similar article to the one posted before:
Hillis' day: Good, bad and ugly
Filed by Scott Petrak December 13th, 2010 in Browns Notes.
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. â€" Peyton Hillis was in no mood to celebrate. He couldn't even muster a smile.
Hillis became just the ninth Brown to rush for 1,000 yards in a season Sunday on the first drive. He finished with 108 yards and a 5.1 average. All impressive statistics.
But the Browns lost 13-6 to the Bills, and Hillis accepted a large share of the blame.
He was stopped twice short of the goal line on the opening possession, lost a fumble in scoring position when he tried to hurdle safety Jairus Byrd and fumbled two more times. He and fullback Lawrence Vickers recovered those, but they affected Hillis and the game plan.
"We lost,"Â Hillis said quietly against a stall in the corner of the locker room. "One thousand yards is 1,000 yards. A ballgame you win, that goes on for days on end and it makes your teammates excited and your coaches happy.
"That's what means more to me than 1,000 yards."Â
He didn't have an explanation for his struggles.
"It was clearly on my shoulders and I messed up and I take full responsibility,"Â he said. "I wasn't like myself today. I let myself down in a lot of ways."Â
Hillis didn't blame the wet ball and near-constant rain. He's fumbled eight times this year in 297 touches, losing five. He had a critical one in the third quarter in an opening loss to Tampa Bay.
"Some things happen,"Â he said. "You run the ball hard and you try to get that extra yard and things just happen, especially in weather games.
"You know you've got to be mentally prepared and knowing that you can't run like you usually do and not expect the ball not to be a factor. That was my mistake and I will get it fixed."Â
Hillis has been the team MVP in his first season with the Browns. He has 11 rushing touchdowns, 13 overall and 1,070 yards rushing. He also has a team-best 57 catches.
So despite an imperfect day, his coach and teammates were quick to ride to the cowboy's defense.
"He shouldn't feel bad at all,"Â Vickers said. "Peyton's a warrior. He's a part of the team.
"So he has no reason to be ashamed. Peyton is good, and I'm behind him 100 percent."Â
"He's a guy who we want to have around here for years to come,"Â receiver Joshua Cribbs said. "We have his back on everything, on how he plays.
"We're just gonna get better as a team. We're gonna block for him better. He told us he's gonna run it better. Everybody's gonna work on trying to do a better job."Â
Coach Eric Mangini despises turnovers, but said he didn't really consider sitting Hillis for a spell. Hillis ran 21 times and caught four passes.
"Peyton's been outstanding the whole year,"Â he said. "I have confidence in him, we all have confidence in him, he has confidence in himself. I feel strongly about him."Â
Mangini didn't blame the hurdle attempt for the lost fumble, which came at the Bills 20-yard line with the Browns up 3-0.
"He's done it a lot successfully,"Â Mangini said. "Whether you hurdle or not, you gotta protect the football."Â
"It's something that they keyed on,"Â Peyton said of the hurdle, one of the reasons fans love him. "It didn't work out. And the ball popped up, no excuses, it's just what happened. It's something I need to take care of."Â
Hillis had 49 yards on his first six carries (8.2 average), then slowed to 59 on his last 15 attempts (3.9). He appeared to be making a more concerted effort to protect the ball â€" despite the two more fumbles â€" which conflicts with his fight-for-every-inch instinct.
"I don't think it drastically affected his style,"Â Mangini said.
Hillis was held to a yard on third-and-goal from the 2 on the first drive, then stoned on third down. Mangini settled for a field goal, and Hillis thinks the lack of a touchdown changed the game.
"The first drive was nice, but at the end of the day we didn't punch it into the end zone and in my head I think that's why we were unsuccessful,"Â he said. "We have a great line and a great fullback and I wasn't there for them today like I should've been."Â
Vickers didn't think the Bills defense did anything to stop Hillis. He said the Browns got away from running it right at Buffalo's last-ranked run defense.
"Different plays,"Â he said of the difference from the first drive. "I'm still in a state of shock. I don't think nobody can stop us."Â
Hillis has five 100-yard rushing games, the most for the Browns since Jamal Lewis' six in 2007. He's the second-fastest Brown to reach 1,000 yards (13 games) since the league went to a 16-game schedule in 1978. Reuben Droughns did it in 12 in 2005.
Hillis is the only player in team history to rush for 1,000 yards, catch 50 passes and score at least 10 touchdowns in a season.
He's the first white running back to hit 1,000 since Craig James in 1985.
But the party's on hold.
"This is a heckuva time for his first year to go over 1,000 yards and not get the victory. That's bad,"Â Vickers said. "That's something he can't celebrate, so he has to wait till next year to celebrate him getting 1,000 yards and winning. The loss takes everything away."Â