Theoricus's Blog

The Browns are 5 - 3, folks... 5 and 3 !!! And have won 3 straight to get there. But now they must travel to dreaded Steel Country this Sunday to try and make it 4 straight.

Although it may not be fresh on our minds, the complete and utter embaressment the Browns were dealt in Week 1 here at home, will still leave a Browns fan with stomach pains of the worst sort! HOWEVER... this is NOT the same Browns team the hated Steelers faced in that game. And with the exception of the Dawgs' D, are playing some damn good football at the moment.

The questions one has to ask here are these... CAN this revamped offensive line, stave off the never-ending Blitz Attack that the Steelers employ and employ very well I should add? Can the potent game play of Derek Anderson continue to be as high powered as it has been under that kind of pressure? And can the Browns anemic (at best) Defense put the kind of pressure that will be needed to rattle Rothlisberger's cage?

All three answers to those questions absolutely HAVE to be a resounding YES if the Browns hope to advance to a 6 - 3 record this Sunday afternoon. In my humble opinion, I believe only 2 of those Questions can answered positively. Unfortunately the Browns non-existant pass rush, the third key to victory for them, WILL BE THIER UNDOING! Big Ben has demonstrated time and time again, if you give him time to throw he will destroy you! And this defense has YET to demonstrate all season that it can disrupt ANYONE's passing game, let alone one with a QB as mobile and physical as Rothlisberger.

As I see it (unfortunately), it will be CLOSER than Week 1, but still a Loss all the same. Cleveland 24 - Pittsburgh 31.

C'MON GUYS!! Prove me wrong,please! Until next time, sports fans...

I'm back once again, football fans, with my take on the upcoming road game for our beloved Brownies. And much the same as Miami, this will NOT be an easy game for the guys in Brown and Orange.

As I mentioned in my last post, "O"fer teams are ALWAYS dangerous opponents to face, especially on thier home turf. And in ANY situation, St. Louis is a hostile enviroment to play football in. The noise levels in domes is always a factor, making the "12th man" theory very much a reality for opponents.

The Rams this season have been a hard luck lot, for certain. Riddled with injuries (much like Miami) and not much depth to work with, will more often than not take a really good team completely out of contention. And this has been the case for St. Louis thusfar in '07. HOWEVER, they are slowly getting these key personnel back into the lineup. Steven Jackson, tailback, returns this week off of a nagging groin injury. Although I don't believe he will be at 100% for this game, even an 80-85% Jackson is a force to be reckoned with. And starting QB, Marc Bulger, a proven veteran and solid performer, will be now 2 weeks off the DL and will probably be far more effective this week than he was last.

Link together all these factors, homefield and returning starters, and you have a recipe for a dangerous casserole dish that could leave a very foul taste in Cleveland's mouth!

As for our Browns, one piece of thier puzzle that still hasn't fallen into place and may even be missing from the box altogether, is Todd Grantham's Defense. I'M FOREVER scrathing my head on this one, folks. These guys aren't rookies (with the exception of a few) and the game plans and playbooks are NOT new, either. So far this season, we have yet to be given a solid performance on that side of the ball. Grantham has GOT to have an ulcer the size of Romeo Crennell by now!! What does he have to do to get these guys to play solid football?! Against a potentially dangerous Rams offense, our Dawgs have got to show up and turn in a good... nay, a GREAT game. Or else this one could get ugly and fast!

I will also stick by my statement from Week 6, folks. One (possibly 2) screw ups from D.A. and we WILL see Number 10 take the helm.

As I see it, with a solid Defensive showing the Browns should walk away with thier first road win of '07, Browns 38 - Rams 27. Until we type again....

First off, I'd like to apologize to everyone who has been following my little Brown's Blog this season. As you can see, I'm a bit behind as I have been incredibly busy out here in the real world. So here's a few quick thoughts on everything that has passed since before the Ravens game and then a look at the Miami game upcoming.

I was actually in attendance Week 4 at the new Browns Stadium to watch our Dawgs pummel the Ratbirds into the turf. MAN!! Why can they NOT play like that every week?! From first possession to last, they played like Pro Football players should. And damn was it exciting to watch for a change, especially first hand and up close. One thing I noticed during the game which I believe was a HUGE factor in their success was that the Ravens defense was SO FOCUSED on Jamal Lewis, that it opened up big opportunities for D.A. to fire some serious strike balls into the receiving corp.

