Is Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton turning a corner or just following a career trend?

The hype is building around Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton.

CBS Sports NFL Insider Pat Kirwan writes Dalton is on his way to big a payday.

Former quarterbacks Phil Simms, Rich Gannon and Steve Beuerlein think the Bengals are now Super Bowl contenders after Dalton's recent outings.

In Sunday's 49-9 trouncing of the Jets, Dalton racked up 325 yards and five touchdowns, the third consecutive game in which he has surpassed 300 yards passing and finished with at least three touchdowns.

Reaching pay dirt has Dalton reaching milestones too. The Associated Press' Joe Kay tweeted after the win: "Andy Dalton is first #Bengals QB to throw 11 touchdown passes in a three-game span, according to STATS."

The third-year quarterback out of TCU has undeniably been impressive leading the Bengals to four straight wins and helping perch them comfortably atop the AFC North.

But the big question really here is - does this mean Dalton is finally turning a corner or is he just doing what the past has shown he will?

Let's take a look at Dalton's first two seasons.

Dalton finished his rookie season with 20 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. In a five-game stretch from the first week of Oct. to the first week of Nov. 2011, he helped the Bengals reel off five straight wins and put up some of his strongest numbers (nine touchdowns to five interceptions, three games with a completion percentage of more than 60 percent). After that though, the numbers took a turn for the worse, as the Bengals went 3-5 to finish the season and lost 31-10 in the first round of the playoffs to the Texans.

During the Bengals' final eight games, Dalton had ups and downs, which was to be expected from a quarterback in his first season.

He completed 60 percent of his passes only once more in a regular season game, a win at home against the Browns, and threw six interceptions to his eight touchdowns.

It got worse in the playoff game in Houston, as Dalton was picked three times and the Bengals offense he led reached the end zone only once on a Cedric Benson run in the first quarter.

Go back to last season and you will again see an up-and-down Dalton. Struggling through a four-game losing streak in October 2012, Dalton threw more interceptions (7) than touchdowns (6). 

Following the Bengals' week nine loss to Denver, however, a massive turnaround came about.

Cincinnati won seven of its final eight games and Dalton again looked like a different quarterback.

While he didn't once throw for 300 yards, Dalton limited his turnovers (five interceptions) and capitalized to the tune of 13 touchdowns.

It appeared as if Dalton was making strides, not yet into an elite quarterback putting up gaudy numbers but one that could lead his team to victory with the help of a strong defense.

But again, in the same place as the year before, Dalton and the Bengals were thwarted. 

In a wild-card game against the feisty Houston defense, Dalton struggled, completing less than half of his passes and finishing the day with no touchdowns and an interception. This time around against the Texans it was only the Bengals' defense that scored a touchdown in a 19-13 loss.

So, in two and a half seasons, Dalton has had his fair share of Jekyll and Hyde moments.

Right now, he is performing well, which is not new. The degree to which he is excelling is a promising first. What is yet to be seen is if the downswings of the past are still to follow in 2013.

That will be the true test.

If Dalton can maintain this level of play consistently - be what Joe Flacco was for the Ravens as they won Super Bowl XLVII - the Bengals should take that next step to becoming a serious championship contender.

It can get worse than Brandon Weeden, Browns fans

Be careful what you wish for.

Many Browns fans are saying they want anyone but Brandon Weeden at quarterback after his lackluster performance Sunday in Green Bay.

Weeden was bad, to put it mildly, completing just 40 percent of his passes (17-42, 149 yards, TD, INT).

His self-described "boneheaded" underhand interception one week prior against Detroit put a halt to the Browns' comeback hopes down a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

In his second season, Weeden has been mediocre, struggling more so since his return from an injured thumb.

While Weeden may not be winning, it can get worse.

You may not believe that but it's true. 

Look no further than Monday night's performance by Josh Freeman for evidence of that.

Freeman was abysmal in his first start for the Vikings, connecting on 37.7 percent of his throws (20-53, 190 yards, INT). That completion percentage is the lowest in a game with 40 or more attempts since Eli Manning's 34-percent day taking on Washington in 2007, according to ESPN Stats and Info.

