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In Cleveland, hope dies last

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19 Oct 2010

It’s A Start, but Still Not Enough

The NFL reacted Tuesday to James Harrison’s hit on Mohamed Massaquoi, fining Harrison $75,000 but shockingly not suspending him.

According to a story on NFL.com, Harrison is considered a repeat offender. He was previously fined $5,000 for unnecessary roughness against Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young in a Sept. 19 game.

Harrison’s agent, Bill Parise, called the $75,000 fine “staggering” and said it would be appealed. Parise also said Harrison is confused about the proper way to play football.

Before the fine was announced, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin defended both of Harrison’s hits, saying they were permissible under league rules.

What’s staggering is that Harrison wasn’t suspended. If you are classified as a “repeat offender” by the league shouldn’t that result in a suspension?

NFL Vice President of Operations Ray Anderson told Sports Illustrated’s Peter King that the hit on Massaquoi should have drawn a penalty.

Not that that does the Browns any good.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, illegal hits, NFL | Leave a comment
18 Oct 2010
1 Comment

Final Thoughts on the Browns-Steelers

A day after the Browns fell to 1-5 on the season, all the talk is about the illegal – but unpenalized – hits James Harrison put on Josh Cribbs and Mohamed Massaquoi.

Before the season, an article on NFL.com article stated that “the reworded rules prohibit a player from launching himself off the ground and using his helmet to strike a player in a defenseless posture in the head or neck. The old rule only applied to receivers getting hit, but now it will apply to everyone.”

But on Monday, an NFL spokesman said the hit on Cribbs was legal because he was a runner on the play.

Apparently Cribbs is not in the class of players who fall into the category of “everyone.”

Thankfully the league is at least “reviewing” the hit on Massaquoi.

“The one against Mohamed was illegal,” Browns tight end Ben Watson told The Plain Dealer. “I can’t judge his character, I can judge his conduct. It was an illegal hit. He led with his head, he hit Mo right in the head, he dove at his head. It was an illegal play. Whether he meant to hurt him or not, I can’t comment on that. It was illegal and the league should take care of him with the max, whatever it is. If it’s a suspension, if it’s a fine, then I hope the league does whatever they can do.”

I don’t know; it seems as if the NFL pretty much lets the Steelers get away with whatever they want because they play “tough football.” But if the league is serious about head injuries, it’s hard to believe they can turn a blind eye to this.

“There’s strong testimonial for looking readily at evaluating discipline, especially in the areas of egregious and elevated dangerous hits,” Ray Anderson, the NFL’s vice president of football operations, told the Associated Press. “Going forward there are certain hits that occurred that will be more susceptible to suspension. There are some that could bring suspensions for what are flagrant and egregious situations.”

The tide is certainly turning against hits like the ones Harrison delivered. Even Sports Illustrated’s Peter King, long an NFL apologist, thinks enough is enough. In his Monday Morning Quarterback column King wrote:

“So many thoughts. One: It’s time to start ejecting and suspending players for flagrant hits, which I thought the (Brandon) Meriweather one was, and perhaps also the shot of Harrison on Massaquoi. Two: the league had better train its officials better considering there was no penalty on the Harrison hit on Massaquoi. The league had as a point of emphasis to officials this year that launching into a defenseless receiver would be a penalty and subject to discipline. So emphasize it.”

If Roger Goodell has lost Peter King, that could be like Lyndon Johnson losing Walter Cronkite on the Vietnam War – we may see some real action against Harrison.

***

Some other final thoughts:

  • Congrats to Phil Dawson for passing Lou Groza to become the Browns all-time leader in field goals. Hard to believe Dawson has been with the team since 1999; dude should definitely write a book.
  • When did Eric Wright turn into Brandon McDonald?
  • Chansi Stuckey had another nice day with four more catches; he’s turning into a reliable target from the slot position.
  • Brian Robiskie: 15 career games, 12 career catches.
  • Jerome Harrison didn’t show up in the box score for the Eagles on Sunday. Mike Bell rushing twice for three yards for the Browns.

