How about that, Cavaliers faithful!

The post-LeBron Cavaliers are undefeated, ladies and gentlemen! They just beat the defending Eastern Conference champion Celtics, the team that beat LeBron, both last night and in the playoffs last year.

Sure, it's just one game, and you don't want to read too much into a 1-0 start. The Celtics were likely a little bit worn out, it being the second night of a back-to-back for them, and that likely contributed to the Cavaliers' 27-14 edge in the fourth quarter. But the Cavs were playing without Mo Williams, arguably their best player (I would say second-best). So this was still pretty big.

J.J. Hickson, who has shown flashes of brilliance before but was usually overshadowed by the bigger stars on this team, put on an impressive 21-point performance on 8-of-11 shooting. Daniel Gibson, who also fits the description I gave Hickson above, contributed 16 off the bench. But this was a total team effort. The Cavs had six players in double-figures, and that doesn't include their leading rebounder, Anderson Varejao, who got 10 boards to go with his eight points, along with his usual sterling defense.

This Cavaliers team has a lot of the same players they had last year, but they're a totally different team. Tonight's game proves they're not necessarily very much worse.

Some optimism for Cavaliers' season

The Cavaliers open their first post-LeBron season tonight at the Q against the defending Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics, and since I haven't really weighed in yet on their outlook, this seems like the right time to do so.

The obvious thing to point out is that the Cavs had not one, but two future Hall of Famers (LeBron and Shaq) on their roster last year, and none this year. At this point in his career, Shaq isn't such a great loss, but he does leave a pretty big hole at the center spot. As I've mentioned in this space, Ryan Hollins is the only true center we have this year; Anderson Varejao is more a power forward type, but will have to step up to the center spot, where he'll be routinely out-heighted by three or four inches.

Still, this Cavaliers team has some talent. Antawn Jamison is no superstar, but he's certainly no slouch. Mo Williams has been an All-Star in the recent past. Varejao will finally get a chance to show what he can do with regular starter minutes. Anthony Parker is 35, but seems to still have something left in the tank. Jamario Moon is a nice player to have. Guys like J.J. Hickson and Daniel Gibson will have more opportunities to prove themselves. I'm looking forward to seeing how guys like Ramon Sessions and rookie Christian Eyenga fit in. With Byron Scott at the helm, and no more "pass to LeBron and let him do something while the other four guys stand around" offense, I think this team can win about 42 to 45 games and reach the playoffs.

The national media seems to think otherwise. ESPN.com has the Cavs as the 24th-best team (up from 27th in their initial power rankings), SI.com has us finishing dead last in the Central Division, and so on and so forth. Have they actually looked at our roster and compared it to anyone else's? OK, so we won't be as good without LeBron. That doesn't mean we're going to be terrible. We're not better than Detroit, who finished 27-55 last year and whose top addition is a seemingly 90-year-old Tracy McGrady? Really?

Opening against the Celtics is a tall order; I don't expect them to win tonight. But this is not a bad team. Lord knows we've seen some awful Cavaliers teams. This team does not look like one of those.

It's a miracle! ... Or is it?

On Saturday night, my wife, Lisa, and I were sitting on the back porch, enjoying the lovely evening after having dined at Lola Bistro downtown to celebrate our one-year anniversary. (Incidentally, that restaurant is pricey, but very, very tasty. Michael Symon isn't an Iron Chef for no reason.) I mentioned that I couldn't remember who the Browns were scheduled to play on Sunday, and my wife told me it was the Saints.

"Ah, yes," I said. "They'll lose."

"That's what everyone's saying, but I don't know," she said. "I think they'll win. They seem to do that; lose to the crappy teams and beat the best."

My wife had a point. Each of the last two years, though the Browns have been one of the worst teams in the NFL, they've managed to defeat the defending Super Bowl champions. Last year, it was the Steelers, as part of the Browns' season-ending four-game winning streak that followed their 1-11 start; in 2008, it was the Giants, in an early-October Monday nighter that gave us false hope that the Browns could turn their season around. The Browns are likely to finish under .500 this year as well, and I wonder how many times a team has finished under .500 while beating the defending champions each of three years in a row. It's a highly unlikely feat, to be sure.

Anyway, like those wins, this was very sweet. The Browns beat the Saints despite being out-gained, 394 yards to 210; despite giving up 356 passing yards to Drew Brees, compared to just 74 puny yards by Colt McCoy in his second NFL start; despite the fact that the Browns' leading rusher was their punter until Peyton Hillis' last run got him up to 69 for the game. And they did it by getting four turnovers and surrendering zero -- and by using trick plays and executing them perfectly.

