I was going to write up a full post but I'm so disgusted with the sequence of events that ended the half, I'll just sum it up in few bullet points because I just...I just can't.
The Browns are down 17-0. Not 17-3, not 17-7, 17-0. Wow.
Peyton Hillis is having a good day running the football with 68 yards on 15 carries—good for 4.5 yard average. I'd like to see him back next season.
You know how I wrote that "Fire Pat Shurmur" post? Yeah, the clock management he just did at the end of the first half is a fireable offense. If Holmgren was in the building, he should honestly come down from the box, put on a jumpsuit and coach this team during the second half. That's the worst display of clock management I've ever seen in my life, and I watch a whole lot of football.
I know there's a big talent gap, but it doesn't have to be this bad. Just give a little effort guys, c'mon!
Can it get any worse?
I'll see you after the game. If I make it, that is.
Ugh.
~MAS
You know, I completely forgot about coming on this here blog to gloat about how exactly right I was in my predictions in last week's Start Me Up. You know, how I said quarterback Seneca Wallace has a tendency to do stupid things (re: fumbling at the goal line) and another special teams breakdown would lose the game?
Times like those, I'm not particularly happy to be right...but I can't say I'm surprised.
But if you wanted to just see me gloat, you probably wouldn't be here—this is all about Browns versus Ravens. And if you watched the absolute pounding the Dirty Birds gave the Browns a few weeks ago in the Factory of Sadness, you know this one could get very ugly, very fast today.
In case you forgot, Ray Rice ran all over the Browns lowly running defense for 204 yards on 29 carries—good for a 7.0 average. All told, the Browns gave up 290 yards on 55 carries—that's a 5.5 average. If I may, those are awful numbers.
So obviously, the Browns defense definitely has a lot to prove today. Dick Jauron is working with a rag-tag bunch with key players linebacker Scott Fujita and safety T.J. Ward out for the year, but honestly there's no excuse for giving up nearly 300 yards on the ground. The D did a pretty good job last week of containing Beanie Wells and the Cardiñals ground attack, but I don't think anyone is going to confuse Arizona and Baltimore's offense. I don't really think the Browns realistically have a chance, but if the defense can come through like they did versus Pittsburgh a couple of weeks ago they can at least keep the game interesting to watch.
But...the problem comes in that we're facing the Ravens defense, led by Ray Lewis and graduate of Ball So Hard University, Terrell Suggs.
If Seneca Wallace and company aren't scared, maybe they should be.
On the other hand, the last time the Browns were in Baltimore, Peyton Hillis ran for 144 yards and a touchdown and Wallace was 18/24 for 141 yards and a touchdown. Last week, Pat Shurmur did a good job coaching these guys up and calling a good game to put the Browns up 17-7 in the third quarter, but then got so incredibly conservative that everything fell apart. Well, that and it was like all of a sudden Arizona remembered that they could play defense and the Browns just had nothing to counter it.
Here's the deal—Shurmur has got to realize that 17 points is usually not enough to win games in the NFL. It's certainly not going to be realistic to ask your defense to hold the Ravens to under 17 points today. It's week 16—it's time to open up the playbook so that we see more than these four plays.
As we saw last week, Seneca Wallace is very capable of leading the team down the field to score touchdowns. Again, Arizona's D is not nearly as good as Baltimore's, but in order for me to believe in this "process" and the "progress," I need to see something real, something sustained on both sides of the ball. The bar is pretty darn low for the defense to show some progress based on the way they crapped out against Baltimore on 12/4, but it has to be done.
The Ravens have got plenty to fight for today including a division title and a chance at the #1 seed in the AFC, so I'd expect that they're going to come out and give us everything they've got. It's going to take a lot to keep us competitive, but stranger things have happened, right?
Maybe, just maybe, the Browns will give us a nice Christmas gift today. But if you think that means I'm picking the Browns, you must not know how much I like to be right.
