Cleveland Browns (2008 Season)

[MolGenBuckeye]

Originally Posted by LitlBuck

Cleveland.com



I will just expect the worst than be surprised if he will be able to play against Pittspuke this week.

When in doubt, it's a staph infection.

[schwab]

I could never be a doctor, mostly because I just don't have any patience.

Where are our new DB's? Let's sign someone already.

[LitlBuck]

Why we are getting some DB's, we might as well pick up some LB's who can run to the ball and get back into pass coverage. None of our current LB's can do either.

[NFBuck]

Originally Posted by LitlBuck

I totally agree with your comments about Edwards. Sometimes he can make some very good catches but overall I think he drops way too many to be considered the #1 receiver on this team.

While he had a bad game and does have regular problems with the dropsies, I'm not gonna crucify him yet. He is very much a #1 reciever. Look at his numbers last year. He's gonna [censored] you off with some drops, but more often you'll love him for the big plays he makes.

People can say what they like about Winslow but at least he does his talking with his playing abilities. Edwards on the other hand open his mouth too much for what he is bringing to the table.

Exactly right. I hated his ass when they drafted him and especially after it became evident he couldn't drive his bike from one end of a parking lot to the other without crashing into a curb and blowing out his knee, but he has heart. He plays his ass off every down and has been pretty well behaved.

I'm just not sure about Romeo. I don't like his coaching philosophy but you can't judge the season by one game. I have no idea why he kicked that field goal unless he had a over/under bet. He had to be thinking something but the question was what.

Bottom line: Romeo is a great coordinator, mediocre to bad head coach. He makes too many mind boggling decisions and seems to coddle players. That was a fun season last year, but it may have given Romeo more rope than I'm rally comfortable with. The FO knows this is a ridiculous schedule and I think barring an absolute disaster of a season, he's gonna be around for a while.

I don't know why we traded for Corey Williams because he certainly didn't bring anything to the table yesterday and I really did not hear his name that much during the season. However, he is not used to playing in the 3-4 just like Shaun Rogers is not used to playing in that defense but at least Rogers is bringing something. I know it is too late to do this now when I think the Browns would have been better off switching to a 4-3 with the linebackers that they have which is not much. At least with Rogers, Williams, and both Smiths playing up front they might be able to put some pressure on the passer and stuff the run. If we do not get to the passer even Carson Palmer might be able to throw for 300 yards against that defense. I would rather take my chances with some blitzes than letting a QB sit back there completely untouched.

Again, I'm not gonna write anybody off after one bad game...especially when I expected to get destroyed. If anything the coaching staff deserves the blame for their apparent romper room preseason preperation.

I noticed it was referenced above about no contact during the preseason camps. Different coaches have different philosophies about that and if the Browns did have contact and someone would have gotten hurt because of that we probably would be bitching about that.

It's a catch-22 with this team. Lord only knows how many injuries they'd have had if they actually had hard contact in drills. But then again, they've looked totally unprepared for 5 games now.

Let's see what happens next Sunday when they should get Pool, Stallworth, and hopefully Cribbs back. If they take another beating at home next Sunday, things will get ugly for not only Romeo but also for Savage.

I think Stallworth neds to get back ASAP. It seemed evident yesterday that Stallworth is badly needed in the passing game. Steptoe is decent, but Josh is a gamebreaker. Pool...meh. Again, though, Phil and Romeo bought a lot of rope with last season so I don't see them feeling any heat unless this team totally implodes. Pukesburgh looked good though and absolutely own us right now, so my hopes aren't high.

[smitty03]

I can understand why everyone is saying "Fire Romeo", "Edwards is overrated", "Williams is no good", etc., but it was THE FIRST GAME OF THE SEASON AGAINST A TEAM THAT MANY PICKED TO WIN THE SUPER BOWL. Stallworth didn't play, Lewis wasn't full go, and our QB and top WR haven't played with each other against another team's defense since Week 1 of the preseason. I hate to make excuses for these guys, but last I checked Romo, Owens, Witten, and Barber can put huge numbers up on pretty much anyone.