***

See what others are saying:

Play McCoy the Rest of the Way: Waiting for Next Year

Harrison’s Postgame Comments show ambivalence, ignorance: Waiting for Next Year

McCoy avoids meltdown: Cleveland Frowns

NFL has yet to prove any real sympathy: Bill Livingston, Plain Dealer

Posted in Cleveland Browns, dirty play, Josh Cribbs, Mohamed Massaquoi
17 Oct 2010

The Kid is Alright

The Browns dropped their seventh straight game in Pittsburgh on Sunday, but began the process of gathering intel on rookie quarterback Colt McCoy.

McCoy was a respectable 23-of-33 for 281 yards and a quarterback rating of 80.5. He had a nice touchdown pass to Ben Watson and two interceptions, one that looked like it grazed the receiver’s hands and the other on a tipped ball.

More importantly, McCoy never looked overwhelmed on the field. There were no timeouts because he was confused, no delay of game penalties, no problems getting the team in the right formations. He was sacked five times and broke out of the pocket a little early on a few occasions, but there is plenty for Browns fans to by pleased with from his performance.

The only other high point the work of punter Reggie Hodges, who did his best to pin the Steelers down on the day by dropping four punts inside the 20.

On the not-so-good side was the defense, primarily the pass defense. Once again the Browns blitzed to no avail and the secondary was exploited. Eric Wright had another bad day, giving up a touchdown to Hines Ward where Wright made no attempt to tackle Ward after the catch. The secondary overall didn’t have a very good day, although Joe Haden had a nice interception and return in the first quarter.

Someone else said this a few weeks ago and I’d credit them if I remembered who, but it may be time for Rob Ryan to start playing with the defense he has, rather than the one he wants. The blitzing is not working because the secondary can’t match up when the sack doesn’t come through. It seems time for Ryan to realize this and come up with another game plan; being aggressive is great, being stubborn isn’t helping anyone.

The biggest storyline of the day, and one that should get plenty of coverage during the week, is the two illegal helmet-to-helmet hits that James Harrison delivered on Josh Cribbs and Mohamed Massaquoi in the second quarter, knocking both players out of the game. Both were clearly illegal but the incompetency of the refs meant that Harrison was not penalized for either hit, although he probably should have been thrown out after the second one.

According to an article on NFL.com, in an effort to limit head injuries “the reworded rules prohibit a player from launching himself off the ground and using his helmet to strike a player in a defenseless posture in the head or neck. The old rule only applied to receivers getting hit, but now it will apply to everyone.”

How the refs decided what Harrison did was OK is beyond me. Of course, after the hit on Massaquoi the refs did throw a flag – on Browns center Alex Mack who was penalized for kicking the ball. That’s the kind of day it was for the Browns.

The loss of Cribbs put the Browns at a big disadvantage as it took the Wildcat out of the playbook and took Cribbs out of the return game, which proved costly in one of those “only in Pittsburgh” moments that happen to the Browns.

Trailing 14-3 the Browns forced a Steeler punt. On the kick the Steelers were penalized and had to rekick. Same thing on the second punt attempt. The Steelers were finally able to execute a basic punt play on their third try but Chansi Stuckey – returning punts because Cribbs was out – fumbled the kick, the Steelers recovered and a few plays later scored to make it 21-3 and seal the game.

Of course they did.

So the Browns come home after another hard-fought loss. They are now 1-5 on the season, 6-16 under Eric Mangini and the four-game winning streak to end last season is a distant, distant memory.

And now it’s on to New Orleans, who got healthy quickly against Tampa Bay on Sunday, for what should be the second and final start of McCoy’s rookie season.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Colt McCoy, illegal hits, more of the same | Leave a comment
17 Oct 2010

Browns vs. Steelers – Week 6

The Browns return to the house of fun known as Heinz Field on Sunday to take on the Steelers. The Browns are looking for their first road win against Pittsburgh since 2003 with an injured Peyton Hillis and a rookie quarterback, Colt McCoy, making his first NFL start. Should be a hoot.