The Prediction: BAL 17 - CLE 10
I don't think the Browns will come out and surprise the Ravens like they did the Steelers and Cardinals on the first drive again, but the defense will probably surprise us with a good game—until the fourth quarter, that is. Look for a long touchdown pass from Joe Flacco to rookie Torrey Smith to seal the deal today.
Enjoy the game, and I'll see you at the half.
~MAS
You know what, that was a very nice first half. Anytime the defense can come out and give up just seven points in a half, you've got to consider that a success. You do that in the second half, and it comes out to just 14 points—which should be enough for your offense to win the game. So even though the defense coughed up a big drive at the end of the half, that's why I'm not that upset about the Browns 10-7 halftime lead.
Alright, so the big story was the Browns first offensive drive which led to a touchdown. Did you know: that's the first time the Browns have scored a touchdown on their opening drive the entire season? Ugh. Regardless, yes it was a very nice opening drive. But, then the Browns got the ball on their second possession inside Arizona territory and couldn't even kick a field goal. Things like that infuriate me—you can't just go out, run some good plays and call it progress. You need to sustain it.
We did get that 44 yard field goal on a drive that started at our own 20, and that was great, but Browns should have at least 13 points. No excuse for not scoring when you get the ball in the opponents territory.
One thing I'm very, very happy about is Peyton Hillis running the ball. The man looked like he did last season with five carries for 35 yards on the opening drive—including two for 10+ yards. All told, Hillis had 15 carries for 69 yards and a touchdown in the first half. That's excellent production, considering the lack of run game the Browns have had all year.
Defensively, the team played quite well until the final two minutes, when they allowed John Skelton 'n Co go 65 yards in 1:30 on nine plays to make the score 10-7. Strangely, the Browns have kept the Cardiñals run game pretty quiet, as for a team they have 11 carries for just 29 yards. Beanie Wells hasn't run rampant either, with just six carries for 22 yards. I'll take that.
But it does seem like the Browns have a two-minute defense problem—especially when they're not backed up to the goal line. That's got to get better, because the Cardinals may keep their backs against the wall with the hurry up in the 2nd half, since it worked so well.
Also, on Phil Dawson's 44 yard field goal, someone came clean through what looked like the space between the left guard and left tackle, or the left tackle and tight end. Either way, you can't let a guy come from the inside free like that—it's going to get blocked.
In order to win this game, the Browns are going to have to keep posession of the ball and try to run the clock down as much as possible. And please, Browns, when you get the ball in the opponent's territory, score some freaking points!
No Final Word today—I've got plenty of finals to study for. But, once I get home on Thursday night, look for a bunch of blog posts to come your way as I've got plenty to say about the Indians, Cavs and Browns that I just don't have time to put down right now.
I hope we all enjoy the second half, and have a pleasant week, folks.
~MAS
It may be an inside joke with some of my high school football buddies, but I seriously enjoy putting the "˜" over the "n" in Cardinals.
But that's not what you're here for, regardless of however I decide to write it, the Browns are in sunny Arizona to play their game today. Who's optimistic?
Well...I am. Sort of. Let's call it cautious optimism.
Seneca Wallace will get the start today as Colt McCoy was still showing signs of a concussion late in the week and hadn't practiced. Colt is hopeful that he'll be able to play next week at Baltimore, but we'll see.
So we've got Seneca, the backup quarterback who made four starts last season. Granted, under Mangini and Daboll, Wallace wasn't running the offense he had become so comfortable with in his seven seasons in Seattle—with most of those being under current Browns President Mike Holmgren. So now that he's back in a comfortable spot with the West Coast offense, what can we expect to see this week?
Well, probably some improvement. Wallace has always been a pretty accurate passer, as his lifetime completion percentage is 60.5 percent. He's also stayed away from interceptions, as he's only thrown 16 compared to 29 career touchdowns. All of that is good news for the Browns, who are playing their very capable backup today.
We've already seen that Wallace can be effective in a pinch. He did it last week against the Steelers—throwing one of the best passes we've seen all year come from a Browns quarterback by leading Evan Moore perfectly on a deep out route to the five yard line. When he made spot starts last year after Jake Delhomme went down with an ankle sprain, we saw how Seneca is very capable of leading a team down the field to score.