The true measuring stick will be this week against Pittsburgh; if we lay an egg there then I will be worried.

[osugrad21]

ABJ

Browns fans already worried after one game WKNR's Tony Rizzo tries to be a voice of reason as Clevelanders go bonkers over loss to Cowboys
By George M. Thomas
Beacon Journal sports writer

Published on Tuesday, Sep 09, 2008
Did you hear that the sky is falling?
The Chicken Littles screamed out in force on ESPN 850 (WKNR 850-AM) on Monday's Rizzo on the Radio show during the usual postmortem of the Browns-Cowboys debacle from Sunday afternoon.
Calls ran about 10-1 in favor of the team being completely useless, horribly wretched and godawful in the segments I monitored. And, of course, coach Romeo Crennel should be run out of town after being stoned, egged or tarred and feathered.
Yes, folks, after one game, the season is over. Time to pack it in and play for the draft next spring.
That was the rather facetious angle of Tony Rizzo's show as he parried with his sidekick and constant foil, Aaron Goldhammer.
This is why I like Rizzo. He has gone out on a limb, a rather thin and splintered one at that, and claimed the Browns will be in the Super Bowl. Most of that talk is in jest, but it points to something bigger. Having grown up in Northeast Ohio, he supports the home team and does so without being a homer.
Cont...

[osugrad21]

CPD

Defense slow to adjust -- would it have mattered?

by terrypluto2003@yahoo.com Monday September 08, 2008, 6:28 PM




If the Browns take the field this week against Pittsburgh with the same passive, timid game plan on defense, it will be a rerun of Sunday's 28-10 loss to Dallas.
Romeo Crennel has to know this. The Browns coach has to realize he spent most of the first half rushing only three linemen against the Cowboys and it turned out to be an utterly toothless game plan. He has to come up with something different, and do it quick.
Against Dallas, Crennel (along with defensive coordinator Mel Tucker) hoped to prevent big plays, or at least keep the Cowboys out of the end zone and settle for field goals.
But Dallas scored 21 points in the first half on a drive of 80 yards and two of 69.
There were 11 plays where the Cowboys gained more than 10 yards. Dallas had 27 offensive plays in the first half, and only three were on third down!
Quarterback Tony Romo had so much time to pass, he looked like a kid at Dairy Queen trying to decide between a sundae, a Blizzard, a float or a monster cone. He just stood back there and smiled.
In the first half, you'd have sworn the Browns were playing a touch football game where before the defense could rush, it had to yell, "One Mississippi . . . two Mississippi . . . three . . ."

Cont...

[osugrad21]

CPD

Cleveland Browns need to be thinking Pittsburgh Steelers, not Dallas Cowboys

Division game . . . Pittsburgh . . . enough said
Tuesday, September 09, 2008 Mary Kay Cabot
Plain Dealer Reporter

The Browns have no time to dwell on dropped passes, dropped interceptions, no sacks and other missed opportunities from Sunday's 28-10 loss to Dallas. The Steelers -- fresh off a whuppin' of the Houston Texans -- roll into town for a nationally televised Sunday night showdown.
"This isn't just any week, it's Steelers week," said kicker Phil Dawson. "I think that's a good thing. I think it's going to help us move forward. If we had a bye week, we'd sit around and think about how horrible we played [Sunday]. But it doesn't take much to get your focus on the Steelers."
Coach Romeo Crennel turned his thoughts to the Steelers in the locker room right after the Dallas rout.

Cont...

[osugrad21]

Canton

Browns' defense continues looking for answers
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
BY STEVE DOERSCHUK
STEVE.DOERSCHUK@CANTONREP.COM

BEREA Brandon McDonald's first day as the Browns' new full-time right cornerback ebbed into night.

The dawn of his career as a starter had collided with the latter days of T.O.

It left a mark.

Tony Romo passed for 320 yards, his best number since the first half of the 2007 season. Terrell Owens collaborated with lesser light Patrick Crayton to provide 11 catches for 169 yards against Cleveland's young corners. Dallas rolled, 28-10.

For McDonald, who turned 23 several days earlier and is two years removed from being a virtual unknown at Memphis, the day was thrilling. And depressing.

