Ever since Josh McCown was blasted on a goal-line run against the New York Jets in Week 1, he has been fantastic. McCown led the Cleveland Browns to an 33-30 overtime victory over the Baltimore Ravens to improve the Browns' record to 2-3. After the Browns' coaching staff put the ball back in McCown's hands in Week 3 — ignoring the free world's requests to leave Johnny Manziel as the starter — he has given the Browns a chance to win each of the past three weeks. McCown's 457 passing yards on Sunday against the Ravens on 36 of 51 passing with two touchdowns. Josh McCown's 457 yards today were the second-most in any NFL game this year, behind only Tom Brady's 466 vs. Buffalo. — Michael David Smith (@MichaelDavSmith) October 11, 2015 Bernie Kosar holds the Browns' club record for passing yards in a game with 489, but he needed two overtimes to get it in 1987 against the New York Jets. McCown has now completed 96-of-141 passes (68.1 percent) for 1,154 yards (8.2 yards per attempt) with six TDs and one interception. For now, Manziel waits while McCown deals. Despite a lackluster run game and a lack of game-breaking receivers, McCown has made tight end Gary Barnidge (eight catches, 139 yards and one of the more insane TD catches you'll ever see) and running back Duke Johnson (six catches, 55 yards) into threats. Two of the shortest starting wide receivers in the NFL, 5-7 Andrew Hawkins and 5-9 Travis Benjamin, combined for 13 catches and 141 yards. No. 3 receiver Taylor Gabriel — another 5-foot-7 guy — had four important catches for 75 yards. It's heady stuff from a player who was deemed a five-game wonder after McCown's fairytale 2013 season with the Chicago Bears and his subsequent crash to earth in 2014 in a 1-10 starting record with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. McCown only would be starting for the Browns, or perhaps the Houston Texans. He was considered one of the most uninspiring starting quarterbacks entering the season and a mere placeholder until Manziel is ready. That still appears to be the case, but the timetable has changed. There's no way the Browns can consider benching him now. In Week 3, McCown led the Browns back against the Oakland Raiders from down 27-10 in the fourth with two TD drives but the defense couldn't get him the ball back. In Week 4, McCown hit Barnidge for the game-tying score with just over two minutes left before the Browns gaffed on the game-winning San Diego Chargers field goal. On Sunday, McCown threw for 292 yards in the second half and overtime and led his team back from 11- and 12-point deficits to win an improbable game. Sorry, Johnny fans. McCown has changed things in Cleveland, or should we say ... McCowntown. - - - - - - - Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm
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