My concern is that Wallace is going to do well for a while—say the first half—and then the Cardiñals are going to figure out what Wallace is doing and stop it. We also saw last year that Wallace can make some pretty poor throws or just plain stupid decisions. I believe it was against the Bengals that Wallace tried to throw a screen pass and the cornerback was right there to jump the throw and returned it for a touchdown. The Browns can't afford for Wallace to do that today if they want to win today.
If—but probably when—Seneca does well today, it might have a lot more to do with the fact that Arizona's defense is ranked 21st in the league, and the last three Browns opponents have been ranked in the top 10. It's interesting to note that the Browns are 7th in the league in giving up just 19.5 poins per game, while the Cardinals are 18th at 22.2. Let's hope the law of averages plays out today.
Defensively, the Browns are really going to have their hands full. Yes, we're ranked #2 in passing defense, but when you're 31st in the league in rushing defense by giving up 150 yards per game on the ground who needs to pass? With Larry Fitzgerald's height and all around #beatstmode ability, Joe Haden could have a tough day. And I don't even want to think about the damage former OSU running back Beanie Wells could inflict on the Browns D. If I were Arizona's head coach, Ken Whisenhunt, I'd ground 'n pound with Wells all day long until the Browns prove they can stop it.
Another concern is special teams. It's a darn shame that one of the strongest aspects of this team in years past has boken down so much this year, but especially given rookie Patrick Peterson's ability, I really think the Browns could be in trouble. In his rookie season, Peterson has tied the single season for punt returns for touchdowns with four. And based on this game winner against the Rams a few weeks ago, I could see him breaking the record today against the Browns lousy group.
I believe it was Colt McCoy (or perhaps Joe Thomas) that said once this season that if the Browns play "perfectly" on every play, then they can compete with anybody. But absolutely no team can be perfect on every play. And it's ludicrous to expect that. So based on everything I've said above, here's the bottom line.
The Prediction: ARI 24 - CLE 20.
Seneca Wallace will probably get us in a position to win, but then another special teams breakdown will lose it. It's just the sad reality of this football team right now, but I just don't think good things are in the Cards (ha...ha...) today.
It's strange but also nice to not have a Browns game today. Nice in that I don't have to worry about feeling bad about the world when they lose, but strange in that I don't have three blog posts to write in succession. However, since I just haven't gotten to it yet, let's just get right to assessing the damage from Thursday's 14-3 loss to Pukesburgh.
And I know who you may be thinking about with the second part of that headline, but to whom I'm actually referring may surprise you.
First off, I think it's important to note just how hard the team played. The effort was definitely there, the hits were hard, and it felt like the Browns really wanted to win. Do they have the talent to beat Pittsburgh right now? Maybe when Roethlisberger is hurt, yes, but as long as the effort is there I find it a lot harder to complain.
Still, it has to be a huge concern when you've got your defense playing at such a high level, and your offense can't really get past midfield—with the exception of the first drive of the game. I also have a lot of concern over Pat Shurmur's ability to manage his personnel, as we had another game where Montario Hardesty runs (poorly) all the time, and Peyton Hillis and Chris Ogbonnaya stand on the sidelines. After the game, Shumur said that Hillis got "dinged up" or something like that, so that's why Hardesty was used so much. Hillis, on the other hand, seemed frustrated by his lack of carries and didn't say anything about being injured.
Stuff like that is going to have to stop if the Browns are going to be a successful football team.
But my biggest concern coming out of this game is everything surrounding quarterback Colt McCoy.
Okay, I've been as big of a McCoy supporter as anyone. People keep saying that McCoy looks like a young Drew Brees, and if that's true, I really don't want to give up on him this early (I'll probably write a more extensive post on this in the coming weeks, stay tuned for it). However, if you watched the kid this week, he made some fairly poor decisions.