"When I got home," McDonald said on the Monday after, "I was really frustrated about the way I performed ... and the performance of the team."

New Defensive Coordinator Mel Tucker had a rough first game, his unit blistered for 487 yards. It was weird to see Todd Grantham wearing a quiet smile as he walked by himself into the Dallas locker room.

Grantham is the Cowboys' defensive line coach now. The previous three years, he was Cleveland's defensive coordinator. In the first two games last year, Grantham's defense allowed 886 yards. In the next 14 games, opponents averaged 347.6 yards.

The improvement didn't save Grantham's job, but it looks all right compared to Sunday's carnage.

"We didn't get enough pressure (on Romo)," captain Willie McGinest said.

Cont...

[osugrad21]

Canton

Browns' Anderson, Edwards not in Pro Bowl form
Team finds plenty of struggles on offense
Monday, September 8, 2008
BY TODD PORTER
TODD.PORTER@CANTONREP.COM

CLEVELAND Neither Braylon Edwards nor Derek Anderson wanted a do-over. They didn't want to use preseason injuries as an excuse. The bottom line after Sunday's 28-10 loss to Dallas is neither player who traveled and enjoyed the Pro Bowl sun in Hawaii last year played well.

Not only were Anderson and Edwards not on the same page, they looked a million miles from their Pro Bowl seasons of a year ago.

Anderson dealt with a heavy Dallas pass rush most of Sunday and completed just 11-of-24 passes for 114 yards. Edwards caught two passes for 14 yards, and dropped two others, including what might have been a 53-yard touchdown pass. Anderson's 114 yards was a career low. Edwards' 14 yards were the least he's caught in a game since 2006.

"We weren't ready," said Edwards, who missed two preseason games with stitches in his foot. "We came out and had a good drive and we put together another good drive. That was the extent of it. We were not on the same page today. Nobody was. We didn't play good football. It was everybody. It was D.A. It was myself. It was some other things. We've just got to get it together."

Cleveland's top receiver and quarterback seemed to develop a chemistry toward the end of last season. That was absent Sunday.

"We don't have that six or seven-year chemistry like Marvin (Harrison) and Peyton (Manning)," Edwards said. "We've got a year-and-a-half chemistry."

Cleveland's offense was dealt another blow just before kickoff. Dont? Stallworth, who would have have started opposite Edwards and taken some of the coverage focus off him, pulled his groin in pregame warmups. Consequently, the Browns had to adjust their game plan on the fly and rookie receivers Syndric Steptoe and Steve Sanders (on the practice squad last week) were forced into action.

"You deal with the cards you're dealt," Anderson said.
Cont...

[osugrad21]

Canton

Cribbs among many to sit with injuries
Monday, September 8, 2008
BY STEVE DOERSCHUK
STEVE.DOERSCHUK@CANTONREP.COM

CLEVELAND No Joshua Cribbs? No Brodney Pool? No Dont? Stallworth? No Antwan Peek? No Ryan Tucker or Rex Hadnot?

Yes, the Browns played without all of them Sunday.

No way they should have looked as bad as they did in a 28-10 loss to Dallas.

"It does help when everybody is here practicing together," guard Eric Steinbach said, "but every team is going to have injuries.

"Other guys have done a good job filling in. We need to play smarter football."

Cribbs didn't make it back from a high ankle sprain. Syndric Steptoe didn't get far as his replacement.

On the kickoff after Dallas took a 7-0 lead, Steptoe was upended where Cribbs almost never falls, near the 20. Steptoe's next return netted 16 yards, about half Cribbs' 2007 average.

Later in the game, he was replaced by rookie Gerard Lawson, who made a modest 29-yard return.

Pool (concussion) was replaced at free safety by Mike Adams, who played 16 games for the 2007 Browns but did not have a start. He started eight games for the 2006 49ers.

"We missed tackles and didn't get off the field on third down," said Adams, who made a game-high eight solo tackles. "They didn't do anything spectacular. We just didn't make the plays."

With Pool out and second-year pros Eric Wright and Brandon McDonald starting at corner, the Browns used zone coverage and got torched for 320 passing yards.
Cont...