The Opposition

Pittsburgh’s record: 3-1
Offensive rank: 32nd overall/32nd passing/13th rushing
Defensive rank: 1st overall/8th passing/1st rushing
All-time record: Browns trail 58-56 (21-36 in Pittsburgh)
The line: Browns (+14)

What to Watch For

Colt McCoy makes his NFL debut … on the road … against Pittsburgh … in Ben Rothlisberger’s return from suspension. Hey, you have to start somewhere so why not go all in?

It may not be pretty at times, but it probably won’t be as bad as most are predicting. As long as McCoy remembers to bring his big-boy pants with him he should make it out of the stadium in one piece.

“He’s sharp, he works the field, he knows his progressions, he can throw on the move, he can throw in the pocket and I’m excited for him,” offensive coordinator Brian Daboll told The Plain Dealer. “It’s going to be a tough challenge, no question. He knows this, I know this, everybody knows it.”

And you couldn’t ask for a better learning experience for a young quarterback than to face a defense like Pittsburgh’s. Not only will this game accelerate McCoy’s NFL knowledge, it will give the Browns some valuable insight into McCoy as well.

Finally, there should be very little pressure on McCoy – the Browns are supposed to lose, remember? All the experts say so; McCoy just has to go out and take care of his own business.

The rest of the offense needs to step up and support McCoy, especially the running game. Since the Browns had success running on the Steelers last year out of the Wildcat, will we finally see more than just a token look from that offensive set?

“They just couldn’t stop it,” Josh Cribbs told The Plain Dealer about last year’s success on the ground vs. Pittsburgh. “Our guys were blocking up front pretty good, and we executed better than they did. When teams execute better, it shows. They’re going to be prepared to try to stop it and we’ll go at it until they will.”

Running back Peyton Hillis says he will be 100 percent for the game, and if he can put up 144 rushing yards on Baltimore he should be able do some damage against Pittsburgh.

“There’s no doubt they’re a good defense,” Hillis told The Plain Dealer. “But we’re not looking at (all the stats). They’re human just like we are. They put their pants on one leg at a time and we’ve just got to approach it like that.”

This would be a good week for the special teams to get going as well. Teams are finally not kicking off deep to Cribbs and the only way the Browns will get that to stop is if their up men start making some plays on the returns. If the Steelers kick to the 25-yard-line and the return guys can get the ball out to near midfield, teams will have to start kicking deep again. Maybe this is somewhere that Brian Robiskie can finally show the “talent” that people claim he has; he’s sure not using it in the passing game.

Defensively, the Browns need to do what they did last year against Pittsburgh and bring heat on Rothlisberger. The Steelers are last in the league in rushing, so if the Browns can get them into some third-and-long plays they may be able to force some mistakes.

And if T.J. Ward can deliver a big hit on Hines Ward, the final score may not matter at all.

The Best Browns vs. Pittsburgh road game I’ve Seen

For a series that was exceedingly one-sided for such a long time (the Browns lost in Pittsburgh from 1970 until 1986), there were some tight and memorable games. The Browns loss by four in 1977 and followed that up with consecutive overtime losses in ’78 & ’79. At we’ll never forget the ’89 season opener when the Browns won 51-0.

But the first will always be the best: the 1986 game where the Browns finally broke the Three Rivers jinx, highlighted by Gerald McNeil’s 100-yard kickoff return. You can read The Plain Dealer‘s game story here. We couldn’t find any film clips from that game, but here are clips of McNeil ripping up the Lions from that same season.

The Prediction

The Browns finally realized what they have to do to beat Pittsburgh near the end of the season last year. The Steelers are bullies and they don’t like to be hit. When the Browns finally hit back last year, the Steelers folded and the Browns won.

The Browns also won with Brady Quinn at quarterback and Chris Jennings running the ball. Even with McCoy making his first start, there’s no question the Browns are better at those positions this year. So if they did it last year, why not this time?

