It's 10/10/10, so hopefully the Browns can increase their lead in the second half with a little perfect 10 magic, but right now they're up by a score of 7-6 against the Falcons.
Offensively, the Browns have done a lot with the passing game with Seneca Wallace totaling 139 yards in the first half. Yes, that's all well and good but you know how many yard the Browns have running the ball? 14. Yes, fourteen rushing yards. The Browns are a power running kind of team, we're not going to win with that kind of rushing total.
I think part of that is Peyton Hillis is hurt. He was listed as "questionable" going into the game, and Mangini and Daboll are clearly trying to protect him - which is probably in the team's best interest for the long run - by putting in Jerome Harrison fr a few snaps and giving him some carries. However, Harrison has looked timid and soft tiptoeing to the line like William Green used to do in the Butch Davis years. He just looks like a totally different guy than the one who ran all over the Chiefs last year for 286 yards.
On the defensive side, the Browns have done well...once the Falcons get inside the Red Zone. They've actually done a pretty nice job defending the pass as Matt Ryan is only 6/18 for 75 yards, but defending the run they really need to start wrapping up and driving in order to tackle Michael Turner. He's got 95 yards on 12 carries, although one of them was an extremely poorly defended 55 yard run. That being said, give the D some credit for not breaking once they get backed up against the wall in the Red Zone. Even Eric Wright is having a good day covering; Atlanta went after him fairly early in the game but he stayed strong.
The Browns are going to have to get the ball going in the running game in order to win today, because we're now in a situation where Jake Delhomme looks like he's going to be in the game for the second half after Wallace's injury. Delhomme hasn't played since week 1, but hopefully he can come in and lead the offense down the field on a few 10 play drives to get our defense some much needed rest and get a couple good scores. See you after the game.
~MAS
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