David Bowens was the obvious MVP of this game, in one of the most unlikely performances you'll ever see. You don't very often see a guy with a number in the 90s intercepting a pass, much less two in one game, much less returning both for long touchdowns. Yes, Bowens is actually a linebacker, not a defensive lineman -- still, he came into the game with a grand total of two interceptions in his 12-year career, and both of his interceptions yesterday came right around the line of scrimmage, not in coverage. As a side note, I generally don't care for showboating on the field, but I have to admit, his hot-dogging performance on the second pick-six was pretty entertaining. With no Saints around him, he had the luxury of slowing down gradually as he got closer to the end zone, then stopping at the goal line before falling in. I wouldn't have liked it if I played for the Saints, but it's their fault for not being close enough to stop him. In any case, Bowens is the first Brown to return two interceptions for touchdowns in a game since 1960.

And the trick plays were enormous. The Browns' first score, a field goal that gave them an early 3-0 lead, was set up by a trick return play in which Josh Cribbs caught the punt, started to run it back, then threw it across the field for a lateral to Eric Wright, who ran it all the way back to the New Orleans 19.

Then, in the second quarter, the Browns pulled off one of the most beautifully executed fakes I've ever seen in my life. On fourth-and-8 from their own 23, the Browns lined up in punt formation, snapped the ball to Reggie Hodges, and opened up a hole that Olivia, my five-year-old stepdaughter, could have run through for a first down. Hodges, who runs a little bit better than Olivia, took it 68 yards to set up a field goal that made it 13-3. He actually made some nice moves down the field, too.

Incidentally, that was the longest run by a punter in any NFL game since 1945, and that 76-yard run in 1945 came on first down. In those days, teams rarely carried a full-time punter or kicker, and Johnny Martin, the punter who made that run for the Boston Yanks in 1945, also played halfback and quarterback in his career. It's not known for sure, but it's entirely possible that Hodges' 68-yard run was the longest in NFL history by a punter on a fake punt.

The third trick play the Browns ran was less spectacular than either of those, but still impressive. Protecting a 20-10 lead early in the fourth quarter and facing a third-and-6, the Browns lined up in shotgun formation, but Hillis took the snap as McCoy ran a pattern out on the left flat and wound up catching the ball for a 13-yard gain that eventually led to another field goal.

This feels good. Yes, it only makes the Browns 2-5, but it gives us hope. The Browns won this with defensive execution and creative play-calling. Sure, I'd like to have seen more from the offense, but considering the situation, I can't complain too much about that.

And yes, my wife was right, and I was wrong. I'm sure it won't be the last time.

Sorry to hear James Harrison won't retire

I'm sure anyone reading this blog is aware of what's been going on the past week in the NFL, involving savage helmet-to-helmet hits like the ones the Steelers' James Harrison put on the Browns' Josh Cribbs and Muhammad Massaquoi on Sunday, knocking both out of the game. Several similar hits occurred in other NFL games. The NFL fined several players $50,000 each, and Harrison $75,000. Harrison sat out of practice one day this week, saying he was contemplating retirement because now he can't play the way he wants to:

"You literally have to think about changing the way you play football. Honestly, I’m truly considering if I can play football in the NFL by the rules that they’re trying to make. I’m honestly going to sit down with my coach and see if I can play football within the NFL rules and still be effective. If not, I may have to give up playing football."

This came a couple of days after Harrison said he figures he's done his job if he hurts somebody. He was careful to say he wasn't trying to injure anybody, just hurt them. There's some distinction in those words, I guess.

There's been a lot of negative backlash about the NFL's actions on this matter. People are arguing that football is an inherently violent game. No doubt, that is true. I played football myself in high school and junior high, and I know that to a large extent, football players think of their opponents not as friendly adversaries, but as sworn enemies. That's simply the nature of the game. And when you have 200- to 300-pound men trying to block and tackle each other for three hours a week, injuries are inevitable.

But there are a growing number of rules in football aimed at keeping players from getting needlessly hurt. For decades, we've had rules against certain blocks in the back or below the waist, roughing the passer and kicker, and unnecessary roughness. More recently, we've seen rules that increase quarterbacks' latitude for throwing the ball away, in an attempt to keep them from taking too many hits. And just a couple of years ago, the NFL made horse-collar tackles illegal because so many players were getting hurt that way.

This is no different. A number of players suffered concussions on helmet-to-helmet hits on one single afternoon. A concussion is a more dangerous injury that anything else that can happen on a football field, short of something involving the spine. The NFL has to protect its players.