OK, it’s probably too much to expect McCoy to play well enough for the Browns to win this game. So much happens on the field and a quarterback has to process so much at game speed that it is impossible to replicate that in practice.

But McCoy can – and should – play well enough to keep the Browns in the game into the fourth quarter just like they’ve done all year long. And while the Browns probably won’t pull out the victory, they should keep the game close enough that it should be save to take the Browns plus the points.

Record on the year: 1-3-1

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Colt McCoy, NFL, NFL debut, Week 6 | Leave a comment
14 Oct 2010

Loss of Harrison no big deal

The Browns have reportedly traded disgruntled running back Jerome Harrison to the Eagles for running back Mike Bell.

The teams are swapping 27-year-old running backs who have almost identical career rushing numbers – 1,401 yards for Harrison, 1,404 yards for Bell – while Bell has more rushing touchdowns (14 to six) and Harrison has three touchdown receptions to none for Bell.

So, basically, the deal is a wash statistically but may help the Browns as something was obviously wrong with Harrison this season. Either he was hurt and we didn’t really know about it or, more likely, he was upset that:

  • he did not receive a new contract after last season,
  • the Browns drafted Montario Hardesty and
  • the team traded for Peyton Hillis.

Some are bemoaning that Harrison did not get “a chance” with the Browns, but in reality he didn’t grab the opportunity when it was there. After finishing strong at the end of last season, he could have taken hold of the starting spot in training camp but didn’t. And it’s the Cleveland way to always want the back-up or the other guy.

Of course, Eagles fans are talking themselves into the deal as well as they quickly grew tired of Bell after he signed with the team this summer.

Maybe this is a case of both players needing a fresh start. In any event, it was clear Harrison had no future here in Cleveland, so getting something for him is a good move and no real loss for the Browns.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Jerome Harrison, Mike Bell | Leave a comment
12 Oct 2010

On the Browns, QBs and Pittsburgh

With it becoming more and more likely that Colt McCoy will make his NFL debut Sunday in Pittsburgh, the hysteria is starting to ramp up.

There is a growing consensus that something unspeakable is going to happen – that the Steelers are going to go through the Browns like Caesar through Gaul and McCoy will be playing the role of Vercingetorix. In other words, it will be a “disaster:”

“If McCoy is viewed as the future of the Browns, they must be very careful about the long-term impact of this decision,” ESPN’s James Walker writes. “Throwing McCoy out there at Heinz Field against Dick LeBeau’s defense is a recipe for disaster. In fact, it’s the last defense I would pick a rookie quarterback to face in his first NFL start, especially against a hungry Steelers’ defense coming off a bye week.”

Thankfully, coach Eric Mangini offered some much-needed perspective to the situation, telling The Plain Dealer:

“If you didn’t have that guy, then you drafted the wrong guy,” Mangini told the paper. “If he’s sitting at home at night curled up in a blanket hoping he doesn’t get the start, you’ve got the wrong guy. You look for that competitiveness, you want the young guys to always be pushing the guy in front of them, saying, ‘come on, move out of the way, give me my chance to do it.'”

We believe McCoy can survive playing an NFL game against Pittsburgh, other quarterbacks have done it. Just look at this partial list of Browns quarterbacks who have beaten the Steelers over the years:

  • Tim Couch (three times)
  • Gary Danielson
  • Paul McDonald
  • David Mays
  • Mike Phipps
  • Brady Quinn (we’ll get back to him in a minute)

Not exactly a roster of Hall of Famers.

Seriously, what’s the worse thing that is going to happen? The Browns lose? All the “experts” would still pick them to lose if Jake Delhomme or Seneca Wallace were starting at quarterback. It’s not as if the Steelers are going to barbecue and eat McCoy on the 50-yard-line.

Is it really going to be worse than Charlie Frye in 2005 or 2007?

The worse part are the hoople heads who think that, if McCoy starts on Sunday and does poorly his career is over, or that by starting him the Browns are breaking some kind of oath that they took not to play him this year.

