PUSKAS: Comfort, joy in Browns’ surprise present

It wasn’t the most aesthetically pleasing football game. Not by a longshot, which is exactly what the Cleveland Browns were on Christmas Eve.

In fact, in keeping with the season, the Browns’ 20-17 victory over the San Diego Chargers on Saturday was the football equivalent of Charlie Brown’s pathetic Christmas tree.

But that was still a Christmas tree and this was — believe it not — still a Browns victory, even with the typical Cleveland warts.

Browns offensive line, I’m looking at you. The human sieve — save for Joe Thomas — allowed nine sacks and often performed only well enough for Isaiah Crowell to get a yard or two, but somehow the Browns gave their long-suffering fans an unexpected present.

Call it a Christmas miracle.

Maybe the Miracle on East 9th Street?

OK, so my geography is a bit off. So were the Browns — as usual — but the Chargers were even more off on a gray day inside half-empty FirstEnergy Stadium.

But after Chargers kicker Josh Lambo pushed a rushed, 45-yard field goal attempt wide right as time expired, all those empty orange seats were quickly forgotten. They were replaced by the joy of Browns players rushing the field in victory for the first time in more than a full calendar year.

Off the field, the reality seemed to take a few seconds to take hold. It was as if the people in the stands had forgotten what a win looked and felt like.

But when it hit them — when it hit us — it was time to celebrate. And celebrate we did. My daughter Erin and I — inside FirstEnergy Stadium for the first time together as fans — were hugging and high-fiving each other and people who been total strangers three hours earlier.

I’ve always been partial to watching the Browns from the press box, where I’m impartial, or on TV at home, where the roller-coaster ride (which usually ends the same way) is mostly solitary.

Yes, it has been a one-way ride for Browns fans lately. But — and you can check my social media footprint from Saturday morning to verify this — I had a good feeling about the Browns on this day.

Of course, much of it had to do with the Chargers, one of the few teams in the NFL with a black cloud hanging over them that can sometimes match the hometown team’s. San Diego doesn’t seem quite as star-crossed as Cleveland — even without a major sports title — but the Chargers have their moments.

On Saturday, those moments were often bad, which was good for the Browns.

San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers missed receivers. Sometimes he threw the ball to the Browns. Often when he did put the ball right in the hands of his own guys, they dropped it. And Lambo missed on two chances to tie the game in the final 3:45. The other was a chip-shot field goal that Parma’s own Jamie Meder blocked.

In the end, the Chargers out-Brownsed the Browns, which was no small feat. But the hardy few who elected to spend part of their Christmas Eve with a previously winless football team were rewarded handsomely. It wasn’t a playoff-clinching victory and it wasn’t the kind of win you dream about, but it was an unexpected Christmas present and Browns fans will take it.

Baby steps, right?

Write Vindicator Sports Editor Ed Puskas at epuskas@vindy.com and follow him on Twitter, @EdPuskas_Vindy.