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By Matt Algarin
September 23, 2009
With only two touchdowns on the year, where do you go with your offense? Obviously, your passing and rushing threat wouldn't scare a child, let alone an NFL-caliber defense.
At least when you are the Cleveland Browns anemic offense, you can count on Phil Dawson.
You're probably saying to yourself, "What? A kicker?"
Think about it.
When most running backs gained more yards last week than you have gained all year, there may be a problem.
Jamal Lewis is hurt again. He will be out for Sunday's game against the Raven's with a hamstring injury that Mangenius will no doubt try to disguise as God knows what.
And most defenses will not be worried when you are throwing James Harrison out as your backup, blowing away the opposing defensive lines with a blazing 2.7 yards per rush.
Then you look at the receivers and, needless to say, opponents will again not be trembling.
Don't get me wrong, I am a Browns fan through and through. I remember sitting in old Cleveland Municipal Stadium, freezing my butt off, cheering on my home team.
But when your leading receiver has only seven receptions for 104 yards, you have to worry a little. Then again, at least Braylon Edwards has been able to hold on to the ball so far.
At least we can take comfort in the fact that our Pro Bowl return man, Josh Cribbs, is tied for the team lead in receptions.
But let's put our focus back to Dawson, who has been the only bright spot on this offense so far. Dawson's 47-yard field goal in the first quarter of Sunday's game at Denver put him in a tie with Don Cockroft for second place on the teams all-time field goal list.
With 216 field goals as a member of the Browns, Dawson is only 18 away from tying Hall of Famer Lou Groza for first all-time.
The downside to this historic moment for Dawson is that after his second field goal of the day, it makes him the team's leading scorer on the season.
Dawson, who is perfect on the year, may just lead this team in scoring the entire season unless the offense can get off its butt and get in gear.
In the Week one loss to the Vikings, Dawson became only the third Browns player to reach 900 career points with the team. The kicker now has 914 points, putting him behind only Cockroft with 1,080 and Groza with 1,608.
So please give Phil Dawson a hand. We should be extremely proud of his accomplishments with our beloved franchise.
At least we have someone who can score on a consistent basis.
Thanks Phil.