Football fans tend to have a certain degree of blood lust, which I think explains a lot of the negative reaction among spectators. Defensive players like Harrison are saying the NFL is taking away their ability to play. I say, tough $&!*. If this new stance makes it less likely for players to suffer concussions or worse brain injuries, I'm more than happy to see a few less violent hits on the football field.

James Harrison has decided not to retire. That's probably the worst news that came out of this.

Browns' loss not all that disappointing

* OK, losing to Pittsburgh is never fun. And a 28-10 loss to anybody is also never fun. So that's a bad combination. But still, who among us can say they thought we had a realistic chance to beat the Steelers this week, with Colt McCoy making his first NFL start behind center against the great Ben Roethlisberger? Big Ben, returning from his four-game suspension for bad off-field behavior, took a while to heat up, but once he did, there was no stopping him. McCoy did pretty darn well in his rookie debut, completing 23 of 33 passes for 281 yards and a touchdown. He did throw two interceptions, but in his defense, both were on tipped balls. I'm not hoping for continued ill health for Jake Delhomme and/or Seneca Wallace, but I do hope this isn't the last we've seen of McCoy this year.

* The Buckeyes fell all the way to #10 from #1 after their disappointing loss to Wisconsin on Saturday. The Ohio State offense faltered because the line couldn't protect Terrelle Pryor, who understandably had his worst game of the season. In addition to several big-time schools that could run the table, the Buckeyes have three mid-majors ahead of them who are highly likely to go undefeated, in Boise State, TCU and Utah. At this point, Michigan State (who is not on OSU's schedule) is the Big Ten's best hope for a national title. The Buckeyes are all but out of the equation. One loss just kills you in college football, because there's no playoff.

* They were talking on WTAM's Wills & Snyder this morning about a guy named Eric Barr, who recently moved to Cleveland from East Hartford, Connecticut, because he's a Browns fan. I guess the Plain Dealer did a story about him a couple of days ago. I don't read the PD anymore -- in fact, I don't even get a newspaper, which I probably should feel guilty about because I spent 14 years actually working for newspapers, but I don't. Feel guilty, that is. Anyway, this guy has no particular ties to the Cleveland area, and he quit his job to move here, where he has no job lined up. But he'll save the drive to Cleveland eight times a year, which he's been doing for every home game. This dude and I have one thing in common, in that we both love the Browns. Where we part company is that I would never in a million years move to an economically struggling town in a bad economy with no job lined up just to follow a football team. Especially not one that's 1-5 and hasn't made the playoffs since 2002. He's apparently single with no kids, so at least he's not hanging a family out to dry. Still, as much as I love sports, I think it's incredibly stupid of him. But I wish him good luck.

McCoy opens this roundup-type post

* The Browns appear ready to start Colt McCoy at quarterback Sunday against the Steelers, and I applaud that decision. The original plan was for McCoy to spend all of 2010 understudying Jake Delhomme and/or Seneca Wallace, but now that they're both out of commission, the only other options are McCoy and Brett Ratliff. Ratliff, who spent all of last season riding the pine for the Browns, is never going to be a regular starter in the NFL. So it's time to throw McCoy in there and see what he can do. His first assignment against a tough Steelers defense is going to be really, really tough, but the kid was great at Texas, and he'll be a fine NFL quarterback in time. Might as well start now.

* What the *#&@ happened to Jerome Harrison? The dude ran for 286 yards in one game last year and was a key to the Browns' season-ending four-game winning streak, but had just 91 on 31 carries this year before he was traded to Philadelphia this week. Of those 91 yards, 39 came on one carry in the opener against Tampa Bay. If you subtract that one run, he went for 52 yards on 30 carries. That's less than two yards per. That's pathetic. No wonder Peyton Hillis has been getting the ball all the time. In return, the Browns got Mike Bell, who has 28 yards on 16 carries. Um ... OK, I'm not sure why we made this trade. Especially with Hillis hurting, I'd have liked to see if Harrison could repeat his 2009 performance if given a real shot. Maybe I just contradicted myself. I can live with that.

* The Buckeyes, who just moved up to No. 1 in the poll, are facing their second real test of the season Saturday when they travel to meet No. 16 Wisconsin at Camp Randall Stadium. Wisconsin's only loss was to undefeated Michigan State, and they're always tough at home. Ohio State will have to slow down the Badgers' dual-threat running backs, John Clay and James White. And Terrelle Pryor will have to play mistake-free. Both of those things can happen, but they're not sure things. Should be interesting.

