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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Eddie George wasn't slowed by the driving snow,
icy winds or frozen field. The Cleveland Browns couldn't stop him
either.
|  | | Titans running back Eddie George scored two of his three touchdowns in the first half Sunday. |
George rushed for 176 yards on 34 carries and scored three
touchdowns Sunday, and Jeff Fisher became Tennessee's winningest
coach as the Titans plowed to a frigid 24-0 win over the Cleveland
Browns.
"That was Eddie's game," said kick returner Derrick Mason, who
set a single-season NFL record for all-purpose yardage. "They put
eight and nine guys in the box and he still got three and four
yards. He was the MVP."
The Titans (12-3) won their third in a row and moved a little
closer to winning the AFC Central and clinching home-field
advantage throughout the playoffs.
Tennessee, which posted its first shutout in seven seasons, can
clinch home field with a victory on Christmas night against Dallas
or a Baltimore loss to the Jets on Sunday.
Going anywhere will be nice after spending a frozen Sunday on
the shores of Lake Erie.
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TOM DONAHOE'S BREAKDOWN |
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Question on the Titans: Should Eddie
George be considered the MVP front-runner now?
Donahoe: George always seems to find a way to get it done for the
Titans. He has struggled most of this season with a turf toe and has missed
significant practice time from week to week. But when the game is on, George
is a warrior and one of the toughest, most physical running backs in the
league. Not only can he hurt you as a ball carrier, but he has also improved
greatly this season in his receiving skills. He is durable, and next week he
will likely set an NFL record for number of carries in a season. It is
difficult to imagine where the Titans would be without Eddie
George and he definitely should be considered for the MVP. The
front-runner? It may come down to next week for all of the MVP candidates.
Question on the Browns: Why should Chris Palmer be kept as head
coach?
Donahoe: These Browns are only in their second year as an expansion
team and have suffered lots of injuries this season. At last count, the
Browns had at least 14 players on injured reserve and four of them are
quarterbacks. This is not Chris Palmer's fault. One of the most damaging
injuries the Browns suffered was when quarterback Tim
Couch went out early in the season. Couch had shown tremendous
improvement in his second year and was on his way to doing some special
things. In many areas, the Browns are a better team this year than they were
last year. The Cleveland organization should give coach Palmer more time to
develop this franchise into a consistent winner.
Tom Donahoe, ESPN.com's NFL analyst, was formerly the Steelers' director
of football operations.
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By kickoff, the entire field was covered with snow, and gusting
winds dropped the wind chill from 20 degrees to a numbing minus-10.
The snow hardly let up, and players on both sidelines crowded
around space heaters.
"I don't think I've ever experienced wind like that," George
said. "It was like a razor blade out there."
So was George, who cut up the Browns defense.
"This kind of weather is made for Eddie," said Titans
quarterback Steve McNair. "In December, you rely on the running
game and that's what we did today."
Bad blood between the teams, fueled by comments Titans tight end
Frank Wycheck made after their Nov. 19 matchup, kept things warmer.
Titans safety Perry Phenix was ejected for kicking one of the
Browns.
Wycheck, who said the Browns "didn't belong on the same field
as us" last month, was involved in a pair of skirmishes.
"I took a lot of forearms to the throat," Wycheck said. "But
it was fun. I just smiled and kept playing."
George scored two of his TDs in the first half when the
conditions weren't quite as brutal. Unable to throw in the blustery
conditions, the Titans figured the safest thing was to give it to
George 25 times in the first half and watch him run for 115 yards.
A toe injury prevented George from practicing most of the week
and he was slow getting up after a 3-yard run on the final play of
the third quarter.
But moments later, George broke off a 35-yard TD run to make it
24-0. George also scored three TDs when the Titans beat the Browns
on Nov. 19, and his sixth 100-yard rushing game this season gave
him a career-high 1,426 yards.
"He's going to get his yards if they're going to keep giving
him the ball," said Browns end Keith McKenzie. "They just kept
pounding, pounding and pounding."
Fisher, in his sixth season as Tennessee's coach, won his 60th
game and passed Bum Phillips as the winningest coach in team
history. Fisher is 60-45 with the Titans. Phillips went 59-38 in
six seasons coaching the Houston Oilers, who later moved and became
the Titans.
Mason set an NFL single-season record for all-purpose yardage.
Mason had 102 yards, giving 2,578 and moving him past Lionel James,
who had 2,535 for San Diego in 1985.
A painful second season back in the NFL mercifully ended for the
Browns (3-13), who finished with five straight losses and were shut
out for the fourth time this year.
Cleveland owner Al Lerner said Sunday he expects coach Chris
Palmer to agree with some proposed changes the front office has in
mind and would likely return for his third season.
"Stability is something that this team needs," said linebacker
Jamir Miller. "I'm not a big fan of coaching changes."
Palmer, whose job security came into question after the Browns
were outscored 92-7 in consecutive games, unveiled yet another
offensive wrinkle. A week after using two wide receivers at
quarterback against Philadelphia, Palmer had running backs Travis
Prentice and Jamel White at QB in the first half.
The Browns couldn't get anything going offensively and finished
with just 113 total yards.
"The conditions were bad out there," wideout Kevin Johnson
said. "The snow was blowing so hard you couldn't see the ball."
Game notes
Nashville wasn't much warmer on Sunday with sub-zero wind
chills and snow. ... Tennessee guard Bruce Matthews, who opened
holes for George, moved past his brother, Clay, into fifth place on
the career games played list with 279. Clay Matthews, who played in
232 games for Cleveland, was an honorary co-captain and took part
in the pregame coin toss. ... The Browns finished with 42 sacks
after getting 25 in 1999. ... Cleveland P Chris Gardocki broke his
own club record with 108 punts this season. He had 106 last year.
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ALSO SEE
NFL Scoreboard
Tennessee Clubhouse
Cleveland Clubhouse
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Tim Couch Official Site
Eddie George Official Site
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