After getting released by Tampa Bay, Freeman got the start against the Giants just two weeks after signing with his new team. A limited timespan to digest a new playbook did Freeman no favors as he struggled mightily.

Yet, some believe any quarterback off the street could come into Cleveland and outproduce Weeden right now.

Freeman serves as a good guideline against that deluded notion.

While Freeman's numbers this season with the Bucs were the worst of his career, he has had success before. Last season, the former first round pick threw for 4,000 yards and 27 touchdowns. In 2010, he finished with an excellent 25 to 6 touchdown to interception ratio.

One analyst posed the question "does anybody out there think Troy Smith would be worse than Weeden?" Smith is currently playing in the CFL.

Others have suggested Matt Scott, an undrafted rookie currently on the Jaguars practice squad, Vince Young or former Browns first-round pick Brady Quinn.

Tyler Thigpen, who started a number of games for the Chiefs some years back, could be an option, as well as John Skelton, who started six games for the Cardinals last season.

The Browns have not confirmed or even expressed forthright interest in any of these possibilities. This is just a sampling of what's out there.

Take a long, hard look at these names. Pull up their career stats and see if they're really any better than what the Browns have.

Whether Jason Campbell is a better solution at the current time than Weeden is for the coaching staff to decide. You have to wonder though why he was jumped on the depth chart by Brian Hoyer and didn't even dress for the Thursday night game in which Weeden was summoned into action after Hoyer hurt his knee.

Something just seems off there.

More confounding is this idea that any quarterback can come in with less than a week of preparation and be better suited to lead the Browns into the merciless atmosphere of Arrowhead Stadium against the 7-0 Chiefs Sunday.

Weeden is not proving to be the long-term answer but it is short-sighted to think a replacement can so easily be found and succeed right away. You saw Monday night with Freeman and the Vikings how that can turn out.

Trading Josh Gordon would be mistake for Browns

Trade rumors are again spiraling around Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon after a poor performance Sunday in Green Bay.

Cutting ties with the second-year wideout from Baylor would be a mistake for a few reasons.

- Gordon’s return factored into win streak

While the spark of Brian Hoyer is viewed as the main catalyst to the Browns’ three-game win streak, Gordon coming back from suspension also played a major role in that. Gordon was a difference maker in the win in Minnesota, kickstarting the offense early with a 22-yard end-around and 47-yard touchdown reception down the sideline in the first quarter.

Since his first game back, the focus on Gordon has inexplicably decreased. Against the Vikings, the Browns made a concerted effort to involve Gordon, targeting him 19 times. But in the four weeks following that win, the targets are: 9, 6, 9, 6.

With those six targets Sunday, Gordon caught just two passes for 21 yards and has received a lot of brush back. Some are saying Gordon didn’t fight hard enough to pull in a crucial 4th and 15 pass in the fourth quarter. Watch it again and you will see the defensive back made a solid play, as Gordon said. It’s difficult questioning a guy’s effort in a single moment like that.

Gordon did not excel against the Packers and it’s a game he will want to forget but who in brown and white did have success? Not the guy throwing the ball, any of the team’s other wide receivers or anyone carrying the ball. The Browns’ offense was a black hole in week 7 and to shift the blame to one of the team’s stronger assets is a deflection in the wrong direction.

- Gordon has not yet reached his full potential

It’s a noted trend that wide receivers have a learning curve upon entering the NFL. Most do not come in and immediately tear it up the way we have seen rookie quarterbacks in recent years.

Gordon, selected by the Browns in the second round of the 2012 supplemental draft, put up solid numbers in his rookie season(50 receptions, 805 yards, 5 TD). Those were among the best for rookie receivers.

Years two and three are notable for receivers stepping up to the next level, as this ESPN piece outlines in detail. Last season, AJ Green, Julio Jones and Randall Cobb had major breakout sophomore campaigns and Dez Bryant, Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker arrived on the scene in their third NFL season.

In just 21 NFL games, Gordon has shown signs that he has the skills to be a top wide receiver in the league. Those guys don’t just come around everyday and they take time to develop. 

He has also played the majority of his games with a quarterback most want benched.