* As my good friend Jeff Brown recently pointed out in an e-mail, the Cavaliers are going into their first post-LeBron season with a serious size issue. Anderson Varejao is the only guy on the roster who's played much center in the NBA, and he's only 6'10" and is really more of a power forward type. They've got 7'0" Ryan Hollins, who will never make anybody forget Shaquille O'Neal -- not even the aging Shaq we saw here last year. These Cavs definitely have some talent around the perimeter -- Mo Williams, Antawn Jamison, etc. -- but they face a real risk of getting beaten up badly inside.

* As an Indians fan, it's tough to see guys like CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee carry their teams through the playoffs. Both those guys were key to their teams' success in last year's playoffs, and even though Lee has switched teams again (and again) since then, he's the number-one reason why the Rangers are into the ALCS against CC and the Yankees. It's a terrible shame the Indians couldn't afford to keep those guys. But baseball's economic structure is what it is. The Indians will have to find a way to be competitive with the money they've got. And it can be done -- look at Tampa Bay and Minnesota. They got eliminated in the first round by Sabathia, Lee and company, but they both made the playoffs with very slender payrolls. And Shapiro's Indians have done it too, back in '07. But it's hard to look at these current Indians and see the seeds of a playoff team anytime in the near future.

Will we see Colt McCoy?

After yesterday's disappointing 20-10 loss to Atlanta, the Browns are down to one healthy quarterback -- Colt McCoy, who of course has yet to take a snap in a regular-season NFL game. Seneca Wallace was having a pretty nice first half yesterday when he sprained his ankle, going 11-for-15 for 139 yards and a touchdown. Jake Delhomme came in, clearly still hobbled by an ankle injury of his own, and was just plain awful -- 97 yards on 13-for-23 passing, no TDs, two interceptions. Both of those pickoffs were pretty fluky, but they both resulted from Delhomme not getting the ball over the hands and heads of the linemen.

I frankly don't know why we didn't see McCoy in that game. What did we have to lose? If Wallace couldn't play and Delhomme clearly wasn't able to do much, why not just toss the kid in there and see what he's got? It's not like it's going to cost us a playoff spot. We were 1-3 coming in, and there was obviously no chance we were going to get to 2-3 with Delhomme in there.

The Browns are talking about trying to pick up a veteran quarterback for next week's game against the Steelers. If the health of Wallace and Delhomme is in question, obviously we'll have to get somebody, but I want the person they pick up to be McCoy's backup for the Pittsburgh game. I really don't see the point of renting a veteran QB to hold down the spot for a 1-4 team. If Wallace or Delhomme can play, that's fine; otherwise, just toss McCoy in there and let him go to work.

Browns fail to blow it!

How about those Cleveland Browns! They've now played four games and had a fourth-quarter lead in every one of them -- and after yesterday's 23-20 triumph over Cincinnati, they've actually won one!

Boy howdy, it sure looked as if the Browns were going to blow this one too. The Bengals stormed back from a 23-10 deficit to cut it to three on Carson Palmer's three-yard touchdown pass to Brian Leonard with 10:44 left in the game, and a distinct "here we go again" feeling hung in the air. That feeling thickened after the Browns went three-and-out, with two incompletions by Seneca Wallace bookending a two-yard run by Peyton Hillis. The Bengals took over at their own 14 with 9:44 to go, and it seemed highly likely they'd take it down for another score. And they did move the ball: A nine-play drive gained 46 yards, but Chad "Ochocinco" Ochocinco's pass interference penalty pushed them out of field goal range on second down, and Matt Roth sacked Palmer for a four-yard loss on third down, forcing a punt. Those plays were humongous.

The Browns got it back at their own 11 with 4:41 left, so all they had to do was run out the clock. But Wallace threw incomplete again on first down, and Hillis gained just a yard on second. But the Bengals bailed us out again. Defensive lineman Pat Sims got called for defensive holding, giving the Browns an automatic first down. It was a tough call, but hey, when you're 0-3, you'll take it. From that point on, the offense consisted of giving the ball to Hillis, which is what you're supposed to do when you're trying to salt away the clock and protect a lead.

Hillis, suddenly a breakout star, went for 102 yards on the day, including a 24-yard run on second and seven that took the game to the two-minute warning. It was his second straight 100-yard performance. All it took to get him was Brady Quinn. Can you believe that?

And that's how the Browns won a game in which they were outgained 413 yards to 295, in which they gave up 371 passing yards by Palmer, including 222 receiving yards by Terrell Owens. It's not easy to win a game like that, but they did it.

The Browns have Atlanta next week. They seem likely to have a fourth-quarter lead at some point. Let's hope they can hold it.