Start Me Up—Browns at Steelers

Third-stringer Thad Lewis gets the start at QB for the
Browns today, making this game look a lot like
2008 and 2010. 

Here we are yet again—week 17 versus Pittsburgh in a Browns head coach's Swan Song. The organization has been in this position now three times in the last six years—2008 with Romeo Crenel, 2010 with Eric Mangini, and now 2012 with Pat Shurmur.

The thing about these games is that everyone knows the ax is coming. And usually Pittsburgh is fighting for a playoff spot.

The other thing about these games is that they're started by the Browns' third-string quarterback due to injuries. We watched Bruce Gradkowski muddle his way around the field in 2008 en route to a 31-0 thumping, in which the Browns only had eight first downs. Colt McCoy did a little bit better in 2010 since he put up some points, but the Browns still lost 41-9.

In terms of the game we're about to see today, Pittsburgh may not be going to the playoffs, but it'll still probably resemble that shutout in 2008. The aftermath should look similar too, as the Plain Dealer reports both Shurmur and GM Tom Heckert will be fired, much like Crenel and then-GM Phil Savage.

What do you watch for today? Well, if you're excited for Thad Lewis, you probably haven't seen him in practice. I know Shurmur loves the guy for some reason and likes to keep him around, but Lewis has a worse arm than McCoy, and the Steelers have the No. 1 pass defense for a reason. Remember those bounce passes Colt threw last week? Well get ready for more of those, and a few dying quails.

On a more positive note, Montario Hardesty has a chance to go out and maybe show that he was worth trading up in the second round to get him. The Browns offensive line has been pretty steady this year, with its only replacement coming because left guard Jason Pinkston had a blood clot. John Greco has done a pretty nice job filling in, and with all that continuity, the Browns have a much better chance of putting together a decent run game than anything else today.

Defensively, the Browns do have their work cut out for them. With a secondary ravaged by injuries—and the release of Dmitri Patterson—Ben Roethilsberger could have a very nice day passing the ball. It's probably also fair to expect that the Browns won't force the same number of fumbles they did against the Steelers in week 12.

And I'd really like to see Travis Benjamin get a chance to return the ball today. I know it's Josh Cribbs' "job," but what kind of team has a player make a record punt return and then never lets him return the ball again? It's truly absurd.

Really, though, it's sort of hard to imagine the kind emotions going through Shurmur as he goes through his normal gameday progressions. You've got to imagine he and Heckert have to be at the very least annoyed the news broke that they'll be fired—even if everybody did know. How that affects a pregame speech, I have no idea.

At this point, the players and coaches have just got to be thinking that they want this season to be over so that the chips can just fall where they may. But there's still a game to play, and thus a prediction to make.

The Prediction: Steelers 30 - Browns 9

Phil Dawson gets three field goals as the Steelers roll to an easy victory. Let's hope they won't be his last in an orange helmet.

I'll be back with more throughout the week as the Browns will probably make their moves to forward the organization very quickly.

~MAS

Start Me Up - Browns @ Steelers

Show of hands, who thinks the Browns have a snowball's chance in hell of winning tonight?

No one?

Is that crickets I hear?

Yeah, okay, so it was. And You know what, I'm right there with you, Browns fans.

There's plenty on the record about how much I dislike Pat Shurmur, so I don't really have to go much into that. Other than the fact that earlier this week he said that "the most important thing is this is our next game."

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

Start Me Up - Browns vs. Seahawks

A couple of weeks ago, I would've chalked this one up as a game the Browns would win easily. Now? Not so much.

First off, it looks like we're going to be without Peyton Hillis after that hamstring injury PR fiasco that happened last week. Despite the fact that the Browns haven't been running the ball well, when you take away the only player that defenses might fear, it's clearly not a good thing. Montario Hardesty will get his second start of his young career, and the last time he started a game he played pretty well. But that was against the Dolphins—a team that still hasn't won a game. If the Browns are going to win today, they're going to need Hardesty to not only run the ball better, but catch the ball too. He was regarded as a good receiving back, and we need to see that in action since so far he's shown nothing but stone hands.

Speaking of offense, we really need to buck this trend of only starting to play it in the second quarter. The Browns have scored a grand total of 3—yes three—points in five first quarters sof ar this season. That's ridiculous. To me, it speaks volumes about the way head coach Pat Shurmur just hasn't had his team prepared to start the game. I know he's a young, first-time head coach, but there's no excuse for the way the Browns have driven the struggle bus in the first quarter.

Other than that, we'll have to look out for Seattle's no huddle offense. Charlie Whitehurst will probably get the start with Tavaris Jackson out with an injury, and Whiethurst proved to be pretty effective with that offense in Seattle's last game against the Giants. Yes, the Giants struggled in that game and Eli Manning may have thrown it away with his three interceptions, but they won that game.

One thing that plays in the Browns favor with the no-huddle element is that they don't substitute much on defense. I read from Terry Pluto that by and large Dick Jauron stays in his base defense, with the linebackers D'Qwell Jaackson and Scott Fujita playing 90% or more of the snaps, with TJ Ward, Sheldon Brown, Jayme Mitchell, Jabaal Sheard and Athyba Rubin also rarely being out of the game. If Joe Haden is healthy enough to play today, he'll be in there the whole time too. So the point is that even if they go no huddle, it shouldn't mess us up too much. That being said, it'll largely depend on Jackson to make sure the defense gets lined up correctly in those cases, especially with Fujita out this week after suffering a concussion.

Alright, so what's the bottom line today? Well...I just don't have a good feeling about it. No Peyton Hillis. No Scott Fujita. Seahawks coming off of a bye week, and off a great win against the Giants. All those elements seem to spell "Browns will lose" to me...

The Prediction: SEA 24 - CLE 17

It might be a late touchdown that seals it, or Seattle will run Marshawn Lynch all over the field and we'll score in garbage time to make the score look better than it really is, but when it comes down to it, I just don't think the Browns will have the personnel available to win today. It's not even that Seattle is that good, I just think we're that bad.

I hope I'm wrong.

See you at the half,
~MAS