You may not believe Gordon is giving his maximum effort or that his off-the-field problems will catch up to him. The prospect of a one-year suspension for another failed drug test does pose a serious risk. But all of that is projecting at this point.

For a team that has been lacking a consistent dynamic threat on offense for years at a time, you have to take a chance and ride out the risks.

- Whoever the next quarterback is needs help

Looking ahead, most can see that the Browns will have a new quarterback in 2014. With the trade of Trent Richardson for the Colts’ first round pick, the Browns have stocked up on picks in May’s draft. It is pretty clear that Brandon Weeden and Jason Campbell are not the future at the position.

Whether it’s Brian Hoyer in the interim to start 2014 or a rookie right out of the gate, the quarterback will need help. If it is a rookie that gets the starting job right away, it would be a major mistake to trot him out there without experienced weapons at his disposal.

A receiver like Gordon, going into his third season, would be an immense help for a quarterback entering the league. To ask a new signal-caller to develop with solely other rookies or mediocre skill players is not an ideal prospect,

When it comes to trades you also have to view what would come in return. Though it was controversial and seemed a concession in the immediate aftermath, the Browns’ trade of Richardson is beginning to look less crazy as the weeks go on. If it’s a truly astronomical offer, you have to at least consider trading most players that aren’t elite superstars. But right now, the idea of parting with Gordon is a hard one to swallow.

Getting my appendix out: 'I'm so SCARED'

When you have a major life event happen, you have to blog about it. Yes, even if it's one surrounding a vestigial organ.

So here goes nothing...

Monday, 7 p.m.: Ouch. This off-and-on pain that began Saturday night has now continued into day three in its worst form yet. It might be time to do something now that the jutting into my right side isn't going away.

After the "maybe it'll just magically disappear stage" fades, I make the decision to go the emergency room.  Now that I have a car, I decide I can drive over there. It will probably be something stupid, I'll feel better and just head home. I pull out my keys and head down to the parking lot. As I put the key into the ignition, my month-old Ford Focus is not starting.

Hit the internal panic button.

In an instant, I became as frantic as a head coach after a ref misses a call.

"Screw it." I jolt back up to my apartment, call my grandma, then decide I'm just gonna have to call a cab.

But remember, I'm in total panic mode right now, kind of like when the 2011 Eagles realized the "dream team" they assembled was a bust going absolutely nowhere. I call a cab company who can't tell me exactly how quickly the cab will get to my apartment.

Cue more freaking out. I call my grandma and tell her my appendix will probably rupture before the cab even gets here (no overdramatic antics at all here).

The cab ends up getting to my apartment in about 10 minutes. My panic was about as warranted as the five minutes everyone flipped out last week on Twitter when Tom Brady threw a late-game interception before leading a game-winning drive against the Saints.

Anyway, I get to the emergency room and get my bracelet. I see the doctor relatively expediently and get ordered to have some tests.

Back in the waiting room, there's no Monday Night Football to watch but instead Dancing with the Stars.

As my wait continues, the one saving grace is that Elizabeth Berkley is going to perform a dance to "I'm So Excited," channeling every wonderful Saved by the Bell memory of my youth. How fitting that at the very moment I am nervous about my fate, Jessie Spano is recreating her fears about caffeine pills in the form of a reality television dance. 

I can't tell you how much this meant to me.

However, as the wait goes on, I'm becoming much less thrilled with this whole ordeal. Castle is on, then the news, and Jimmy Kimmel. I sit on the floor and charge my phone for a little while, thankful in my frenzy earlier in the evening that I had the foresight to bring the charger. There's this really annoying family in the waiting room who is slowly wearing away at my nerves and I just want to move along. 

Finally, just before midnight, I get called in to get the tests done.

By now, I'm really tired, sitting on a bed in an ER room. From here, I call off work just before I'm wheeled away to get a cat-scan.

One side note: the TV in this ER has Showtime. I'm watching ads for Homeland and Masters of Sex in between visits from the nurse or doctor and that's kinda crazy.

Anyway, the doctor comes back in and says it looks like I may have appendicitis.

Thud.