And then there's the Patriots... What can I say? This was a game not many people (not even diehard fans) expected them to win. YES! New England IS really that good, folks. They are for real, and I REALLY don't see them losing a game this season. I will say that the Browns WERE having success moving the ball on the ground, I just can't understand why Romeo and Co. keep abandoning the ground game when they get behind on the scoreboard?! I guess it's just NOT for us to know...

And now it's back home for the 0 and 5 Dolphins, which is NOT where ANYONE expected Miami to be at this point in the season. Of course everyone who knows the game of football understands that more often than not, the most DANGEROUS opponents are the ones who have a big, fat ZERO in the win column! The Browns have got to be 100% on top of this game if they expect to come away with a "W" in this one.

One final thought here, I am going on record right here and calling this statement a sure thing... FIRST INTERCEPTION BY ANDERSON THROWN IN THIS GAME AND BRADY FANS WILL FINALLY GET THEIR WISH! Romeo WILL play the kid if D.A. falters this week, you can take that one to the bank folks.

They can walk off the field Sunday with a .500 record IF they keep the errors down and the ground game rolling. As I see it, Cleveland 30 - Miami 13. You just gotta keep on believeing! 

Until next week....

The Ravens travel to the Lake, in what will be the first REAL test of whether the '07 Browns have a chance at a winning (or at least .500) season.

The Ratbirds D is as solid as ever, and they throw SOOOO many different looks at the QB that offensive confusion is usually the outcome of every play. D.A. will HAVE to be on 1000% if he hopes to be successful here.

Baltimore's offense, however, is NOT as strong and this gives the Dawgs D a huge chance to step up and help keep them in this game. I have 3 keys to success for the Browns D in this game... Pass Rush, Pass Rush and Pass Rush!! Steve McNair is NOT as mobile as he used to be! Disrupt the passing game and you can literally shut these guys down. Former Bills RB,  Willis McGahee does have 272 yds in 3 games, but has yet to find the endzone as Heap and Mason have been doing all the damage for the Ratbirds inside the 20. Disrupting the passing game should put all the scoring in Stovers hands, err foot, in this game.

IF (and thats a big IF) the Browns D do thier job in this game, we should be looking at a low scorer. As I see it, Browns 19 - Ravens 12

Good Luck, Godspeed and GO DAWGS!!

Week 3 is in the books, and Browns Fans are left staring down the barrel of the heartbreak pistol, yet again.

Icing the kicker is common practice, so anyone believeing the NFL would even consider a rules change, have got to find something else to believe in for now. The only possible argument that could be made for a change in the last second time out tactic, would be the fact that if the kicker goes through the motion, kicking the ball after the whistle is blown (as Dawson did), it gives the defense the slight advantage of knowing just where behind the lineman the ball is going to come up. In turn on the next play, they load the line in the spot to force penetration and block the kick (as Oakland did). BUT, that argument is pretty thin.

With that being said, anyone watching that game should know... THEY PLAYED LIKE ABSOLUTE CRAP, until Josh Cribbs ran his 99 yard kick return to score. And THEN they began to wake up and realise, "Hey... I think we're playing a football game, here..." And again, this Cribbs kids... remember I spoke of how impressed I've been with him in a past post... WOW! This kid just doesn't have an unbelieveing bone in his body! Everytime he has the ball he expects to do something big with it! His winning attitude has GOT to eventually spill over into the rest of the lockeroom... at least we can hope it does.

I FINALLY saw some improvement on the D side of the ball. They attacked the run at the line of scrimage, instead of from behind the run already 10 yds. up field. And some hints of an effective pass rush have begun to come to life. BUT they still have a ways to go yet, which really does worry me as they ARE NOT a young, inexperienced squad and should be playing much better than they have thus far.

Finally, I think this game was a wake up call for D.A... Another one like Oakland and he'll be watching as Romeo rushes Quinn in to save the day.