The plan – and it is a sound one – called for McCoy to sit the entire year as long as nothing happened to Delhomme or Wallace. Well, guess what? Delhomme and Wallace are hurt, so McCoy needs to play. This isn’t Chris Palmer pulling Ty Detmer at halftime of the season opener and putting in Tim Couch. McCoy can play two games and, win or lose, go back to being the team’s No. 3 quarterback after the bye week.

And that’s exactly what the Browns should do – let McCoy play the next two games before the bye to give Delhomme and Wallace as much time to heal as possible. It will be the right move for all three of them.

The thing is, the Browns don’t need the second-coming of Otto Graham to beat the Steelers. They already know what they have to do. The Steelers are bullies, and like all bullies they don’t like it when you hit back.

Last December the Browns finally hit back and beat Pittsburgh with Brady Quinn at quarterback completing six passes for 90 yards. The Browns did it by running the ball for 171 yards and hitting the Steelers until they quit.

That would be easier with a healthy Peyton Hillis running the ball, but the Browns got the job done last year with Chris Jennings at running back, so anything is possible.

There’s just no reason to give up the ship just yet,

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Colt McCoy, hoople heads, no worries | Leave a comment
11 Oct 2010
2 Comments

Wrapping up Browns vs. Falcons

Some final thoughts on the Browns tough loss to Atlanta on Sunday:

  • Despite their 1-4 record, the Browns defense has actually played pretty well. Take away the TAINTs that Jake Delhomme and Seneca Wallace have thrown and the Browns are only giving up 15 points a game. They may give up a lot of yards and have trouble getting off the field on third down – they are 24th in the league allowing the other team to convert 41 percent of the time on third down – but they don’t give up points. They have yet to give up a rushing touchdown and held Atlanta to 0-for-3 in the red zone.
  • After putting together big games against Baltimore and Cincinnati, everyone in Brownstown was wondering how the team was able to acquire Peyton Hillis from Denver for Brady Quinn. It’s likely the team just fleeced an incompetent Denver front office, but something Terry Pluto mentioned in his story Sunday in The Plain Dealer gave us pause: “It’s not widely reported, but Hillis missed four games in 2006 with ‘calcification of the bone in the right thigh’ when he was at Arkansas.” Now Hillis’ thigh is bothering him again. No way to know if this is tied to his problem at Arkansas, but that sure sounds serious. And may explain why the Broncos were willing to basically give him away.
  • Brian Robiskie: 14 career games, 10 career catches.
  • Finally, we have to talk about the quarterbacks. Apparently high ankle sprains are the new staph infections, as now Seneca Wallace has one and Jake Delhomme reinjured his against Atlanta. The Browns signed old favorite Brett Ratliff off New England’s practice squad and signs currently point to rookie Colt McCoy making his NFL debut Sunday in Pittsburgh. Now things could certainly be worse than going on the road to face the No. 2-ranked defense (No. 1 against the rush) in the league with a rookie quarterback and a third-year quarterback who has never taken a snap in a regular-season game. We just can’t really think of too many of them right now.

It’s unfortunate that injuries are hitting this team at spots where it is especially vulnerable, but we knew heading into the season that the Browns did not have a lot of depth. And while it has been frustrating and disappointing through the first five weeks of the season, it hasn’t be discouraging. With a couple of breaks, the Browns could easily be 3-2 and we’d be feeling differently.

But their record is what it is, but it’s hard to argue that the team hasn’t show some improvement over last year, especially compared to the first five games of 2009. While the Browns carry the same 1-4 record as last year, their four losses this season are by a combined 22 points; last year it was a combined 69 points. And their win against Cincinnati was a solid showing, not like last year’s ridiculous 6-3 win over Buffalo where Derek Anderson “led” the Browns with 23 passing yards.

So while it’s not all bees and honey, it’s not as bad as it seems. Keep the faith.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Colt McCoy, high ankle sprains, Jake Delhomme, Seneca Wallace
10 Oct 2010

The Return of Derek Anderson

The Browns dropped another hard-fought, close game on Sunday to Atlanta – the fourth such loss of the season – and in the process Jake Delhomme came off the bench to deliver his best Derek Anderson impersonation.