Apparently, I'm the last patient in that wing of the ER for the night so I have to be moved. I get wheeled into a hallway while waiting for a bed to open. At least this provides some entertainment.

My favorite bit was probably this creepy looking guy standing outside of the restroom, which was right across from where I was stationed. A woman was in there when he initially approached so he had to wait. He awkwardly watches as the nurse is taking my vitals. The woman exits the bathroom and my nurse asks him if he was waiting for the bathroom. No response.

Thirty seconds later, she again asks and tells him no one is in there. He still doesn't answer. It takes another physically going up to him for this guy to actually make use of the facility and stop gawking.


Soon after, a surgeon comes to the spot I've made mine in the hallway and tells me I have acute appendicitis and will be having my appendix removed. He was very clear, nothing like the literal doctor on "Arrested Development" who always confused the Bluths.

It's past 4 a.m. now. People from work are tweeting and I realize this is turning into a saga - not quite a three-parter like Twilight but we're getting there. I decide to use social media to tweet that I'm getting my appendix out. A co-worker asks if me I'll be back into work later that day. I spend a minute debating if he's joking or serious.

My awesome nurse finally gets me a room and I am put in a wheelchair then taken to a new area. The doctor had initially told me the surgery could be as soon as 7:30 a.m. which was like three hours away. Talk about quick (it wouldn't happen that soon).

My mom comes that morning and then we wait some more. 

I'm not allowed to eat or drink but my nurse gives me these swabs to wet my mouth which were basically the most amazing tools at that given moment. 

Finally around noon, a woman in all blue enters the room and it's time.

I'm brought outside a room and a slew of anesthesiologists come up to me. I'm asked my name and birthday so many times that I feel like a celebrity - everyone wants to know my name.

The anesthesiologist asks me if a couple drinks usually get to me. I tell her I went to OU. 

She gives me something and I'm starting to fade a bit. She tells me I'd be a cheap date. This makes me laugh.

I'm brought into the operating room and put on a more narrow surface. A mask is put over my mouth and after a few breaths the next thing I remember isn't for a few hours. 

Thankfully, my mom was documenting things unbeknownst to me. I found out days later the start time of my surgery was 12:57 p.m. and I was out by 2:17 p.m. 

That's quicker than like three innings are played between the Yankees and Red Sox. I'm impressed.

In the recovery area, I start waking up but I'm confused. I think at one point I asked if the Browns game was on, even though this was a Tuesday. Again, I can't confirm this. Disorientation at my surroundings was an understatement.

Eventually, I'm rolled back up to my room and am starting to get back some semblance of understanding. I see my nurse Anna, who was also excellent. I wanted to know where my mom was. And now I was starting to feel pain.

My mom comes up and I decide I have to pee - BUT I CAN'T GO.

I really can't explain to you the drama this produced at this given moment. I really believed I was never going to be able to urinate again. It was one of those moments I imagine older Cubs fans have when it just hits them that they really may never see the Cubs win the World Series in their lifetime and there's nothing they can do about it.

Eventually, I'm able to go. If I weren't able to go soon, I was reaching a frustration level that may have led me to pull a Chris Perez and delete Twitter just because it would give me some control.

Yes, I know this sounds ridiculous but at the time it was a transcendent moment, like if Cleveland were to win a sports championship (except I couldn't really scream or jump up and down in excitement).

After surgery, I was on a "clears" diet, which meant Jello for me. I hadn't had Jello in such a long time that the initial prospect of this was actually quite appealing. 

All the colors - red, green, orange.

So alluring.

Hours - and a few empty Jello containers - later, the enjoyment is wearing off. I'm tired and trying to sleep but still having to go to the bathroom every couple hours because an IV with fluids is hooked up to me.

As the night shift begins, one of my new nurses is named Sundae. All I can eat is Jello. Talk about cruel irony.

Wednesday morning comes around and my new diet is called "GI soft," which means I'm allowed to eat regular foods again.

I feel bad for the guy next to me who hasn't been able to have anything but liquids for like a week. Dick's 89 years old and his wife tells me he was the former vice president of Alcoa, as well as a war veteran. 