[reeelaxn]

Originally Posted by smitty03

The true measuring stick will be this week against Pittsburgh; if we lay an egg there then I will be worried.

Very true. These Cleveland Brownies got to step up and get something done on offense. Don't run the ball 1st and 2nd, then on 3rd and 2 throw a fade pass. I know it is extremely unpredictable, however it is also extremely STUPID. Does Chudwiskiasdhflasjf (Didn't want to look up how to spell his name) need a crash-course in NFL offense? Like everyone has stated, I hope this isn't a precursor of what's to come.

Let's end the doubt's and start a new trend of 10+ wins in a row against the "Toothlessbergers" Steelers!

[osugrad21]

DDN

Can't beat the Steelers? Just blame it on Modell

By Sean McClelland
Staff Writer

Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Whenever Art Modell pops into my head, I'm not responsible for what occurs next.
Happened to think about the former Cleveland Browns owner the other day while driving, and my speed zipped from 65 mph to about 80 in a rage-fueled instant.
Had I been pulled over, bet I could have talked my way out of a ticket had the trooper been a Browns fan. Surely he would have sympathized.
In case you don't remember, Modell is the scoundrel who moved the Browns to Baltimore and kept football out of Cleveland (where it was practically invented) for three seasons until the National Football League got an expansion franchise up and running in 1999.
Almost as devastating as the move itself was the loss of long-standing rivalries such as the one the Browns had enjoyed with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the renewal of which is Sunday, Sept. 14, in Cleveland Browns Stadium.
Cont...

[osugrad21]

ABJ

Browns' defense in need of fast fix Steelers, quarterback in fine form at start of season
By George M. Thomas
Beacon Journal sports writer

Published on Wednesday, Sep 10, 2008
BEREA: At times Sunday, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo had enough time in the pocket to order dinner and eat it. He didn't have to worry whether receivers would be open. He just had to wait for when they freed themselves from coverage by defensive backs.
The Browns' defense paid for its lack of a pass rush to the tune of Romo completing 24-of-32 passes for 320 yards and a touchdown. The result: a 28-10 loss for the Browns.
''I think it was pretty good. On some of the passes, short passes, they were quick throws. We were able to apply pressure and get to him a couple times to alter a couple of throws,'' linebacker Kamerion Wimbley said Monday. ''At one point me and Willie (McGinest) hit him. That's when he busted up his chin a little bit. Overall, I think it was a pretty good night.''
The numbers tell a different story.
No team can give up that kind of yardage and expect to win consistently. So where was the rush against Romo?
Cont...

[osugrad21]

CPD

Browns Insider: Edwards says Stallworth's injury status won't detract from offense's plans

by Mary Kay Cabot Tuesday September 09, 2008, 10:11 PM


Tracy Boulian/The Plain DealerBraylon Edwards had just two catches against the Cowboys on Sunday, but said he expected a far more productive day against Pittsburgh.
Braylon Edwards said Tuesday the Browns will overcome the loss of fellow receiver Donte Stallworth if he has to miss any more games. "I'm definitely hoping that Donte gets back on that field," said Edwards. "One, he's a good player. Two, he's a good friend of mine. It's very unfortunate what happened and how it happened and we're going to try to get him back. But the biggest thing is it's professional football and so you have to move forward -- and in moving forward, we'll put together a good game plan this week."
Stallworth suffered a possible strained quad muscle in warmups for the Cowboys game and underwent an MRI Monday. Results have not been made public.
If he misses time, Edwards vowed to step up and shoulder more of the load.
"If we can't play with Donte, I've still got to be that guy that we can turn to," said Edwards, who was speaking at a Yahoo.com function as their 2008 Fantasy Football cover athlete. "We want to get him back, but we'll make do without him."

Regardless of Stallworth's situation, Edwards knows he has to assume more responsibility.
"A guy like myself, who's now become one of the leaders of this offense, it's my job to play better and be more of a leader, especially because of the position I play," he said. He also promised to rebound from his poor outing in Sunday's 28-10 loss to the Cowboys.

Cont...