We’re still right on the heels of leader jimkanicki in the 2010 Cheddar Bay Invitational at Cleveland Frowns.
This week, we like:
Baltimore (-10) vs. Carolina
Atlanta (-3) vs. St. Louis
Green Bay (-3) vs. Minnesota
Money pick: Boise State (-30.5) vs. Fresno State.
This one is for all the hoopleheads who think the Browns would have more on-field success if owner Randy Lerner was sitting at a desk in Berea on a daily basis. You know, be more of a “hands-on” owner.
Dan Snyder is the hands-on owner for the Washington Redskins. Dave McKenna of the Washington City Paper published an A-Z list of all the ways Snyder has worked to ruin the team.
Some of the highlights:
We think you get the point. Just remember this cautionary tale the next time you think Lerner’s presence in Berea has any bearing on the outcome of a Browns game.
Lerner has finally put together a management team with Mike Holmgren, Tom Heckert and Eric Mangini that is turning the Browns in the right direction. It’s better for everyone involved if Lerner pays the bills and lets everyone do the job they were hired for.
Because it would not be much fun if we had an owner like Snyder in town.
We were a little shaken when we first heard the story of the 8-year-old who was allegedly tackled by a Browns fan in the Muni Lot after Sunday’s Browns game for wearing a Jets jersey.
But the more we thought about it, the more something just seemed off about the story. The Browns are making an effort this year to curb the hoopleheads; the city also works to keep things relatively under control in the city-owned lots.
Cleveland Frowns broke the story down really well here; no need for us to try and improve on his skeptical eye.
There is one thing we’d like to add: the boy’s family turned down an offer from the Jets to attend a Jets home game in the swamps of Jersey. That’s probably for the best as what parent would want to subject an 8-year-old to this kind of behavior: At Jets Game, a Halftime Ritual of Harassment.
While it becomes clearer each week that the Browns are getting better, we thought we’d take a look at a few key positions to see how the players stack up against the rest of the league.
Running back Peyton Hillis is 12th in the NFL in rushing yards (726) and yards per carry (4.8). He’s third in the league with eight rushing touchdowns. If he keeps up his current pace, he’ll finish with 1,290 yards (9th best in team history) and 14 rushing touchdowns (tied for 5th best in team history).
Add in his pass catching, Hillis is on pace for 60 catches for 455 yards, and he could finish the season with 1,745 yards from scrimmage.
Not bad for a guy the Browns got for Brady Quinn.
Turning to the receivers, tight end Ben Watson is 10th in the league among tight ends with 36 receptions and eighth in yards with 434. At his current pace he will end up with 64 receptions which would be tied for 14th best in team history.
As for Mohamed Massaquoi and Brian Robiskie … well … we knew they were bad but when you go into the numbers it’s much uglier.
Massaquoi is 85th among wide receivers in receptions (15) and 89th in receiving yards (181). Robiskie is 106th in receptions (9) and 115th in yards (81). It’s worse when you compare them to other second-year receivers, as Massaquoi is 18th in receptions and yards, while Robiskie is 20th in receptions and 22nd in yards. That’s out of 28 players.
Let’s just move on.
The news is better in the secondary, as safety T.J. Ward is 12th in the league in tackles and No. 1 among rookie defenders. Corner back Joe Haden is third among rookies with his two interceptions.
That brings us to quarterback Colt McCoy. While he doesn’t have enough game action yet to be included with the league leaders, if you project his four-game performance over nine games, the numbers look pretty decent.
McCoy’s projected total of 1,651 yards would put him 21st in the league. His 64.5 completion percentage would put him in a tie for sixth place with Tom Brady.
And while his 85.2 quarterback rating would only put him 21st in the league, he would be ahead of Carson Palmer, Mark Sanchez, Sam Bradford, Donovan McNabb, Brett Favre, Jimmy Clausen and, of course, Derek Anderson.
Not bad for someone who was expected to even get into a regular-season game this year.
So what does this all mean? Probably not much, but it helps fill the time until Sunday rolls around again.
And, boy, is it ever a nice change to look forward to a Browns game again.
A day later and, while we’re not discouraged, Sunday’s loss to the Jets still hurts.
We like how quarterback Colt McCoy had Chansi Stuckey’s back after the game:
”There’s things I feel I could have done better. I should have made some plays when it counted, especially in overtime,” McCoy said in published reports. ”I definitely can stand up here and I can take some of that. It’s not Stuckey’s fault, it’s not anybody’s fault on the offense. I was the one leading it and I need to make some more plays.”