We chatted about how his wife and he live in Rocky River during the summer then go down to Florida for winters. Their stay at the clinic is now delaying their annual trip.

I sure hope his gall bladder surgery went well considering that he did once survive war. 

They were nice people and kept me entertained for awhile. 

In my boredom, I checked responses to posts I had made on social media. Probably the funniest surrounded the fact that I had been in Athens for Homecoming weekend and then had to get my appendix out two days later. 

"Could homecoming have maybe been the cause?" my one friend asked. Obviously these two major events were mutually exclusive but the idea of them somehow correlating was pretty funny because I'm getting older now and each time you go back to campus that starts to hit you a little bit more. At 24, I'm basically old man status by Athens standards. 

Just as my increasing frustration with my oversized gown was reaching a boiling point, Anna told me I would be able to be discharged. I just had to wait to get a ride home. 

My friend Phil, who works at the clinic, entertained me for a couple hours and I got to have a good dinner meal. The food at the clinic is actually really good. If you are ever sick and have to stay there, I recommend the rotisserie chicken. The grilled cheese and chicken fingers were solid options too.

Finally, I get the go-ahead to remove that dreaded gown and put on my regular clothes again. I wait a couple more hours for mom to arrive as I read some columns in the Plain Dealer and watch the end of the baseball game on TV (in HD - like I mentioned earlier, this was better selection than the cable package in my own apartment). 

Anna left for the end of her shift and told me to say goodbye to my mom for her. The new nurse Jackie finished off my stay, ordering my wheelchair transport and getting me out the door.

Looking back, it could have been a whole lot worse. Luckily, the pain in my side was bad enough early enough that I went in when the appendix was inflamed but not yet ruptured, which I was told was a good thing.

All of the doctors and nurses were exceptionally nice. All of the well-wishes from co-workers, friends and family eased the pre-surgery tensions. 

And as unpleasant as going to the hospital is by its very nature, this wasn't all that terrible. The pain afterward now that I'm home recovering - well, that sucks.

Here I am - Connor 2.0, post-appendix. Watch out world. 

Weeden's embarrassing interception ends Browns' Week 6 comeback hopes

Moments after Brandon Weeden threw a crippling interception Sunday against the Lions, Thad Lewis connected on a game-tying touchdown late in the fourth quarter for the Bills.

You would be hard-pressed to ignore the irony in that when it comes to a franchise with as checkered a past at quarterback as the Cleveland Browns.

Lewis, the former third-string quarterback who started the Browns’ final game last season after injuries to Weeden and Colt McCoy, looked proficient against the Bengals, leading the Bills back from a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit and into overtime in his first start with the team (Buffalo ultimately lost 27-24).

No one’s saying Lewis is the second coming of Jim Kelly or Bernie Kosar but at the same time as he was putting together a fourth quarter comeback in Buffalo, Weeden was throwing away the Browns’ hopes in Cleveland.

On 1st and 10 at the Lions’ 44 with less than five minutes to go, Weeden dropped back, hesitated once, then twice more, as running back Chris Ogbonnaya looked to be his target in the flat. Maybe Weeden could have dumped it off to Ogbonnaya for a marginal gain had he released the ball on his first pump.

Instead, he produced one of the most hapless displays of quarterbacking in recent history, flipping the ball underhand with the zip of a tortoise’s sprint in the direction of Ogbonnaya as DeAndre Levy darted up the field and grabbed it.

[Gif courtesy of @BuzzfeedSports]

Mobile users: http://on.wews.com/GNwgAU

For a moment, Weeden became a Frankenstein-like assemblage of Garo Yepremian’s arm strength and Brett Favre’s reckless decision-making. Not even in the backyard with friends would a throw of that caliber be acceptable, let alone in a crucial situation in the game’s final minutes.

“It was just a boneheaded play. I was trying to make a play.” Weeden said, also acknowledging that he would have been better off just taking a sack as a Lions defender was about to take hold of his left ankle.

Many more adjectives could be thrown out to describe the interception (some are even calling it the worst in NFL history). The ones Browns fans were probably uttering as the crowd thinned out following the pick would not be appropriate for this space.

