CLEVELAND: Credibility.

That's what Monday night means to the Browns.

An impressive win over the New York Giants gives the Browns credibility as a team, and gives credibility to their hopes for a successful season.

As the season progresses, this prime-time victory could be the one the Browns look back on as the real springboard for a season (unlike that fingernails-on-a-chalkboard win in Cincinnati).

The Browns beat the defending Super Bowl champions.

They ended the Giants' streak of 12 wins in a row on the road.

They gave the Giants their first loss of the season.

But more important, the Browns gave their season a vital boost. This win gives the Browns the credibility that an ugly win over a winless team in Cincinnati could not.

If the Browns can compete with and defeat an unbeaten Super Bowl champion, well then there's reason to believe they can compete with and beat the other teams on the schedule.

''Confidence is everything in this league,'' said tackle Ryan Tucker, whose first appearance in the starting lineup appeared to bring many good results.

The Browns probably caught the Giants on the perfect night. The Browns played on a Monday night after a bye — see what happens when you give Romeo Crennel an extra week to prepare? — and the Giants were coming off an easy win over the Seattle Seahawks. Their road winning streak had to end at some point.

Even with all that, this was an impressive Browns win, a win that involved the key elements of the team and a win that re-established Derek Anderson's status as the starting quarterback.

''It's almost a relief to know that we can play good like that,'' said tight end Steve Heiden, a pro's pro who made the absence of Kellen Winslow a nonfactor. ''Now we've got to keep doing it.''

Moving to 2-3 is not worthy of doing cartwheels, mind you. Which is what Braylon Edwards did prior to the game when introduced. A cartwheel followed by an aerial back flip.

He did not land square, though. Two-tenths deduction.

Cartwheeling into a Monday night game probably should not be allowed until a team is at .500, but Edwards followed his Shawn Johnson opening with a big third-down catch on a slant and a bigger first-down catch on an out-and-up and a bigger still fourth-quarter touchdown that gave the Browns a 13-point lead.

By game's end, Edwards had 154 yards receiving and a touchdown and Anderson had topped 300 yards passing and thrown two touchdowns.

The boost this game gives Anderson is immeasurable.

For the first time this season he looked like the confident quarterback of 2007. He stood tall in the pocket and time and again found the open receiver.

Edwards had big catches. Syndric Steptoe had a big third-down catch. Heiden had five big catches. And the offensive line played to its abilities.

''When we play like we played, we're pretty salty,'' Tucker said.

The Browns had mistakes. Plenty of them. The run defense was weak and there were way too many penalties, most of them irritating and unnecessary.

But the Browns did not let the mistakes beat them.

On one third-quarter drive Browns had five penalties, yet drove from their 13-yard-line for a touchdown and held the ball for 8:16.

Add the 30 yards in penalties and the Browns actually drove 117 yards, which is more than the length of the field (in case anyone didn't know).

Anderson threw to five different receivers and threw his second touchdown pass thanks to the fact the guy covering Edwards (Aaron Ross) cramped up.

No cartwheel followed this play. Edwards merely spiked the ball over the goalpost to celebrate the fact the Browns had a 27-14 lead.

The Giants came back — what else would anyone expect from a Super Bowl champion? — but the Browns persevered and put an exclamation point on the win with Eric Wright's interception and 94-yard return for a touchdown.

The Browns now are 2-3, which is not a good record.

But let's be honest.

When the season began, the schedule looked tough to start.

Most penciled in losses to the Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers and the Giants.

The Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals were wins.

Well the Ravens turned into a disappointing loss, but the Giants game turned into a win that could be energizing.

Five games into the season, the Browns are now where most thought they would be. And because the last game was a very good win, the season looks like it has a lot of time left for the Browns to make up what was lost in the first three games.

''We set our bar high,'' center Hank Fraley said. ''And we're just starting to reach it.''

Edwards obviously brought out the cartwheel for Monday night. Premature? Probably.

But if they use it wisely, the Browns might look back at this as the night, the game, the win that cartwheeled them forward to bigger and better things.