Big Bills Bash Browns

When C.J. Spiller left the field holding his left shoulder in Cleveland on Sunday, it was easy to imagine the rest of the day going much the same as the last 12 years for the Buffalo Bills.

For 12 minutes on Sunday in Cleveland, Spiller had continued to prove himself the most dynamic running back of the young National Football League season, keying the Bills’ 14-0 opening spurt.

Without him, and with Fred Jackson still out with a knee injury suffered in the season-opening debacle against the New York Jets, the offense would sputter.

Without his most dangerous big-play threat to take pressure off him, Ryan Fitzpatrick would eventually start coughing up turnovers.

Buffalo’s defense, provided with little rest and lousy field position, would get battered by Cleveland power runner Trent Richardson. That would give Richardson’s fellow rookie, quarterback Brandon Wheeden, enough space to make enough plays to overcome the early deficit.

You could almost see Fitzgerald fluttering one into the hands of a Browns defender late in the fourth quarter. A ninth straight road loss, this one to a previously winless and painfully young team, would set up a potentially season-dooming visit next week by Buffalo’s arch-nemeses, the New England Patriots.

All that the unfolding nightmare lacked was a shot of Dick Jauron, standing motionless and emotionless, taking it all in.

But, what do you know? Forty-eight minutes of game time later, rather than triggering a characteristic collapse, Spiller’s absence had allowed the Bills to show that they are more than a fancy running back or two on their way to a 24-14 win.

With and without their marquee star, Buffalo’s front lines kicked the crap out of their Cleveland counterparts.

On offense, the blockers cleared enough space for Tashard Choice, who started the year at No. 3 on the depth chart, to run 20 times for 91 yards.

For the third time in as many games, they kept Fitzgerald from getting sacked (though his drive-killing second-quarter fumble was officially recorded as a “team sack,” at least initially) and gave him time to whittle away at the Browns with short tosses. Of his 22 completions, only a 32-yard touchdown hookup with Spiller moved the ball more than 18 yards down field. And that solitary big play came on a screen pass.

Speaking of sacks, each member of Buffalo’s front four recorded at least part of one, with Mario “Heeeeeeyyyy” Williams getting his first solo dump and later teaming up with Marcell Dareus on another. At least as significantly, they eliminated Richardson as any kind of factor, limiting the third overall pick in last spring’s draft to 27 yards on 12 carries.

This from a defense that has ranked 28^th, 32^nd and 30^th in the 32-team NFL in run defense the last three years, and has not finished better than 22^nd since 2004.

Not coincidentally, that was the last time the Bills got the sort of line play on both sides of the ball that they have demonstrated the last two weeks. It was also the last time they made a serious run at a playoff berth.

It may be too early to talk postseason just three weeks into the regular schedule. But at 2-1, such a discussion looks very possible, eventually.

WE WANT MARANGI MVP: As spectacular as it was, the 91-yard punt return touchdown by Leodis McKelvin a week ago against Kansas City was largely decorative, pushing Buffalo’s lead to 35-3.

In Cleveland, though, McKelvin’s returns of 20 and 33 yards on the first two Browns punts set up drives of 58 and 49 yards to the first two Buffalo touchdowns. And with Cleveland driving toward making it a one-possession game with four minutes remaining, McKelvin intercepted Weeden to snuff the Browns’ last hope.

PREMATURE SPECULATION OF THE WEEK: Last-string CBS play-by-play man Spero Dedes proclaimed the following after Spiller’s brilliant run through the Browns defense after catching the screen from Fitzpatrick made it 14-0: “This is reminiscent of the Bills of the early ‘90s.”

Well, the uniforms are the same color. That is about the extent of the resemblance at this juncture, though, Spero.

ENOUGH, ALREADY: I guess providing the E-Trade baby with the voice of an arrogant frat boy-turned-smug creep was a clever enough shtick, if you like that kind of thing. It must appeal to the day-trader types out there, but I, for one, would like to see the child (and/or the comic genius who provides its voice) spanked slowly and deliberately. Or at least audited.

NEXT WEEK: Baltimore’s 31-30 comeback win over New England means one of two things as the 1-2 Patriots come to town looking up at the Bills in the AFC East standings.

Either they have slipped, suddenly and precipitously, leaving them vulnerable to a second straight loss in Orchard Park.

Or they are going to be really, really pissed.

(Photo of Browns fans cravenly bailing on their team after Stevie Johnson's touchdown made it 24-14 taken by longtime BillStuff, Season Ticket and We Want Marangi contributor Tim, who infiltrated Cleveland for the game.)