Minutes later, Matthew Stafford hit Joseph Fauria in the end zone for the third time, as the Lions capitalized on Weeden’s mistake to go ahead by two touchdowns and effectively put the game out of reach with 2:01 left to play.

All the fault can’t be placed on Weeden’s shoulders. While the offense failed to score a point in the second half, the defense also surrendered 24.

In his first start since regaining the starting quarterback gig, however, Brandon Weeden made you yearn for Brian Hoyer.

He had his positive moments helping the Browns to a halftime lead but when it counted, Weeden folded.

Hoyer, on the other hand, thrived in a similar situation on the road in Minnesota a few weeks ago.

Sure, Weeden came off the bench and led the Browns to a win against the Bills in primetime. One of his shortcomings, however, is proving to be an unnerving inconsistency.

In 18 career starts, Weeden has led one-fourth quarter comeback, as many as Hoyer in four starts.

That will make you take notice of your former third-string quarterback coming up clutch in a different

uniform or miss the hometown product who moved up the depth chart then too quickly onto injured reserve.

Week 5 Monday Night Football a much different outcome for 'fearless' 2013 Jets

One year ago, after Rex Ryan said the Jets got their "ass kicked" in a week four shutout at the hands of the 49ers, the 2-2 Jets were on Monday Night Football with a chance to prove themselves.

Now on this October Monday night, following a week four turnover-plagued loss in Tennessee, the 2-2 Jets again had an opportunity to step up in front of a national audience.

The results couldn't have been more different.

Rex Ryan's 2012 Jets cowered and fell to 2-3 in a 23-17 home loss to the Texans.  
Not the case this time around in the hostile Georgia Dome against the reeling, desperate Falcons.

""I'm glad we won this way. It took every one of us. We were not reckless - we were fearless," Ryan said after the gut-wrenching 30-28 win in Atlanta.

Geno Smith became only the second rookie quarterback to win a road Monday Night Football game, leading the Jets down the field to put Nick Folk in position for the game-winning 44-yard field goal as time expired.

Mark Sanchez of last season this was not. 

Against the Texans in that week five game, Sanchez, like Smith Monday night, had a chance to propel the Jets to victory.

Then fourth-year quarterback Sanchez got the ball back down six points with 3:28 left, needing to go 84 yards for a touchdown. 

You know how this ended.

After getting the offense to the Jets' 40, Sanchez threw an incompletion on first down, was sacked on second down and then picked on a tipped pass to end all hopes on third down.

Smith took the helm down one with 1:54 on the clock against the Falcons. Cool and composed, the rookie led the offense into Atlanta territory to set up the win. For the night, Smith completed 80 percent of his passes and threw three touchdowns.

How about that for a year-to-year juxtaposition.

Maybe more importantly, Smith learned from his mistakes two weeks ago on the road in primetime, when he threw an interception that ended the Jets' hopes of beating the division-rival Patriots.

There was no fear from Smith this time.

Just past the quarter pole of the season, the difference between 2-3 and 3-2 can mean a lot.

Instead of sitting in the AFC East cellar with the Bills, the Jets are tied for second with the Dolphins and a game back of the Patriots.

They won't have to play with desperation like the Falcons, now 1-4, really will.

Rex wouldn't let them anyway. While he has made some questionable decisions, like the controversial use of Sanchez in the preseason that led to injury, the calls for his head were always premature.

When the odds are most stacked against his teams, like they were Monday night or in the playoffs against the Chargers in 2010 or Patriots in 2011, Ryan's Jets most rise to the occasion.

That alone is reason enough to cut the talk on cutting the cord on Rex.

Fastest man alive? Travis Benjamin's record-breaking night

When Travis Benjamin gets loose, you better watch out.

“We’ve never really seen a guy that moves that fast that’s that little,” wide receiver Josh Gordon said about his teammate.

Benjamin showed his trademark speed in the second quarter when he fielded a punt, broke to the left sideline and then made guys miss all the way to the end zone for a 79-yard touchdown return.

"I knew once I got the ball that we had great special teams blocks and they were going to get the crease," Benjamin said.

The return before that, Benjamin came close to breaking one, streaking down the sideline again but stopped by Bills punter Shawn Powell.

