Browns hope Hillis bruises Falcons

October 10, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

Peyton Hillis leaves pain in his wake.

On separate carries last week, the Browns’ bruising running back inflicted damage to two Cincinnati defensive backs. Safety Roy Williams, one of the NFL’s biggest boppers, hurt his knee trying to take down Hillis, and cornerback Jonathan Joseph injured his forearm when he stuck it in front of Hillis.

Both remain banged up.

Warning: Tackling Hillis can be dangerous to one’s health.

“Peyton’s a load,” Browns coach Eric Mangini said. “I avoid him in the hallways. I don’t want to dislocate my shoulder.”

The Falcons better watch their wings.

Hillis, whose power running pushed the Browns to their first win last week, will seek his third straight 100-yard-plus game today when Cleveland hosts Atlanta, whose opportunistic defense has carried the Falcons through four games this season.

Drawing comparisons to punishing runners like Larry Csonka, John Riggins and Mike Alstott, Hillis has been a pleasant surprise for the Browns (1-3), who couldn’t have imagined him being their top offensive weapon when they acquired him in an offseason trade with Denver for quarterback Brady Quinn.

Two weeks ago, he plowed through Baltimore’s fearsome defense for a career-high 144 yards on 22 carries. And just to show it wasn’t a fluke, Hillis ran for 102 on 27 tries last Sunday against the Bengals, who couldn’t stop him in the fourth quarter with the game still in doubt.

Cleveland gave the ball to Hillis six times in a span of 1:50, and thanks to his 24-yard gain for a first down just before the two-minute warning, the Browns ran out the final 4:41 to secure its 23-20 win.

Hillis was a horse, and the Browns may saddle him up again.

He’s not flashy on or off the field, but Hillis, whose football-loving father named him after legendary back Walter Payton, gets the job done.

“In high school I was a breakaway runner, but that was high school,” he said. “You have to use different parts of your game to help your team no matter what that is. Right now, it’s smashmouth running.”

The Browns have had to rely more on their ground game in recent weeks. With quarterback Jake Delhomme out with a badly sprained ankle and career backup Seneca Wallace starting at QB, the offensive game plan has been to keep things simple.