Tim Couch Statistics

        As goes quarterback Tim Couch, so go the Browns. Couch, a former University of Kentucky star and the No.1 overall draft pick in the 1999 NFL draft, was scintillating last week in a critical fourth-quarter drive to help the Browns (5-4) upset the Baltimore Ravens for the second time this season.

        “There is no question that the development of the team ... has directly been related to Tim's growth and emergence as a quarterback,” Browns coach Butch Davis said. “Every single game ... he is a much better player and done something in that game that is really going to pay dividends in the future.”

        Cleveland's resilience has a lot to do with Couch.

        The Browns were beaten by the Bengals Oct.14 at Paul Brown Stadium, then upset the Ravens 24-14 in Cleveland a week later.

        Then, following a bye, the Browns had two gut-wrench ing overtime defeats, 27-21 at Chicago and 15-12 at home against Pittsburgh, before rebounding last week to beat the Ravens in Baltimore 27-17.

        “I think a big leap for Tim was in the third quarter (last week),” Davis said. “Just about everything imaginable that could go wrong for our offense went wrong — tipped balls, interceptions; we were right on the verge of cracking. (But) Tim maintains a great emotional balance during the game. He came back in the fourth quarter and led us on a six-minute (touchdown) drive.”

        What was the most impressive throw he made on that drive?

        “A third-and-11 conversion to Quincy Morgan was critical,” Davis said. “Any time you convert on a third down, it's big. If that's a bad throw, a bad read, you're punting the ball. A quarterback's success on a drive like that or in a two-minute drive, and how they perform on third down, is a major key (to a team's success).”

        The Browns rode Couch's first-half accuracy (13-of-16, 109 yards) to a 20-7 lead, before coming unglued in the third quarter when Couch was 2-of-8 for 12 yards and threw two interceptions. But they rallied behind him on the game-clinching 68-yard drive.

        “I think we've got a great chemistry going,” Davis said. “As a young team, and as a first-year staff, we have to emotionally be able to bounce back. These games aren't just about this one week or this one season. This is stuff we're trying to put in place that is going to be here for four or five years.”

        Davis wasn't quite as grandiloquent about Couch in this week's conference call as he was immediately after the second upset of Baltimore. What he said then should send shivers through Bengals fans who have always been most proud that their franchise has been to two Super Bowls and the Browns have been to none.

        “Couch has the kind of heart that can one day lead us to the Super Bowl,” Davis said.

        Can the Bengals beat the Browns in Cleveland? Turnovers are a key, and nothing should be scarier to Bengals fans than the following stat: The Browns have amassed 20 interceptions in nine games.

        “We're going to keep trying to get 'em,” said Browns defensive back Corey Fuller, who has one interception this season. “We play a lot more (man-to-man) defense than people realize. We have a lot of zone blitzes.”

        Does Fuller think he can get an interception off Bengals quarterback Jon Kitna, who has been picked off 10 times this season?

        “Hey, man, I don't know what I can get right now,” he said. “I'm just trying to get through the day ... People want to talk to me because they think I talk trash. I only talk trash on the field. I'm not a newspaper- or radio-media type trash talker.”

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