Start Me Up - Browns vs. Dolphins

So the 4-7 Browns travel to Miami today to take on the 6-5 Dolphins. The Browns have had their struggles on the road as they're 1-4, and the Dolphins have had the same type of struggles at home, as they're 1-4 at Sun Life Stadium. The Browns can virtually take Miami out of the playoff picture with a victory this afternoon, as the Dolphins have to contend with the Jets and Patriots, both of whom are 8-3 (OOPS!) 9-2 and are tied atop the AFC East.

In accordance with the opinions of 75% of the poll on the right side of the page (a whopping 3 of 4 people!), the Browns will start Jake Delhomme. It's going to be close to a game-time decision whether or not rookie Colt McCoy will be the third string quarterback, but I wouldn't hold my breath for that. I think Peyton Hillis could have either a great day or a bad day against the Dolphins defense as they only gave up 16 rushing yards last week to the Raiders, but they're giving up an average of about 104 per game this season. I hope that offensive coordinator Brian Daboll has got a good ground game planned, because a huge key to this game will be if the Browns can stay away from turnovers - something that Delhomme has not done a great job of so far this season.

However, as I've written before, Delhomme does bring a better dimension to the offense in terms of throwing to the wide receivers. That being said, it could be a good day or pretty bad for the passing game as well, since the Dolphins have given up about 200 yards passing per game - a pretty respectable number. It would also be a great time for Brian Robiskie to have a break out game, after catching 7 passes for 50 yards last week.

On the other side of the ball, the defense has to do a much better job than it has the past few weeks if they're going to get the win. Chad Henne is back in his role as starting quarterback, and had a nice game against Oakland last week. This week is going to be big for him to see if he can continue to progress and be the quarterback the Dolphins hope they have. Henne's favorite target, Brandon Marshall, is also back after a hamstring injury has kept him out for a little while. Miami's running game has been strong all season with the two headed monster of Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams, who combined have 1035 yards on 254 carries, an average of 4.1 yards a carry. Many of the Dolphins skill positions are strong, physical players who can be tough to bring down. Hopefully the Browns have worked on their tackling this week because otherwise it could be another tough day for Rob Ryan's D.

All in all, I think this game is a fairly tough game to call, but I'm going to be optimistic and say that the Browns are going to "Take their talents to South Beach" (I had to) and avenge the loss by our basketball team this week with a late Phil Dawson field goal to win it.

The Prediction: CLE 17 - MIA 14

See you at the half,
~MAS

A Little Late Victory Review & Quarterback Chat

Well, this is clearly a few days late, but my travel back to the great city of New York was unbelievably  treacherous and left me way too jaded to get the blog in - especially after missing the entire first half of the Browns 24-23 victory over the Panthers on Sunday. However, I would like to get a little review of the game in and then go on to a couple other things on my mind...

Take the Victory Over the Loss
From what I saw, the Browns tried way too hard to lose their game to arguably the worst team in the NFL. As I alluded to in the intro, I didn't get to see the first half of the game and so my perspective may be a bit skewed, but I think Jake Delhomme looked awful. I don't want to hang the veteran out to dry because he did go 24/35 for 245 yards, but he threw two key interceptions in the second half that allowed Carolina to gain momentum and put them back in the game. Really, the only reason the Browns won that game was because Carolina's kicker, John Kasay, missed the last second field goal. Coach Mangini has said this week that the first interception Delhomme threw was not so bad (and I'll have to take his word for it since I didn't see it), but to me there is no defending the second. Watching the game on my 17-inch-screen laptop with the choppy DirecTV NFL Sunday Ticket internet feed, I could tell Delhomme shouldn't have tried to force a late throw along the sideline to Massaquoi. In all of the games he's played so far this season, Delhomme has tried to force throws into places where they just do not belong. He did it against the Buccaneers in the first game of the season, which led to him getting his ankle sprained and the Bucs got a chance to score right before the half as well. He threw an ill-advised pass during the Falcons game where the defensive lineman was able to tip the ball and then make an incredible diving catch. Delhomme has just got to stop making mistakes that a savvy veteran such as himself should not be making.

That being said, who do I think should start at Quarterback this Sunday at Miami? If he was healthy, I'd say Colt McCoy. Seneca Wallace showed a nice ability to run the offense as well when he was starting earlier this season for the injured Delhomme, but he also had a tendency to make ill advised throws when he wasn't making nice plays with his legs. That leaves us with Delhomme, who despite how awful he looked last week was still a heck of a lot better than the now 3rd-string Brady Quinn or the laughing Mr. Hot Head, Derek Anderson.

What Delhomme does give the Browns offense is the added dimension of something many around the league call Wide Receivers. Now I'm not entirely sure what these creatures are, but apparently most teams in the NFL use them quite often to throw passes to - rather than the tight ends and running back. And, this is the most interesting fact of all, we've had some all season! Mohamed Massaquoi and Brian Robiskie are the first two that stood out to me from the game against Carolina. How about that...

In all seriousness, Delhomme did help incorporate Massaqoui and Robiskie into the offense where McCoy has just not done that very much when we've seen him play. Robiskie had the best game of his young career - which, if I'm honest, isn't saying much - with 7 catches for 50 yards, and Massaqoui had 4 catches for 52 yards. My argument for Delhomme that goes against Seneca Wallace would be that in the games Wallace started, the only wide receiver who really established a good chemistry with him was Josh Cribbs - and it's starting to look like Cribbs will either be out or at least limited in action this week. It might also have been a little bit of rust that Delhomme needed to shake off in order to really get back into the game.

But This Week...
The Browns are playing a Miami team which had a pretty dominant performance against Oakland, where they held the Raiders to only 16 yards rushing. That being said, it was only on 12 rushing attempts, but still, you're talking about a team which is coming off a fantastic rushing defensive performance with an average of 1.3 yards-per-rush. You've got to think they're going to be amped up to face the bruising Peyton Hillis. Miami has a good team but their recent Quarterback injuries have probably had an impact on their schedule. Bill Parcells undoubtedly did a wonderful job turning around the franchise, and even though he has left his post his mark still remains.

I think the Browns would be wise to stick with a heavy ground attack plan, as Delhomme has revealed himself to be shaky and unreliable (at best) so far this season. Chad Henne is back in the starting saddle, and Brandon Marshall should also be back from his injury this week which could pose a problem for the Browns secondary. I think the Browns will have a good chance to win if the secondary steps up and the rest of the defense remembers how to tackle - which has been a real problem the past few weeks.

Until Sunday, if you're going to the Cavs game tomorrow, give LeQuit a piece of your mind for me.

~MAS