Once again, the defense did everything it could to give the Browns a chance to win. They held the Falcons to just 13 points and – just like the Tampa game – gave up just one big play, a 45-yard TD catch by Roddy White where safety Abe Elam decided to double-cover Tony Gonzalez underneath rather than give cornerback Sheldon Brown help over the top on a deep pass.

Other than that, the defense held Matt Ryan to just 187 yards passing, sacked him twice and hit him hard on several occasions. They did give up 140 rushing yards to Michael Turner, including one 55-yard run, but when it mattered held Atlanta out of the end zone except for the White TD.

As for the offense .. oh boy.

After ripping the Ravens and Bengals for big rushing days, the Browns rushing attack struggled to get anything going, picking up just a single first down on the ground. Peyton Hillis repeatedly had to leave the game with some kind of injury; as a result he totaled only 28 yards on the ground but added 49 in the passing game, including a nice TD catch.

When Hillis was out Jerome Harrison continued to prove the end of last season – when he ran for 561 yards over the final three games – was a complete mirage. Harrison ran six times for a total of six yards, bringing his season total to 91 yards. It’s clear why the Browns were hesitant to give him a contract extension.

As bad as the rushing game was, the passing game was even worse after Seneca Wallace left with an injury. Starting in place of Jake Delhomme, Wallace kept the Browns in the game as he was 11-of-15 for 139 yards and a 124 QB rating before getting hurt right before the end of the first half.

Enter Delhomme, who proceeded to give everyone wearing Brown and Orange flashbacks to the days of Derek Anderson.

Simply put, Delhomme was horrible. Whether it was rust from not playing since Week 1 (probable), not being 100 percent healthy (also probable), the offense completely short-circuited under Delhomme, who was beyond ineffective.

Finishing 13-for-23 for 97 yards, a QB rating of 30.5 and two interceptions – one returned for a game-sealing touchdown in the fourth quarter – Delhomme gave the Browns no chance to win this game. He consistently threw into double coverage and once, on a pass to Josh Cribbs in the end zone, into quadruble coverage, in the process looking like a quarterback who’s better days are far, far behind him.

I’ve been watching the Browns, and by extension the NFL, since the mid-’70s and I can’t remember the last time a team had three TAINTs in a five-game stretch, let alone in one season. And yes, the Tampa interception wasn’t officially a TAINT, but for our purposes it was close enough.

The receiving corps didn’t help either, as Brian Robiskie checked in with his weekly one catch for five yards and Mohamed Massaquoi pulled in five catches, but for only 55 yards, furthering the believe that these two are Canadian Football League talent – on a good day – and taking all of us one step closer to making the second round of the 2009 draft a complete void.

Tack on another seven penalties from the Browns and it’s a surprise this game was as close as it was at the end.

Having said all that, it’s clear that Delhomme is still not 100 percent healthy and, even with his experience, not really practicing much over the past three weeks showed. If Wallace hadn’t been injured, Delhomme wouldn’t have even been in the game.

However, it’s a fair question to wonder if Wallace, while probably not a better quarterback than Delhomme, is a better quarterback for this Browns team. He certainly was better today and, while not performing at an Pro Bowl level, has played decently the past three weeks.

Look, as with most weeks the Browns needed to play a perfect game to beat Atlanta. It’s a testament to them that with the injuries and poor offensive performance they were able to still be in the game up until the interception return. We’re still in the disappointed and frustrated stage with this team, rather than the disgusted stage.

But depending on how bad Wallace is injured, the Browns face the prospect of heading to Pittsburgh next week with an immobile Delhomme at less than 100 percent. And if neither Delhomme or Wallace are healthy enough to play, Colt McCoy becomes the only healthy quarterback on the roster.

Not a happy thought to carry us through the week.

