failed to get anywhere on the next set of downs. Hasselbeck and Johnson took over on their 22 yard line, with CJ2K stuffed at the line on first down, before Hasselbeck threw an uncharacteristically errant pass to the always-waiting Joe Haden.
Cleveland's defense has been a talking point throughout the league so far this year and as the Titans arrived at the Browns' 8 yard line with 56 seconds remaining in the first quarter, they wanted to know what the fuss was about.
On 1st and 8, an incompletion by Hasselbeck to Williams may not have given them much idea. The -4 yard run by Johnson, hit as soon as he got the handoff, might have given them some rough idea. If it didn't, the 8 yard sack and near fumble recovery on Hasselbeck on third down surely did.
Three plays, 13 yards lost. The Titans settled for a field goal.
On their ensuing drive, the Browns put together a 19-play, 82 yard drive which saw them make 3 3rd down conversions and one on 4th early in the drive to end with a Montario Hardesty touchdown.
The Titans seemed to scoff at this hard work, as Johnson took the 1st down handoff back for an 80 yard touchdown to narrow the scores.
In fact, Hardesty would score the Browns' only points of the quarter, as McCoy threw his second interception to give the Titans the ball on the 34 yard line with 2:13 left in the half.
With 1:27 to go, the Titans would again find themselves on the Browns' 8 yard line and again begin asking questions of the defense. Those questions were, once again, answered convincingly.
1st & 8 on CLE 8, M.Hasselbeck incomplete pass; intended for D.Williams.
2nd & 8 on CLE 8, M.Hasselbeck incomplete pass; intended for K.Britt.
3rd & 8 on CLE 8, 0 yard rush by C.Johnson.
4th & 8 on CLE 8, R.Bironas 25 yard FG is good.
The Titans had spent 8 plays in the Browns 10 yard line, for -13 yards and 6 points. So when McCoy threw his third interception after the Bironas' FG, and Hasselbeck took his team to the Cleveland 6 with 35 seconds remaining, the Dawg Pound must have felt confident.
It wasn't to be, as Hasselbeck connected with Washington to take the lead.
The Browns must have surely been worried when the second half began with a 3-and-out, giving the ball back to a Titans team which had scored 20 unanswered points.
The only area of the team which hasn't been the subject of hype this season - special teams - managed to come through and reclaim the lead.
It would take Hasselbeck 3 minutes to get to the Cleveland 21 and find Washington for his second TD of the game - atoning for his earlier fumble.
Now up 26-20, the Titans would try the two-point conversion through Johnson, but he would once again be stuffed for no gain.
The ball would swap possession several times for the remainder of the third quarter, until Hillis managed to tuck the ball in and gain a TD on a 10 yard run with 8:46 left in the game, to make the score 27-26.
Shurmur would opt for the two-point conversion, with McCoy finding his favourite target, Watson, to put the Browns up by a field goal.
The Browns would hold the Titans to a 3-and-out, then suffer the same fate, punting the ball with 7:18 remaining in the game. But once again, the special teams would come through as they recovered a fumble on the punt on the Tennessee 21.
Five plays later Hardesty had his second score of the game and the Browns nursed a 10 point advantage.
On 3rd and 1 on the Cleveland 6 yard line with 1:57 left on the click, Hasselbeck would again fail to complete a decisive pass. The Titans would not go for it, preferring to kick a field goal.
In a decision sure to raise several eyebrows, the Titans did not opt for an onside kick to try and reclaim the ball. Instead, they handed it right back to a Browns team whose running back was averaging yards per carry.
The decision looked to have worked, as Hillis only managed to gain 3 yards on the ensuining possession., The cost to the Titans was clear though, as they burnt all their timeouts to keep the game alive. This would ultimately lead to Hasselbeck throwing a deep hail mary on 4th and 4 from his own 32 with 1:20 left to play. That ball would fall lamely to the ground, nowhere near a receiver.
McCoy could have kneeled out the clock, but he and Shurmur - as they have done several times already this season - went for one more score. It's a tactic which is earning them no friends, but as Shurmur says "we're not used to winning. So when we do, we'll f***ing enjoy it."
The win means the Browns take an unbeaten record into their bye week, before putting it on the line against the 2-2 Oakland Raiders in week 6. The Titans travel to play the Pittsburgh Steelers next week.