BTW, while I mentioned the rolly-polly one... Would somebody in the Brown's organization WAKE THIS GUY UP AND TELL HIM THERE'S A FOOTBALL GAME GOING ON?!? Crennell just waddles back and forth, headset and clipboard, looking as if someone stole his puppy and clubbed him over the head with it! Coach has GOT to start showing some form of emotion over there during the game. When they're stinking it up, rush over there, grab these guys and start shaking things up IN THERE FACES!! All he needs to do is watch Grantham over there and just follow his lead. GET EMOTIONAL, DUDE!! Motivate and congradulate these kids on the sidelines! Let 'Em Know there Coach is there, man!!

Well, till Week 4 and a HUGE test for both sides of the ball as they face the Ratbirds back here on the Lake...CYA!

Week 3 is here and it's time to take a look at the Dawgs next adventure out in Oakland.

0-2 Oakland, despite not being the defensive powerhouse they were last year so far this season, will not be as easy an opponent as Brown's fans are hoping for. The Raiders are staying with McCown as their starting QB, giving #1 pick JaMarcus Russell another week to learn the offense having just signed last week, ending the longest rookie holdout in over two decades.

The bulk of the work for the Raiders will, again, rest on LaMont Jordon who rushed for a career high 159 yds. on 25 carries against the Broncos. The Browns will certainly have thier hands full slowing him down, especially the way the Dawgs D have been playing thus far. If the Browns can muster SOME kind of pass rush in this game, they should be able to take McCown completely out of this game, leaving Janikowski's leg to do all of thier scoring.

The outcome of this game rests entirely in the hands of the so far non-existant Browns Defense. IF THEY SHOW UP this week and get pressure on the QB, they should come out on top of this one.

As I see it, Cleveland 24 - Oakland 19

Here's to Hoping! See ya in a few days!

Week 2 has passed, and the Brownies have posted the first "W" of the season in an unexpected fashion, to say the least. I'm actually happy that I called the game wrong, of course, but I'm not jumping on the Road-To-The-Playoffs Bus just yet! And here's why:

At the end of the game, shortly after scooping my jaw off the floor, I was almost immediately struck with a vision of what this week's Sports Illustrated Cover should look like. I pictured a brief scene from a recent Will Ferrell & Jon Heder film entitled Blades of Glory, a ridiculously funny satire of figure skating. (Quick premise: the two men become the first same sex pairs skating couple when they are both banned from Men's Singles)  In the scene, a mock cover of S.I. passed in front of the screen, depicting the 2 characters (Ferrell & Heder) with a BOLD type caption that simply read, "What The Hell?" Simply replace Ferrell & Heder with Romeo & Marv and you have this week's new Sports Illustrated cover! And THAT would be an understatement!!

Ladies and Gentleman... I'M NOT READY to jump on the D.A. Bandwagon just yet and neither should you! Go back and watch that game very closely and you will see why... NEITHER team employed ANYTHING that even closely resembles a pass rush! There were a couple of blitz schemes called (literally, 2 by the Bengals) but both teams played 6 and 7 DB's the ENTIRE game! For Christ's sake, TIM COUCH could have stood back there and picked apart the Bengals D!! I swear I saw Derek using his cell phone to call his agent when he threw Braylon his second touchdown of the afternoon! BOTH QB's had ALL DAY to find an open receiver and with time like that virtually anyone with a little arm strength could complete passes like they did! A good case in point example here would be Terry Bradshaw... dumber than a bag of dried leaves, but had all day to throw his way into the H.O.F. because he played behind the best O-Line EVER in the NFL.

With that being said, I will admit there was marked improvement in our receiving corps route running, AND they were actually HOLDING on to the ball for a change. AND Jamal Lewis got to be Jamal Lewis because of the spread offense formations the Brown's were using when he broke his three HUGE runs.

But where was the defense? Still at the hotel, maybe?

Emotions were running VERY high for the Browns coming into this game. Nothing to Lose AND Everything to Prove to a city that is getting sick and tired of supporting a losing franchise... An embattled head coach that they still stand behind and had no choice but to show it... Ocho Cinco talking trash (as usual), publicly threatening to desecrate the Sacred Pound with a Touchdown Leap... Yes, folks, emotions were VERY high and the offense played ON those emotions this time, instead of playing INTO them. This happens in sports sometimes. BUT PLEASE... don't believe for one single solitary second that this is going to carry on into the rest of the season. Believe it when I say the REAL litmus test is coming in Week 4, when this "explosive" offense faces a solid, established defense in the form of the Baltimore Ravens. IF they at least keep it close and play a solid game of football against Ray Lewis & Co., THEN I will be the first guy in line to buy that D.A. Bandwagon ticket! Count on it!