Looking at the stat line, 18/35 for 209 yards and two interceptions is just not good enough. Granted, the second interception was thrown after he was clearly concussed (more on that later), but even so, the Browns offense just isn't really making any consistent tangible progress. I say consistent because we went right down the field and probably should've scored a touchdown on the first drive, but nothing happened after that. At all! And yes, we were in the game until the last five-ish minutes, but if you haven't scored a touchdown in the third quarter all year, something is seriously, seriously wrong. Not all of that hinges on the quarterback, obviously, but McCoy is the leader of the offense and he's got to do better. I'm sure he knows that.
But that brings me to this.
When James Harrison hit McCoy, I tweeted out "Oh man, is Colt alive?" because that is how vicious that hit was. I mean, I honestly thought Colt was out cold, much like his father, Brad McCoy, said to the Plain Dealer. But then the fact that Colt came back into the game literally three minutes and 50 seconds after that hit is insanely irresponsable.
Anyone who saw that hit knew that Colt had a concussion. It was a helmet-to-helmet blast. You can even see Alex Smith waving for someone to come over from the sidelines, because it was immediately apparent that Colt was not alright. And to think that the Browns actually checked Colt out in that time is ludicrous. As Brad McCoy said, a high school trainer takes longer than that to evaluate whether or not a player has a concussion. And now this article from the PD's Mary Kay Cabot confirms that the Browns did not "perform the SCAT2 concussion test (sport concussion assessment tool) on the sidelines before they sent him back into the game after two plays."
...Are you freaking kidding me?!
How on God's green earth can you not check the man for a concussion after that hit. How? No wonder they said he wasn't exhibiting signs of a concussion during the game—no one even checked!
So this is what I was referring to in the headline—whoever didn't check Colt McCoy for a concussion on the sidelines after that hit should be fired. Today. Now.
Not only could they have cost Colt his career if he had been hit in the head again, but whoever it was probably cost the Browns the game, as Seneca Wallace seemed on, and when Colt came back into the game, everything—including but not limited to the lights inside his head—was off. With the emphasis the NFL has put on player safety in the last couple of seasons, stuff like this cannot happen and someone needs to answer for it.
Look, no matter what happens with James Harrison (who actually said something to the effect of "I thought the hit was legal because he was out of the pocket and is a runner." Again are you freaking kidding me?! The quarterback?! Shut the hell up), or Colt McCoy, or Peyton Hillis, or Pat Shurmur, the Browns just need to get better. They probably can't do much more this season, but if they keep up the effort they displayed last week, they'll at least be watchable for the final three games of the season.
Holy freaking crap, we're actually in this game. Playing moderately well. Against the Steelers.
Pinch me, I must be dreaming.
With Big Ben hurt, we might actually have a chance in this ballgame that's just 7-3, Pukesburgh. Hell, I'll take it.
This game really should be 7-7, or if not 7-0. I know we got the points, but I'm telling you we really should've gone for the touchdown there on 4th down. You're playing the Steelers, you're not a good team, you're not playing for the playoffs—what else do you have to lose, right?
What I can definitely say is that the Browns definitely came to play tonight. The first drive on offense was excellent, and we've seen Colt throw the ball down the field multiple times. So far, Colt is 10/17 for 143 yards and an interception—a very poor decision to throw in the vicinity of Troy Polamalu. The running game hasn't been so bad, but I really would've liked see Peyton Hillis late in the 2nd quarter rather than Montario Hardesty. Every time I watch Hardesty, I feel like he's running into the backs of the linemen. Ogbonnaya and Hillis don't do that, so hopefully we'll see more of them in the 2nd half.
How about the defense though? They had a horrendous first drive, but have cleaned it up and haven't allowed any points since. They even took out Ben Roethlisberger, who is probably out for the game with an ankle injury. As Andy Baskin tweeted, I bet Joe "Turkey" Jones is smiling somewhere. The D also forced two fumbles, which was excellent and really have kept the Browns in this game. D'Qwell Jackson has had a fantastic game so far, with four solo tackles, a sack, a fumble recovery, a tackle for loss and a QB hit, while Jabaal Sheard has also done a nice job forcing pressure on the quarterback in the pocket.
