CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- A game like this couldn't have come at a better time for coach Butch Davis and the Cleveland Browns.
Less than one week after releasing leading receiver Kevin Johnson, the Browns got career performances from Andre Davis and Kelly Holcomb in a 44-6 rout of the Arizona Cardinals.
With his team mired in a three-game losing streak, Davis made the surprising decision on Tuesday to release Johnson. Johnson lost his starting job to Davis last week.
The decision might have been a distraction. But instead of losing focus, Cleveland posted its most lopsided win since beating Pittsburgh 51-0 in the 1989 season opener.
"As the head football coach, you ask your players to do a lot of things," Davis said. "This week I asked them to focus on beating Arizona and let me deal with all the distractions. Sometimes you are going to make unpopular decisions."
"Everybody's been trying to splinter this team," Cleveland offensive coordinator Bruce Arians added. "Butch did a great job of keeping it together. This was a game we had to have."
Davis had just three catches in his first start, but he responded in this one. He finished with career highs of seven catches for 117 yards to go along with a touchdown.
"I don't think it helped us or hurt us," Davis said. "We knew that everyone in that group could play ball, make plays and get first downs."
Rarely pressured by Arizona's defense, Holcomb completed 29-of-35 passes for a career-high 392 yards and three touchdowns. He threw a four-yard TD to Davis and a one-yard score to Dennis Northcutt as Cleveland bolted to a 20-3 lead at halftime.
The Browns totaled 481 yards, maintained possession for over 39 1/2 minutes and set a record for points scored in Cleveland Browns Stadium.
Cleveland (4-6) also got a big day from Quincy Morgan, who had five catches for 116 yards. Morgan also had a pair of big plays in the second half that helped Cleveland put away the game.
He had a 47-yard punt return that set up James Jackson's four-yard TD run with 7:04 remaining in the third. Nearly four minutes later, he hauled in a 68-yard TD in which he outran two defenders for the final 40 yards.
The Cardinals (3-7) lost their 10th straight road game dating to last season. In their five road losses this season, they have been beaten by an average of 22.0 points.
"We didn't do anything today," Arizona quarterback Jeff Blake said. "None of us played, period."
