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In Cleveland, hope dies last

Browns vs. Bears – Week 15

2013_12_browns_bears_previewThe Cleveland Browns close out the home portion of the 2013 NFL season on Sunday when they host the Chicago Bears, a team the Browns have beaten four consecutive times at home.

A win would give the Browns four home victories this season. That may not sound impressive, but it would mark the first time the team has recorded at least four home wins in consecutive seasons since returning to the NFL in 1999.

The Bears are in a fight for a playoff spot in the NFC North and will start Jay Cutler, who has only played once since the end of October due to injury, at quarterback.

The Browns will counter with Jason Campbell and his 1-4 record as the starting quarterback.

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Liverpool need to take three points off Spurs on Sunday

brendan-rodgers_2333533bThe heat is on Liverpool on Sunday when they take the pitch at White Heart Lane against Tottenham Hotspur.

Thanks to Manchester City’s win against Arsenal on Saturday, Liverpool has a chance to cut the Gunners lead to just two points. But with Chelsea and Everton also winning on Saturday, the Reds need to come home with three points against Spurs or run the risk of falling out of the top four.

That may be easier said than done for a squad that has taken just nine points in seven away matches this season. And Liverpool has lost six consecutive matches at White Hart Lane. However, Spurs have won just one of their last five league matches at home and have scored just seven goals in their past seven home games.

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Yeah, we don’t know either

1995 NFL Pro BowlWe came across this story today from Business Insider Australia (h/t @PhilHecken) about the mascots that the NFL used during the 1995 Pro Bowl game.

Now, admittedly, we don’t watch much if any of the Pro Bowl, but we do check in a little during the game and generally catch the highlights. But we have absolutely zero recollection of this mascot supposedly representing the Cleveland Browns.

We’re not even sure what it is supposed to be. Yeah, sure, it’s a “dawg” but other than that, what the heck is going on? Why is he so sad? And why does he have a Mike Holmgren-like mustache almost 20 years before Holmgren came to Cleveland?

Does anyone remember this?

Weird.

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World Cup draw may not be so bad for USMNT after all

world cup drawIt was a rough day for the U.S. Men’s National Team when the groups were drawn on Friday for next summer’s World Cup in Brazil.

The U.S. landed in Group G with Germany (ranked No. 2 in the world) Portugal (No. 5) and Ghana (No. 24).

It’s not going to be easy, but after thinking about it over the weekend, it may not be as bad for the U.S. as we first feared.

U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann took the approach that if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best.

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Patriots, officials combine to take down Browns

browns lose patriotsThe Cleveland Browns were so very, very close to pulling off the upset of the season on Sunday against the New England Patriots.

But in the end, Tom Brady and the Patriots got by – with more than a little help from their friends in the striped shirts.

When quarterback Jason Campbell hit tight end Jordan Cameron with a four-yard touchdown pass to give the Browns a 26-14 lead with just 2:39 left in the game, it certainly looked as if the Browns were going to come home winners.

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Browns vs. Patriots – Week 14

2013_12_browns_pats_previewThe Cleveland Browns hit the road on Sunday to take on the New England Patriots.

The Patriots are looking to clinch their fifth consecutive AFC East Division title, keep pressure on Denver for the No. 1 overall seed in the AFC for the playoffs, and push quarterback Tom Brady’s record in games played in December to 43-6, the best winning percentage in the month for any quarterback since the merger in 1970.

As for the Browns, they have entered the portion of the season where they are evaluating the young players on the roster to find out “what they have” for 2014.

And since it is a new week, we get a new starting quarterback as Jason Campbell returns and will attempt to make it through four quarters of football without hurting himself.

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Welcome to Cleveland, coach Chudzinski

2013_12_chud_quarterbackWe would have thought having grown up a Cleveland Browns fan and having worked as an assistant coach with the team previously that Rob Chudzinski would have known what he was getting himself into when he accepted the head coaching position.

If he didn’t know before, he does know as the team’s latest quarterback situation has become Chudzinski’s “welcome to Cleveland” moment.

With former starting quarterbacks Jason Campbell and Brandon Weeden both still in the NFL-mandated concussion protocol system and not yet cleared to play, the Browns very well could turn to Alex Tanney, signed last week off of Dallas’ practice squad, or Caleb Hanie, signed as a street free agent on Tuesday, when they take the field on Sunday against New England.

“As far as our quarterback situation goes, it’s a very fluid situation, unique, one that I haven’t necessarily been around,” Chudzinski said on Wednesday. “Obviously, we’ll tailor the package to whichever guy ends up being the starter and to what they can do and to what is going to be effective, hopefully, versus New England.”

Cleveland: where the unique is a common occurrence.

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Browns keep showing us things we really don’t want to see

Sen'Derrick Marks, Brandon Weeden, Mitchell SchwartzThe great thing about sports is you never know when you are going to see something that you have never seen before.

Or in the case of the Cleveland Browns, see something that you wish you could then un-see.

Such was the case on Sunday as the Browns found a way to lose to the Jacksonville Jaguars by the score of 32-28.

Things started out well as quarterback Brandon Weeden hit Josh Gordon (more on him in a moment) for a 42-yard reception on the Browns first possession of the game. Two plays later, the Browns scored on a one-yard rushing touchdown by Willis McGahee – talk about something we haven’t seen a long time – and things were off to a good start.

The Jaguars answered right back, with Chad Henne hitting Chris Harbor with a touchdown pass to tie the game with a little over seven minutes remaining in the first quarter. But then the Browns defense took over.

Following that touchdown pass, the Jaguars had seven offensive possessions the rest of the first half and piled up all of 51 yards of offense – but went into the half leading, 20-14.

And it was all thanks to Weeden.

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From the editor’s notebook …

Chris DavisSaturday was one of those days that make college football so enjoyable.

The fun actually started on Friday night, when Marcus Mariota got some of his swag back, leading Oregon to a game-winning touchdown with 29 seconds left to beat Oregon State. (And while we have been a proponent of the Browns exploring a chrome orange helmet, we may have to reassess our position after seeing Oregon State’s helmets. Although they may just have had too much red in them.)

That was just a prelude to Saturday, when the game of the year took place between Alabama and Auburn. The Tigers took down the defending champs in the most improbable way possible (and aided a bit by Alabama coach Nick Saban’s hubris), as Auburn’s Chris Davis returned a missed 57-yard field goal the entire length of the field for the game-winning score on the final play of the game.

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Browns vs. Jaguars – Week 13

2013_11_browns_jaguars_previewThe Cleveland Browns host the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday in the penultimate home game for the Browns.

The Browns and the Jaguars come into the game trending in opposite directions. Jacksonville has won two of its last three games – both on the road, interestingly enough – while the Browns have lost the past two games to derail what was possibly turning into an interesting close to the 2013 season.

Now, instead of a possible playoff push, we get to watch the Browns in the race once again for a high draft pick.

Oh, and Brandon Weeden returns this week as the Browns starting quarterback.

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