Look, the Browns still have a long way to go on offense, and if they don't figure out a way to start moving the ball, they're not winning this game. Really, I don't think they'll win it anyway, but it at least has been an entertaining game to watch.
I'm not sure if I'll do a Final Word tonight because it's getting a little late and I have a paper to write...So look for one sometime tomorrow.
Wrong, Shurmur. This is Pittsburgh week. It used to be a rivalry! But as Daryl Ruiter put it this week, all that has gone away.
If I were Shurmur, I would've shown the team this hit from Joe "Turkey" Jones on Terry Bradshaw all week long.
Look, I know that's illegal, but it's still one of the great moments in Browns history. You don't need to go out and kill the other team, but you have to be able to go out there with that kind of passion, that kind of high motor, that kind of fire in your eyes and heart. That's the only way we can beat the Steelers.
What would a W mean tonight? For starters, it would be the first win inside the division for quarterback Colt McCoy, who is so far 0-7 against the Steelers, Ravens and Bengals. That's no good, as obviously you have to beat the teams inside your division in order to make it to the next level in the NFL—it's one of the many strengths of the league. But I think Colt knows this and he's going to do everything he can tonight.
But on this team, with the (lack of) talent around him, in a primetime stage with the Steelers still battling the Ravens for the division lead—damn, is it going to be like climbing Mount Everest.
The good news is that Peyton Hillis is healthy enough to be "active" and if his hamstring doesn't tighten up on him (or get "sore" as Shurmur said it did last week), we could have a running game today. That is, if Mr. Shurmur decides to utilise it. Look, you're not going to beat people if you only give Peyton Hillis two carries in the second half, like he had last week. Yes, that's right, Hillis only had two carries in the second half last week! I know we were down, but there's still no excuse for that.
I know Hardesty is supposed to be playing more tonight as well, but I have absolutely no confidence in that guy. I'm sorry, but when it takes you 33 carries to get just 95 yards against the Seahawks, there's nothing you can hang your hat on. The dude has stone hands too, and with temperatures below freezing, let's just hope Shurmur calls throws his way.
On the other side of the ball, man the defense could have a really, really tough time containing the Steelers passing attack. If there's any matchup I'd like to see, it's Jabaal Sheard versus the Steelers o-line. This is a homecoming of sorts for Sheard, who played college ball at Pitt and is used to the home locker room at Heinz Field. Hopefully he can get some good penetration and strip/sack Ben Roethlisberger (I have the hardest time spelling that name...) like he did last week to Joe Flacco.
Turnovers are definitely going to be a big key to the game. If the Browns can force some and turn them into points, they have a chance at making the game interesting. If, however, the Browns are the ones fumbling and throwing interceptions they're going to dig themselves into a hole they won't even be able to see clearly out of.
Alright, so that was sort of a long intro to what is a pretty obvious prediction, so here goes.
The Prediction: PIT 33 - CLE 10.
As usual, we'll probably score a touchdown in garbage time, but you know what we might be lucky to even do that. If the offensive line doesn't step it up and protect Colt, they really could get him killed this week as we're facing one of the most feared defenders in James Harrison. Ask Mohamed Massaquoi, after a hit from this guy, your career might not be the same.
I'll see you at the half. Hopefully it'll still be a game by then...
~MAS
As I continue to watch Browns games this year, it's starting to become more and more difficult to justify my Browns fandom. I love football, especially the NFL, and so I watch a whole lot of it—good teams, bad teams, those in-between. 9.23 The Fan Brown beat reporter Daryl Ruiter tweeted out earlier that Josh Cribbs said there's a "big gap" between the talent level of the Browns and their other AFC North opponents. Cribbs may have overstepped by saying that in the heat of the moment right after the 24-10 loss to Ravens, but he's right. So. Incredibly. Right.
And it's not just the AFC North that we have to contend with. I'm not sure how the heck we beat Miami, because I'm telling you, we wouldn't beat them today. And we're certainly nowhere close to the same orbit as the 49ers, Patriots, Saints, and Packers. Hell, even the Giants gave the Packers a great game today. You think we could do that with the horse crap product the Browns are putting on the field right now?