OH! A quick closing note here... How About this Joshua Cribbs, kid?! All I can say is WOW!! I hafta say, I love Joe J. The guy is a hometowner, stand-up guy and the very definition of Class Act... But if I were you, Joey.... I'd be lookin' over my shoulder for more than the ball!  :p

Until next week, Brown's Fans...

Week 2 is upon us and it's time to take a look at this Sunday's "Battle of Ohio, Part 1", taking place this Sunday in Cleveland Browns Stadium.

After Week 1's insanity, Browns Fans are once again left wondering, can this latest installment of the Brown's Expansion get it done? Or will we all be left to say, "There's always next year!", yet again.

I have some bad news for you, folks... It's not getting done this weekend. And anyone who saw the Bengals, Ravens match-up this past Monday will share that sentiment. The Bengal's Offense has pretty much picked up where they left off last season and looked very good against the Ravens. As for Cinci's defense, although they have yet to attain elite status amoungst the NFL's top D's, they ARE much improved over last year in stuffing the run. Bad news for Jamal Lewis and the not-as-of-yet solidified Browns O-Line.

Derek Anderson has been "awarded?" starting honors this Sunday, and he will NOT fair much better against Cinci than he did last weekend, despite having 80% of the reps this past week down in Berea. He DOES have a strong arm but it also requires a comfort level with your receivers that's gonna take a bit more than 1 week of practices to attain.

Cincinnati's defense will give up a few more points than the Steeler's did but the Bengal's potent and quick scoring offense will be just too much for a young Brown's D that doesn't seem to be firing on all cylinders yet.

The Bengals have the definte edge in this one, as I see it, Cincinnati 27- Cleveland 13.

G'Day all you bloggers and welcome back to my little corner of the Football World! As I had promised, I have returned to try and break down, analyze and otherwise help us ALL understand just what in Hades happened in our Beloved Dawgs' season opener. And without further adieu....

I should clarify that I do record the games and I review each and every play, both offensive and defensive, and watching as best as possible at key personnels' performances and of course the overall effectiveness of the play in that particular game situation. And to answer your question, YES I am insane. My wife reminds me of this fact CONSTANTLY throughout the months of August thru January. Moving on...

I'll begin with Charlie Frye. First I have to agree with JT's assessment of Frye, he looked nervous, scared to make a mistake which caused him to dance in the pocket, hold the ball too long and to not run when he should have. HOWEVER, Charlie has 2 fundamental flaws (one he can fix and one he cannot) which noone really talks much about, that severly hamper his ability to be an effective quarterback in the National Football League.

First, the one he CANNOT remedy... He's too darn SHORT! Frye is only 6 foot tall. The average height of the Brown's O-lineman is 6' 3". Now you might say, 3 lousey inches, no big deal, couldn't be a factor, right? WRONG! If you have ever played the position and had to stand in a pocket formed of bodies that are taller than you, then you would understand how difficult it is to spot an open receiver or even a defender moving toward your target. THIS is why he has ALWAYS rolled out of the pocket (yes in college, too) in order to complete a passing play. Sorry, Charlie! It's tough to throw at something you can't see.

Second, the one he COULD remedy with the proper coaching, is his ability to READ the DEFENSE. I've heard many of you crying out... "We STILL don't have a good O-line! How can a QB pass when he doesn't have the time!?!" Sorry, folks. Wrong on that account, as well. This line is VERY much improved over last year. Without a doubt, the most capable and skilled front 5 since returning in '99. "BUT Frye was sacked 5 times in that game! How can you say the O-line is any good?!?" I'll tell you why I can say that with the utmost confidence. Have you ever seen that wrist band that Frye wears? It contains the plays that are called into him during the game. AND it also contains several AUDIBLEs that Charlie can call, if he needs to change the protection scheme, or the hot route prior to snapping the ball. With the exception of ONE sack, which was Joe Thomas's fault, Frye NEVER changed the protection scheme when there were OBVIOUS visible signs of a blitz coming! Just a few quick examples, the saftey begins "cheating" over toward the line of the wide receiver. This means a corner blitz is coming. Another would be the linebacker assigned to the either tightend's side, slides out toward the "slot" position. This is a bit more subtle than the last, but still visible to the sharp QB. There are only 2 possible reasons Charlie never changed up under center. Either he is being told NOT to, or he really can't recognize the blitz. Whichever is true, both problems CAN be easily fixed with the proper coaching.