Too bad we can’t say the same for Sports Illustrated’s Peter King, who named Stuckey the Goat of the Week in his Monday Morning Quarterback column, writing that:
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We were surprised there was some criticism of Joe Haden for intercepting, rather than knocking down, Mark Sanchez’ pass near the end of overtime. Browns coach Eric Mangini said Haden would have been wiser to bat the ball down and force a punt.
”I’m sure in the heat of the moment when the ball is up there, he’s just thinking about making sure he has his hands on it and he doesn’t knock it up and tap it into the receiver’s hands,” Mangini said in published reports. ”You’d like to because it was third and such a long distance [14], force them to punt and see where it comes out. It’s a hard situation, especially for a young guy.”
We’re not so sure about that. Just look at the end of the Jacksonville-Houston game from yesterday. Houston defensive back Glover Quin tried to knock the ball down on the last play of the game but it ended up bouncing right into the hands of the Jaguars Mike Thomas for the winning score.
So you never know; we’re OK with Haden making the interception. He should work with Abe Elam this week about how to make an interception.
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We’re still cool with the Browns going for the win at the end of overtime. It sends a message to the rest of the league that the Browns won’t stop fighting until the game is over.
And while a tie may have been better than a loss, we think in the long run this will be better for the team. The coaches can use this as an opportunity to remind/teach the players just how slim the margin is between winning and losing. If the Browns had just been able to make a couple of more plays they would have come out on top.
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Still not sure how Matt Roth can’t sack a one-legged quarterback and how Eric Wright can’t cover a one-legged receiver on the same play.
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More injury woes for the Browns as guard Billy Yates is going on injured reserve and linebacker Scott Fujita may be out for a few weeks, according to The Plain Dealer. Hopefully Josh Cribbs and Sheldon Brown can come back for Sunday’s game.
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Looks like Pittsburgh should have studied the Browns a little closer; maybe then they would know how to beat the Saints and the Patriots.
The Browns may have lost Sunday’s game vs. the Jets, but we witnessed a team that obviously believes in themselves, never gives up and came within a couple of plays of its third straight win against a superior team with Super Bowl dreams.
And we definitely witnessed that Colt McCoy is the real deal and why Mike Holmgren deserves every penny of his salary.
The Browns gave the Jets everything they could handle but a couple of mistakes and first-half injuries to Joshua Cribbs (The PD is reporting he dislocated four toes on his right foot), Scott Fujita and Sheldon Brown added up to a solid effort that came up just short.
The Jets appeared to take control of the game at the start of the second half, as they put together a 19-play drive that took 10 minutes off the clock. Even though they ended up missing a field goal, the Browns subsequently went three-and-out on their next three possessions and seemingly lost their way as the Jets built a 20-13 lead with less than three minutes to play. At that point the Browns had 15 yards of total offense in the second half.
That’s when McCoy turned into the NFL quarterback that Browns fans have been waiting for since 1999.
McCoy took the team 59 yards in 10 plays, hitting Mohamed Massaquoi with a touchdown pass to tie the game with 44 seconds left. On the drive McCoy was five-of-nine for 58 yards, with a 17-yard completion to Ben Watson on third-and-1o and an 18-yard completion to Evan Moore on the next play.
“No. 12 [McCoy] is a special player,” cornerback Sheldon Brown told The Plain Dealer. “The poise is unreal for a rookie. I never saw anything like that for a rookie. The way the offense plays so hard for him. That whole drive, to see a rookie do that with calm [is unusual].”
Most notably, McCoy didn’t hit a wide receiver on the drive until the TD pass to Massaquoi. More on that in a bit.
After holding the Jets on the opening possession of OT, McCoy had the Browns driving for the win when Chansi Stuckey fumbled the ball away on the New York 32-yard-line. We can’t fault Stuckey as he was trying to make a play there.
After trading possessions throughout overtime, the Jets finally pulled out the win when Mark Sanchez hit Santonio Holmes on a short pass and Eric Wright and T.J. Ward stood around while Holmes ran 37 yards for the winning score.
This is a game that, in the past, the Browns would have lost going away. The Jets controlled the time of possession, especially in the second half, losing Cribbs took away a weapon on offense, and not having Brown in the secondary really showed as the Jets converted some key third downs to keep drives going.
