For One Half, the Browns and Lions Were Kings

Cleveland traveling to Detroit is definitely not an interesting NFL matchup on paper. But today, in their first half, the Browns and Lions made magic happen.

Brady Quinn threw three touchdown passes to take the Browns to a 24-3 lead in the first quarter. Matthew Stafford responded with three touchdown tosses on the Lions' next three drives, all longer than 20 yards. The teams, combined, have eight drives of 48 yards or more, and just three punts.

This is as close as either has come to competence in a long time, but the offensive explosion is more surprising for the Browns. Cleveland's first half makes this their highest scoring game of the season; actually, their first quarter did. The 27-point outburst is more than a third of the 78 points they had scored entering today. And all it took to get them on track was playing the Lions.

It's a shame that their defense could still waste the only good effort the Browns' offense has put together this year.

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.