Moving on to the running game, or should I say the complete and total LACK of one. Despite what the national sports coverage has stated about him, Jamal Lewis is NOT washed up and is actually the BEST FIT in this offense to date! And as so often has happened over the past few years, the coaching staff abandoned the running game far too soon. The game was only 17-0 going into the half. Not even close to being out of reach. And every series in the second half, Anderson came out firing. Football in the NFL, is about field position, ball control and clock managment... period. A solid, consistent running game gives you control of these things and of course opens the door to big play opportunities with the play-action pass when the safties are caught cheating up to stuff the run. These are fundamentals... a.k.a. Football 101! Something this coaching staff appears NOT to have a grasp of. To put it bluntly, it's time to put the game in the hands of Jamal Lewis and the O-Line!! Slow the game down to a crawl, keep the D honest and FORCE them to try and beat you instead of HANDING it to them with a slew of arial attacks!

The most puzzling part of this game for me to understand was the Defense. With the exception of Peek and Wimbley who were both SWARMING the ball all day, the entire defense seemed lackluster, out of sync and even CONFUSED at times. This is NOT at all what we should be seeing from this bunch, even being down a few players. Perhaps they aren't being motivated properly in the pre-game? Maybe they are sending a message to the front office, expressing some dissatisfaction by playing like a bunch of high schoolers in a scrimage? I am left scratching my head, the same as many of you are. I really need to see at least one more game, perhaps 2 before I can make a proper judgement call on that side of the ball.

Special teams... I only have 3 words here... No Dave Zastudil. 'Nuff said!

I could go on to point out several other more subtle issues I detected while examining the game tape... route running, blocking schemes, etc. But I don't want to completely bore the heck outta you! So to sum up the overall picture of this game gone wrong, is that the Browns' SIDELINE and NOT the huddle, that were completely to blame for this nightmare. They were out-coached... NAY, out-classed by a Pittsburgh team that despite having a new Head Coach, have NOT missed a beat.

Come on back in another day or so and I'll give y'all an in-depth preview of the Browns upcoming loss... err, I mean battle, with the Bengals. Until then, C'YA!

It's been a LONG, HOT summer and it's that TIME AGAIN!

Yes, I'm back... and with a vengence!! The first game of the Browns season, '08 has come to pass and I have to say I am thoroughly DISGUSTED.... WITH the so-called BROWN's FANS in this city!

All the people out there screaming, " Fire Romeo!", "Sell the team!", "Frye is fried!" and all the other lame-arse comments that REALLY show just HOW much you MORONS actually know about football!

DO YOU PEOPLE ACTUALLY THINK THAT YOU CAN RE-STAFF AND REPLACE NEARLY AN ENTIRE ORGANIZATION 4 TIMES IN 8 YEARS AND EXPECT TO HAVE A WINNING SPORTS TEAM?! If you do, then you fall under the obvious category of MORON!

WITH THAT BEING SAID... I DO understand the obvious frustration that all the morons are feeling out there, because I am frustrated, too. HOWEVER, I have the horse-sense and the football knowledge to understand that you CANNOT install a brand new offense on a team full of second and third year players, and burst out of the gates winning games! It JUST DOES NOT HAPPEN!

To be quite honest with you, the only REAL surprise for me in Sunday's game was the defense! This defense is NOT new and should NOT have performed as lousey as they did, even with the few missing starters. But BEFORE I go shooting off my mouth about how crappy the D is, I'll at least give them another game to shake off the insanity of having thier entire organization turned upside-down and inside-out for the fourth time since returning to the league.

I know my little rant will do little to silence the thousands of blithering idiots out there shouting "HANG THEM FROM THE GALLOWS!!" after ONE game, but I just felt they at least needed to be told just how MORONIC they really are. SO, just shut-up,go back to watching your soul-draining, reality shows and leave the football to those who actually KNOW what they're watching.

AND, I'll be back in a day or two with some actual analysis and a preview of the Bengals game.