We’re sure some will be critical of the Browns not accepting a tie (and Bud Shaw delivers) after Joe Haden intercepted a pass on the Browns three-yard-line with 1:35 left. The Browns could have tried to run out the clock and go home with a hard-fought tie, but why? The team is 3-5, you play to win and it was the right call there trying one last time to win the game.
“We can play with anybody and fight with anybody,” said Mangini in published reports. “We fight and deal with adversity well.”
Even though the Browns lost, we feel more so than ever the team is moving in the right direction. And Browns fans everywhere have Mike Holmgren to thank for that.
Because Holmgren “pulled rank” on draft day, the Browns have McCoy, who each week looks more and more like the quarterback of the future.
Because Holmgren convinced Tom Heckert to take over the role of GM, the Browns have a talented, credible talent evaluator.
Because Holmgren has brought order to the team, Eric Mangini is free to concentrate on coaching the team and we are seeing the payoff. The Browns are a hardworking group that gets the most out of their talent. They are a team that the fans can fall in love with.
As for McCoy, just think what he could do if he had some more weapons at his disposal.
While Peyton Hillis continues to deliver – 82 yards and another TD on Sunday – when he’s not in the game the defense has no reason to play the run, especially once Cribbs was injured.
Massaquoi and Brian Robiskie continue to be a complete void at the wide receiver position. While Massaquoi did pull in the tying TD, he only had one other catch while Robiskie posted his typical Blutarksi stat line – 0 catches for 0 yards.
If Montario Hardesty can get healthy next season – or the Browns can pick up someone who is – to give Hillis some support in the running game, and the Browns can bring in some NFL-caliber wide receivers, that can only help McCoy, who’s already shown he has the poise and savvy to play the position.
This one will hurt for a while, but we can temper the hurt by realizing that better days are ahead for the Browns.
The Browns go for their third win in a row over a team with a winning record – something they haven’t done since 1989 – at home on Sunday vs. the Jets.
The Opposition
New York Jets: 6-2
Offensive rank: 14th overall/21st passing/4th rushing
Defensive rank: 4th overall/16th passing/4th rushing
All-time record: Browns lead 12-7 (including playoffs), with a 9-5 mark at home. The Browns have won four out of the last five overall against the Jets
The line: Browns +3
What to Watch For
The Browns have been making steady and discernible, progress this season, culminating in last week’s win over New England, a true team win and the best example yet of what Browns Football should look like under coach Eric Mangini.
Sunday’s game against the Jets should be another tough – but not insurmountable – test for the team.
The Jets are 4-0 on the road this season and haven’t lost a regular season road game since Week 11 of last year, against New England. That’s a credit to the team’s strong rushing attack, which is fourth in the league at 148 yards per game.
The Jets bring the league’s fourth-ranked defense into the game as they are fourth against the run and 16th against the pass. But looking closer at the defensive numbers in comparison to the Browns starts to give us a path to victory for Cleveland.
As good as New York’s rushing defense is, their numbers are not that much better than the Browns: the Jets give up an average of 3.3 yards per rush, the Browns 3.9; the Jets have given up only three rushing touchdowns this year, but the Browns have only given up one; the Jets do have an edge when it comes to rushing yards, as they are giving up 87.4 yards on average per game, while the Browns are at 105.9.
Eighteen yards may not seem like much of a difference, but that equals about four to five first downs, keeping drives alive and wearing down the opponents defense.
But if the Browns can bring a stout run defense to the game on Sunday that could pave the way to a win because it will force Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez to have to make a play – and that is something the Jets probably want to stay away from.
After not throwing an interception in his first five games, Sanchez has thrown five in the past three games. He’s had to pass more because the Jets have fallen behind and the more the Browns can put the ball in Sanchez’ hands the more chance there is he will make a mistake.
If the Browns defense can confuse Drew Brees and Tom Brady, it’s not a stretch to believe they can have success against a second-year quarterback who hasn’t played well since Week 4.
Offensively, the Browns just need to keep doing what they have been doing: pound Peyton Hillis, take what the defense gives them in the passing game, mix things up a bit and don’t make any mistakes.
If the Jets can shut down the running game, it could be a very long day for the Browns offensively. Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis is reportedly 100 percent healthy and he can probably single cover both Mohamed Massaquoi and Brian Robiskie by himself.
Oh and hope Colt McCoy doesn’t have a “rookie” game on Sunday.
The Best Browns vs. Jets Game I’ve Ever Seen
This is the easiest one yet: the double overtime playoff win in 1986. The Browns winning the Super Bowl is probably the only thing that will ever top this game. Mark Gastineau’s roughing-the-passer penalty, Brian Brennan drawing a huge pass interference penalty, Webster Slaughter open down the left sideline, Mark Mosley finally ending it; still, to this day, the most amazing Browns game I’ve ever seen.