"The first time I let him push me out of bounds, so I came back to the sidelines and I said I can’t let the punter tackle me again," Benjamin told the media in the locker room after the game. "The second time when I came back to him I just cut back inside and I knew he missed the tackle."

So how does his head coach describe Benjamin?

“Fabulous. He’s a real weapon back there and he showed it tonight,” Rob Chudzinski said. “He’s an electrifying player.”

Tight end Jordan Cameron went a step further, calling him the “fastest man alive.”

“It’s tough to stop him,” Cameron said. “I don’t know why they keep punting to him.”

That’s just what the Bills did, giving Benjamin the opportunity to put himself in the Browns record book. His 179 punt return yards eclipsed Eric Metcalf’s record 166-yard performance on Oct. 24, 1993 in Pittsburgh.

A season ago, Benjamin took another record from Metcalf, longest Browns punt return touchdown, when he went 93 yards to the house against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Benjamin’s returns, made possible by the defense continually getting the Bills’ offense off the field, set the Browns up for success.

“He’s a position builder for our offense and a pivotal guy for this team right now,” Gordon said.

There wasn’t far to go when Benjamin gave the offense starting field position at the Buffalo 31 in the first quarter and Buffalo 32 in the third. Weeden and the offense gained just 19 and 26 yards on those two drives but got three points from both.

Add his return touchdown and Benjamin played a very big hand in 13 of the Browns’ points Thursday night.

Their margin of victory over the Bills? 13 points.

Brian Hoyer out with season-ending knee injury; Brandon Weeden scores win in relief

In an instant, two weeks of excitement and spark were reduced to a limping trip to the locker room. Now Browns quarterback Brian Hoyer won't play again this season.

Hoyer scrambled for a first down early in the first quarter but came down awkwardly as he was hit by Bills’ linebacker Kiko Alonso in Thursday night's 37-24 Browns win. Head coach Rob Chudzinski said Friday morning that Hoyer would need to have season-ending surgery for a torn ACL in his right knee.

Hoyer exited the game due to the injury, which paved the way for the return of Brandon Weeden.

“I think it was a little bit of a shock for the guys at first,” Chudzinski said. “Brandon came in and played really well. I think the guys rallied around him.”

The starter in the Browns two losses this season, Weeden was immediately booed after missing Travis Benjamin by a wide margin on his first pass attempt.

“At first he was a little rusty but I think he shook that off and really got it going,” tight end Jordan Cameron said.

Weeden agreed he was rusty at the outset, having only thrown routes on Tuesday, but settled in as the game went on, throwing for 197 yards and a touchdown. It wasn’t his first time coming off the bench and into a game.

As a redshirt sophomore at Oklahoma State, Weeden took the helm at halftime against Colorado and led the Cowboys to a win.

He remembered that one well. It was also on a Thursday night and his guys were also in monochromatic uniforms, wearing all black that night as the Browns wore all brown in their win.

“It’s kind of eerie the similarities,” Weeden said.

His performance that night sparked the Cowboys and ultimately set in motion Weeden’s fruitful career as a college starting quarterback, which culminated in a Fiesta Bowl win over Stanford.

At halftime, Weeden said he went to see how Hoyer was doing and wish him luck.

“You hate to see it, just hate to see it, because he’s a teammate, a friend,” Weeden said about Hoyer's injury. “I tried to be as positive with him as he could and he was in there celebrating when we won.”

Head coach Rob Chudzinski would not immediately speculate about Hoyer’s condition after the game but did say the right knee sprain was serious enough for an MRI. With the result showing a tear in the ACL, the worst fears have been confirmed.

“Whoever’s in there I expect the same: to go out and play and be prepared at that position to lead our team,” Chudzinki said after the game about his quarterbacks.

The back-and-forth quarterback drama has now been decided in a way no one wanted - season-ending injury.

“This football team has relied on him,” Weeden said about Hoyer. “Whether or not I’ve been in the last couple weeks or not, this team has relied on me.”

Above .500 and in sole possession of first place in the AFC North, at least for a couple days, the onus is now on Weeden to keep up the momentum.