Yeah, I don't think so either.
The score today was a whole lot closer than the game actually was. Honestly, I can't think of any better word to use to describe their effort today than "pathetic." And no one can escape this—the offense, defense, special teams or the coaching. There was no positive unit today, and that makes this a complete team loss.
I don't often think like that when going over a game, but think about it. The Browns were down just 10-0 at the half. They came out, traded punts with the Ravens, before taking the ball down the field and scoring a field goal on a drive highlighted by a 52 yard pass from Colt McCoy to Peyton Hillis. It was a wheel route, and I guess the Ravens just forgot he was there. And after that, the Browns pretty much got nothing, but they cut into the lead 10-3, and suddenly it felt like a whole new ballgame.
But then the defense came out and showed their pathetic side by giving up a 67 yard run to Ray Rice on the first play after the kickoff. Are you kidding me?!
I don't have to tell you how after that, the wind was just completely knocked out of the Browns' sails.
And so begins our talk of the myriad of problems the Browns had today, the most glaring of which was the Browns (lack of) run defense. They gave up 295 yards on the ground today—204 of them to Ray Rice on 29 carries. Yikes.
Colt McCoy looked really bad today, going 17/35 on his throws for just 192 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Peyton Hillis didn't look too great either, gaining just 45 yards on 12 carries—but he only carried the ball twice in the second half. Yes, a healthy Hillis only carried the ball two times in the second half, when we came into the third quarter down by just 10 points.
And that bring me to my newest favorite whipping boy—head coach Pat Shurmur. What the hell was he doing today? Let me be clear, hell yes I still want this guy fired, because he's completely incompetent!
What have we been saying since week one? The offense lacks creativity. You know how many times Josh Cribbs got the ball in his hands today? A big fat zero! He's a playmaker! You have to put the ball in his hands somehow, someway. Put him at running back and throw it to him in the flat. Screen pass. Reverse. Something!
Now I know Colt didn't execute well, but the fact is that it looks like there are too many three step drop and throws that result in just five yard plays. I found this little gem out today—last year Pat Shurmur's offense in St. Louis averaged 5.9 yards per passing play. This year, it's the same number in Cleveland.
Can you guess what the Packers and Saints average?
Aaron Rodgers gets a whopping 9.6 yards per play, and Drew Brees (who I think might be playing even better than Rodgers) averages 8.02. Those guys are playing a completely different sport than McCoy and the Browns offense, and it's not going to get any better until the coaches figure out how to maximize the talent we have.
Look, the bottom line is it was bad today and we've got the Steelers on Thursday (grrrrrrreat...). This team is just nowhere near good enough to compete with the big boys and they proved it today. But none of that is an excuse to just go out and lay down like they did today.
There's absolutely no excuse for that, and to me, it makes this year's version of the Browns a complete embarrassment to the history, colors and fans of this franchise.
Well, what can I say? I figured it would be ugly, but man... The Browns running defense has been nothing short of pathetic as they gave up 158 yards in just two freaking quarters, and allowed the Ravens to take a 10-0 lead into the half.
Yes, the story of the game so far has definitely been the Ravens running game versus the Browns (lack of) running defense. So far, Dick Jauron's crew has successfully made Ray Rice look like the reincarnation of Jim Brown as he has 107 yards on 17 carries. That's 6.3 yards per carry, folks. Disgusting. Ricky Williams has also gotten the best of the Browns D, gaining 43 yards on six carries as the change-up back. There's not much to say other than the Browns are getting completely bowled over. Right now, I think it's at the point where the Ravens could tell the Browns where they're going to run the ball, and the defense still couldn't stop it. You just can't win like that
One defender who I think is having a particularly bad day is Sheldon Brown. Yes, he dropped that easy tip-drill interception, but I always find INTs to be more gravy than anything else. But Brown has also been terrible in coverage, and was just run right over by Ray Rice on the first touchdown. Jayme Mitchell has also been pretty bad today, as the right end has been consistently stood up by the Ravens offensive line en route to the spanking they put on us in the first half.