Posted in bad quarterback play, Cleveland Browns, NFL, non-existant wide receivers | Leave a comment
09 Oct 2010

Browns vs. Falcons – Week 5

The Browns look to start a winning streak when they host the Falcons in Week 5. Jake Delhomme may be back under center; Peyton Hillis may have a bad wheel and who knows what the team will get from its wide receivers.

The Opposition

Atlanta’s record: 3-1
Offensive rank: 5th overall/10th passing/3rd rushing
Defensive rank: 11th overall/19th passing/11th rushing
All-time record: Cleveland leads 10-2 (5-1 at home)
The line: Browns (+3)

What to Watch For

The Browns continued their upward trend last week and finally walked away from a game with something to show for it – their first win of the season. This is Week 3 of what was believed, in preseason, to be the “killer” portion of their schedule.

But four weeks into the season its time to start adjusting expectations about both the Browns and the Falcons. While their records are flipped, the Browns have been playing better and showing improvement from week to week. The Falcons, on the other hand, are a very soft 3-1, with two of their wins coming from the other teams’ mistakes and the other one coming against the Derek Anderson-led Arizona Cardinals.

So while this is a more winnable game for the Browns that it originally appeared, it certainly won’t be easy, because the Falcons do have talent and doing things the easy way isn’t the Cleveland way.

It will be interesting to see how Rob Ryan handles the defense this week. The Browns have not been able to get any pass rush this year unless they blitz, and when they blitz they still can’t get to the quarterback consistently. Plus the blitzing puts the secondary in a tough spot and they have struggled at times this year.

They double-covered Chad Ochocinco last week and Terrell Owens had a monster day; the Browns won so it worked out, but we’re not sure how many weeks they can pull that one off. It seems likely they will try the same strategy today against Roddy White (32 catches on the season) since the Falcons don’t have a complimentary wide receiver like Owens.

However, with Tony Gonzalez still one of the top tight ends in the league, if the Browns bring a safety on a blitz and Atlanta picks it up, Gonzalez could have an Owens-like day.

Offensively, the Browns may get Jake Delhomme back at quarterback. That’s a plus – not that Seneca Wallace did all that poorly filling-in the past three weeks – but Delhomme’s the starter and he has experience against Atlanta.

The problem lies if the Browns alter the game plan too much if Delhomme comes back. The past three weeks have shown what we’ve known since last season, the Browns are a running team and need to run the ball to have a chance at winning. Hopefully the offense can resist the urge to work in too many chances for Delhomme to “make a play” and, instead, stick with what’s been working.

Coach Eric Mangini addressed that point during one of his press conferences by saying the team isn’t going to force the ball to under-performing wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi, and presumably Brian Robiskie; that’s sound thinking and the Browns need to stick to the plan.

If Delhomme returns, we should also see the return of the no-huddle offense that worked so well in the preseason. The Browns have been unable or unwilling to use the no-huddle with Wallace at quarterback, it will be a nice change of pace if they can reincorporate it into the offense.

The Best Browns vs. Falcons Game I’ve Seen

Easily the 2002 game that propelled the Browns into the playoffs. William Green’s 178 yards rushing and two touchdowns, the goal line stand, a win to shockingly put the team into the playoffs. Read The Plain Dealer‘s game story here. Here’s video of Green’s big run.

The Prediction

The improvement the Browns have shown through the first four weeks of the season tilts this game in their favor. Atlanta may be the more talented team on paper, but the Browns are playing better and that will result in their second win of the season.

Record on the year: 1-2-1

Posted in Cleveland Browns, NFL | Leave a comment
08 Oct 2010

Not against the Browns

An interesting note as we try not to look past Atlanta to the Pittsburgh game:

Scouts Inc. has two Pittsburgh defenders – linebackers James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley on its list of the 10 best pass rushers in the league.

But looking at last season’s games between the Browns and the Steelers, Harrison was shut out and Woodley only recorded one sack in the two games.

If these are two of the 10 best pass rushers in the league, what does that say about a Browns offensive line that shut them down?

Posted in Cleveland Browns, offensive line, pass rush | Leave a comment

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