Read The Plain Dealer‘s game story here. Video is available here.
The Prediction
We really want to pick the Browns this week. They are playing well and, despite some adversity early in the year, the team hasn’t given up. They were rewarded last week when the beat the Patriots and they deserve to be rewarded again this week.
But despite their offensive troubles, the Jets are good, real good, and they are tough on the road. There’s also very little chance they will overlook the Browns this week, not with all the connections between the two teams.
If the Browns were getting four points they would probably be a safe pick this week. But this game as three-point loss written all over it, so we’re going to take the Jets -3.
One thing we are sure of, though, is no matter what, it should be one heck of a game on Sunday.
Record picking the Browns this year: 1-6-1
We continued to find our stride last week, posting a perfect slate in the 2010 Cheddar Bay Invitational over at Cleveland Frowns. We close the gap on leader jimkanicki and now sit just 2.5 points off the lead.
This week we like:
Boise State (-34.5) vs. Idaho
Oregon (-20) vs. Cal
Indianapolis (-7) vs. Cincinnati
Money pick: Tennessee (-2) vs. Miami
Browns quarterback Colt McCoy is starting to gain some respect from the national media.
Vic Carucci has some nice things to say about McCoy in his latest column: The Real McCoy? Browns think they have their QB of future.
Jeffri Chadiha’s latest piece at ESPN.com about how NFL teams are changing their attitudes toward developing young quarterbacks is also a good read.
And while he focused solely on first round picks, such as Matt Ryan, Mark Sanchez and Josh Freeman, a lot of what he wrote could be applied to the Browns and Colt McCoy.
And it makes us more comfortable that the Browns, even though they had to deviate from The Plan, are finally going about developing a quarterback the right way.
Chadiha points out that the biggest question about young quarterbacks used to be do you start them or sit them? He says that the current crop of young quarterbacks are succeeding because their franchises have been more focused on other issues, such as:
The Browns have hit on all four of those items with McCoy:
Carucci points out a particular play from the Pittsburgh game to illustrate McCoy’s football smarts:
Further proof came in the week leading up to the Pittsburgh game. With injuries to Delhomme and Wallace, the Browns were running out of quarterbacking options. However, by then, McCoy was showing that he had strong grasp of the offense, both in meetings and on the practice field.
In the second quarter, the Browns called a naked bootleg, anticipating that safety Troy Polamalu would blitz. McCoy stepped away from center, as if he were going to change the play. He never did, but his movement caused Polamalu, who was edging closer to the line, to recoil and take a couple of steps back. McCoy then went right back under center, took the snap, and had a positive play.
“To me, that’s innate,” Jake Delhomme said. “You can’t coach that. That’s playing the game. Something as small as that, to me, you’re seeing it. You know what’s going on.”
Chadiha also writes that veteran support is key in a young quarterback’s development. McCoy has that judging from his teammates comments:
“He’s very calm in the pocket. He’s smart, and he knows the reads,” tackle Joe Thomas has said in published reports. “One-two-three [options], nobody open, so he takes off or throws it away. There is no indecision. That means a lot up front. He’s not back there, patting the ball, the way you see so many rookies do.”
“One thing I can say about him is that everyone in that huddle respects that he’s the leader,” guard Eric Steinbach has said in published reports. “He’s in there and he’s talking to the offense, telling us what we’ve got to do, what’s expected of us. At one point yesterday, he’s like, ‘All right, this is a big drive.’ And it’s funny ’cause the kid’s only got three games under his belt in the NFL, but he knew it.”
If Thomas and Steinbach have McCoy’s back, then the kid must be doing something right.
There’s still a lot season to be played and, once Seneca Wallace and Jake Delhomme are healthy, the coaches will have a tough decision on their hands.
But for once it’s nice to see a Browns quarterback play himself into the discussion rather than playing himself off the team.
There was a lot of chatter when the NBA schedule was released about what the Cavs should do when the Miami Heat makes its first appearance in Cleveland on Dec. 2.
We have a suggestion, thanks to local filmmaker Dan Wantz. The Cavs should run a continuous loop of Wantz’ short video on the large video monitors outside the Q all day on Dec. 2.
The team should also show the video right before player introductions at the game.
We don’t know if the Cavs have the balls to do this, but it sure would be fun.
Red Right 88 