NOTES: The Giants, Packers 49ers and Steelers all also lost in week 4, leaving the Patriots and Browns the only unbeaten teams in the league... The Falcons, Dolphins and Jaguars have all slid to 0-4 records... Chiefs (3-1) QB Matt Cassel leads the NFL with a 101.0 quarterback rating, ahead of Texans (3-1) QB Jeff Garcia's 100.7. Garcia was called up after Matt Schaub's hamstring injury. Schaub will return to the team in week 6... Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco, injured in the team's 17-9 opening loss to the Steelers will miss the remainder of the season after tearing his tricep... Lions (2-2) wide receiver Calvin Johnson's 477 yards and 3 TDs off 25 receptions leads the NFL, ahead of the Buccaneers (1-3) Mike Williams (32/391/2) and Colts' (2-2) Reggie Wayne (26/388/2)... Rookie quarterback Cam Newton will miss the next five weeks after breaking his collarbone in the Panthers (1-3) loss to the Chicago Bears... Packers (3-1) linebacker Clay Matthews will miss nine weeks after suffering a broken wrist in week 3... Quarterbacks Drew Brees (1,099), Aaron Rodgers (1,092) and Josh Freeman (1,090) are continuing their battle for passing yardage supremacy... Browns (4-0) running back Peyton Hillis is leading the NFL with 621 yards and 6 TDs, ahead of Dolphins (0-4) RB Reggie Bush (473/4) and Rams (1-3) RB Steven Jackson (455/5).
| Tennessee Titans at Cleveland Browns | |||||
| Oct 2, 2011 | 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | SCORE |
| Tennessee Titans (4-0) | 0 | 20 | 6 | 3 | 29 |
| Cleveland Browns (4-0) | 7 | 7 | 7 | 22 | 43 |
| Team Stats Comparison | ||
| TEN | CLE | |
| Total Offense | 432 | 338 |
| Rushing Yards | 127 | 241 |
| Passing Yards | 305 | 97 |
| First Downs | 17 | 19 |
| Punt Return Yards | -1 | 20 |
| Kick Return Yards | 139 | 96 |
| Total Yards | 570 | 454 |
| Turnovers | 4 (-1) | 3 (+1) |
| 3rd Down Converstion | 5-15 (33%) | 9-20 (45%) |
| 4th Down Conversion | 1-2 (50%) | 3-3 (100%) |
| 2-Point Conversion | 0-1 (0%) | 1-1 (100%) |
| Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals | 1/3 | 4/0 |
| Penalties | 3-20 | 2-10 |
| Posession Time | 16:53 | 31:07 |
| Scoring Summary | |||
| FIRST QUARTER SCORING | TEN | CLE | |
| 3:57 | (CLE) J.Haden, returned interception 30 yards (P.Dawson kick) | 0 | 7 |
| SECOND QUARTER SCORING | TEN | CLE | |
| 11:56 | (TEN) R.Bironas, 38 yard FG | 3 | 7 |
| 4:34 | (CLE) M.Hardesty, 6 yard run (P.Dawson kick) | 3 | 14 |
| 4:23 | (TEN) C.Johsnon, 80 yard run (R.Bironas kick) | 10 | 14 |
| 1:13 | (TEN) R.Bironas, 25 yard FG | 13 | 14 |
| 0:18 | (TEN) N.Washington 6 yard pass (R.Bironas kick) | 20 | 14 |
| THIRD QUARTER SCORING | TEN | CLE | |
| 11:32 | (CLE) D.Patterson, returned muffed punt 32 yards (P.Dawson kick) | 20 | 21 |
| 8:00 | (TEN) N.Washington 21 yard pass from M.Hasselbeck (two-point conversion failed) | 26 | 21 |
| FOURTH QUARTER SCORING | TEN | CLE | |
| 8:42 | (CLE) P.Hillis, 10 yard run (two-point conversion good, B.Watson 2 yard pass from C.McCoy) | 26 | 29 |
| 5:00 | (CLE) M.Hardesty, 6 yard run (P.Dawson kick) | 26 | 36 |
| 1:49 | (TEN) R.Bironas, 23 yard FG | 29 | 36 |
| 0:04 | (CLE) P.Hillis, 1 yard run (P.Dawson kick) | 29 | 43 |
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