A Win. O HELL YA!

Hello everyone,

I was unable to watch the Browns game live, but I ended up recording it on my DVR. I came away with a few observations from the Browns 20-12 victory over the Bengals.

Jamal Lewis still has it. This guy impressed me both on and off the field during this game. He set the tone early in the game. In the first drive he had a couple of big runs that set us up for a field goal. Lewis never went down on first contact, and he just kept his feet moving. Throughout the game he ran hard and tired out the Bengals D. Along with his tough running (24 carries for 79 yards and a TD) , he caught 2 passes for 15 yards. Also, in the third quarter, after the Braylon Edwards was flagged for an unnecessary roughness penalty, it seemed that Derek Anderson got in his face about it, and Braylon seemed to be jawing back. Jamal got in the middle of both of them, grabbed both their jerseys and tried to calm them down. I thought this was a great example of veteran leadership by Lewis. Both Anderson and Edwards are 25 years old, and they still have some learning to do in the NFL, and I thought that Lewis did a good job of acting as a mediator to these young talents.

This Defense is not that bad. I know the Bengals did not have their starting QB in Carson Palmer, but they still had Chad Johnson, TJ Houshmanzadeh, Chris Perry, and Ben Utecht. The D did a great job of stopping the run. D'Qwell Jackson, and Brandon McDonald both had great plays where they stopped the run in the backfield. We did not let the Bengals get that big gain on the ground. Our front 7 seemed to get good penetration up front. The Bengals starting running back Chris Perry was held to 28 yards on 12 carries. The previous three games he averaged 60 yards per game. Our secondary also played well in that Eric Wright made some good plays, especially in the first half where had a good pass deflection and a great interception. He should have done a better job of holding on to the ball during the INT return. Mike Adams played a good game, he had an INT, a sack, and a fumble recovery. I also liked the fact that we were sending more guys to blitz from our secondary. It was a smart idea to pressure an inexperienced QB, this resulted in 3 sacks. Shaun Rogers continues to play well as he added a sack and continued to put pressure on their offense. Kamerion Wimbley finally recorded his first sack, so hopefully he can break out of the slump he has been in for the last few months. I was particularly impressed with our tackling. We did not let the Bengals break away from big plays, and we did a great job of wrapping up the opposition. Alex Hall definitely looks like a keeper. He pressured the QB, forced a fumble, and had a sack. Not bad for a rookie 7th round rounder who was drafted out of D III school St. Augustine's. The unit finally seemed to play as a whole, and they did not let the big play happen.

We still look kind of sloppy. In the first half, Derek Anderson did not look good at all. We ran the ball more, but in the times that we did throw, we still did not do a good job of getting passes out to our receivers. He continued to throw passes in double coverage, or passes at the receivers feet. After the INT in the 2nd half, Anderson seemed to make better passes. He threw a good TD pass to Braylon, and he went 6 for 7 for 46 yards. I feel that he had more poise in the pocket, and he did not make the dumb mistakes he usually does. Also, I attribute the better play to the offensive line. They had their best game in my mind in that we allowed 1 sack all game, and ran for 134 yards. When the offensive line plays well, it benefits DA in a few ways. One, the run does better, so opposing defenses must account for both the run and pass. This takes pressure off DA to make big plays when the run is taken away, as opposed to having a good running game, which allows him to do more. Another benefit is that DA has more time in the pocket. When DA does not feel rushed he seems to make better passes and he does not make dumb throws. He won't lock on a receiver, and he can scan the field for an open receiver with more time. Overall, I feel that DA played a little above average game. The Browns still had a few penalties in the game (9 of them for 52 yards), turnovers (Eric Wright Fumble, DA INT), and it took them a long time to finally get in the flow of the game (We didn't score a TD till the 4th quarter).

The Browns still have some quirks to work out in practice. I feel that this team can get much better with practice, or they can just fall right back on their faces and be a below-average squad. We have the talent to do well, we just have to play disciplined, and smart. Our coaches need to continue to use Jerome Harrison more in the offense. I was glad to see him used, but he can be used even more because he only had 4 carries, and he was thrown to a few times. Alex Hall should continue to play more, and the coaches should concentrate on throwing the ball deep down the field. This will open up the whole field for our offense and make us a very potent offensive squad. DA has a make or break week vs the Giants. I say this because if he does not play well, the season will probably be a wash, and there will be an incentive to see what Brady Quinn will do. DA did not wow anyone with his performance, but he definitely should not lose his job over this game either. With a bye week coming up, some of our key offensive players should get healthy (Donte Stallworth, Ryan Tucker, maybe Joe Jurevicus) . The D should continue to pressure and confuse offenses in the trenches, and they should send more blitzes to force turnovers. The Browns have a huge game vs the Giants, and I hope they pull out a victory. A win vs. the defending Super Bowl Champs can go a long way to building confidence in this team, and taking us in the right direction for this season.

Well, I have to go back to studying for my Accounting exam. Wish me luck, I am going to need it! Hopefully sometime this coming week (Tuesday or Wed.) I can write about the Indians and my thoughts on the season, and the upcoming offseason. Thank you for reading, and I would love to hear your thoughts. Leave me a comment, and go Cleveland!

-Raz