If there's a silver lining, it's freaking Billy Cundiff. The dude almost missed the extra point on the first touchdown, and the proceeded to miss his next two field goal attempts before he nailed the last one with 13 seconds left to play in the half.
If there's something nice that's happened on offense, it's that Peyton Hillis seems to be healthy and is running the ball with some authority. His longest run of the day so far is just nine yards, but he does have 43 yards on 10 carries—good for a 4.3 average. I'm sort of surprised we didn't see any Montario Hardesty in the first half, but with his calf problems and the field conditions it's probably the best decision.
Colt McCoy has looked pretty bad so far today too, although it's not all his fault. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, the offensive line is going to get poor Colt killed out there with their lack of blocking. However, that interception was all on Colt—you just can't stare down a receiver like that. I knew he was throwing the ball over there, and if I were a DB, I could've easily made that pick too.
Honestly, with the way we're getting our natural behinds kicked, this game should probably be something more like 24 or 20 to nothing, but fortunately that's not the case and it looks like the Browns could actually have a chance. Well, that's if they actually figure out how to get their mess together in the second half.
Hopefully Colt will survive the third and fourth quarters, and I'll see you after the game. I promise.
~MAS
Alright everyone, I'm back for a full day of regularly scheduled Browns bloggin'. The last few weeks haven't really surprised me—especially the loss at Cincinnati, they're actually a good team, and the Browns are not—but the game today could get ugly. Fast.
Here's the deal, the Browns offensive line has gotten better in the last couple of weeks, but I don't think they'll be any match for the Ravens front seven. Take a look at how the team in black and purple completely dismantled the 49ers last week and it's easy to see why. That's a team with Frank Gore—a top-tier running back in the NFL—and he only gained 39 yards on 14 carries. Yikes. They sacked quarterback Alex Smith nine times and got 12 more QB hits. They didn't let San Fran into the redzone at all.
And they did all of that without Ray Lewis!
If Colt McCoy isn't scared...he should be.
McCoy has been sacked 26 times this year and has been knocked down a league leading 64 times. The Ravens D has a league leading 38 sacks and 16 forced fumbles. I don't think it's much of a stretch to say that when you put it all together, it doesn't spell good news for us, Browns fans.
If their is any silver lining, it's that we should have a full complement of running backs for the first time in months. Peyton Hillis was healthy last week, and I thought he had a pretty productive game (I don't think Shurmur used him very well towards the end of the game...but that's another story/another reason why I don't like our head coach). Montario Hardesty's calf should finally be ready to go, and Chris Ogbonnaya is also available.
It's probably worth noting that in the first game against Baltimore last year, Hillis had 144 yards on 22 carries. Could that happen today? Well, anything's possible, right?
On the defensive side of the ball, I really think we're going to have a tough time stopping Ray Rice. He's another great young running back in this league, as he both runs the ball and catches passes quite well. So far this season he has 722 yards rushing and 54 receptions for 537 yards—good for a total of 1,259 yards from scrimmage. I realize the passing defense has been a strong point for the Browns this season, and Flacco has been somewhat inconsistent, but without both Scott Fujita and TJ Ward, the defense is really going to have its hands full.
Look, I know the Ravens have had a few let-down games this year, as all of their losses have come to teams who were under .500 at the time of the game, and that quarterback Joe Flacco has been inconsistent, but I just don't see the Ravens coming into Cleveland for a division game and laying an egg. And let's be clear, the only way the Browns are going to win this game is if the Ravens lay an egg.
Since '08, the Browns have won a game each year that they just have no business winning—the Giants game on Monday Night Football in '08, the Thursday Night game against the Steelers in '09, and the Saints game last year—and that could very well happen today. Any given Sunday, right? That's why you play the game.
But let's just get to the bottom line.
The Prediction: BAL 31 - CLE 13
We'll probably get that touchdown in garbage time, because it's probably going to be a long day for the Browns offense—and that's with or without Ray Lewis on the field.
