Start Me Up - Super Bowl Sunday!!

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

As I say every year, it's an unofficial holiday in the good ol' US of A as people around the country are getting ready for the Super Bowl.

Honestly, if you're not planning on watching this game tonight, I say you're being completely un-American!

...Okay, so maybe that's a bit harsh. But I honestly can't contain my excitement over this game today. I think we're really about to see one of the better Super Bowls of all time.

Why? Well, for one, Tom Brady is a man on a mission this year. Cursing out offensive coordinators, making mincemeat out of Tim Tebow—if there's any year that Brady wants to get that fourth ring, it's this one.

On the other sideline, you've got the New York Giants who surprised pretty much everybody (except my mom) by beating the Packers a few weeks ago. I also will give a little credit to myself, as I figured if they could beat Dallas week 17, they'd have a good chance at going all the way.

So who do I think has an edge in tonight's game?

Madonna, even though her new song is complete trash (seriously, it's awful). 

But for the game itself, I'm honestly not sure. Both of these teams have been playing at a very high level for weeks.

You could say that the Giants might have an edge because they beat the Patriots earlier this season on a very clutch Eli Manning touchdown pass to Jake Ballard.

But on the other hand, back in 2007 the Patriots beat the Giants in week 17 and then ended up losing the Super Bowl to them a month later.

What does all this mean?

Any given Sunday, one team can beat out another.

Maybe someday in the distant future this Start Me Up will be about the Browns. I'm not holding my breath, but I do think that it could happen someday.

But for now, I'm picking the team my mom said at the beginning of the Playoffs would be the one to rise above and get that Lombardi trophy.

The Prediction: New York Football Giants 24 - New England Patriots 21

I'm thinking a late Patriots turnover will force the game into overtime (Buffalo Wild Wings at work) and Lawrence Tynes will get a game winning field goal.

Enjoy the game, everyone! I know I will.
~MAS

What a Win!

This was one of the best games of Cleveland Browns football I've ever had the privilege to watch. It was a game full of story lines - Mangini vs. Belichick, McCoy's first start at home - and the Browns came out as if they were the 6-1 team and spanked the Patriots to the tune of a 34-14 victory.

There are so many good things to write about this game, but I'm going to focus on Peyton Hillis first. I don't have to tell you how great #40 has been for the Browns, but he had a career day today with over 200 total yards. He rushed for 184 yards on 29 carries and two touchdowns, the longest of those carries a 35 yard touchdown run to seal the game. Hillis also caught 3 passes for 36 yards. When you're talking about the midseason MVP of the Browns, it's got to be this guy. So far he has 644 yards and 8 total touchdowns, 7 of them rushing.

I could gush about Hillis for days, but I'd also like to give some props to rookie Colt McCoy who again managed the offense quite well en route to victory today. His final numbers on the day? 14/19 for 174 yards. Does that set the world on fire? No. But it was exactly the type of performance the Browns needed today.

I feel like everyone is saying this, but I think it's worth repeating - McCoy shows such an incredible amount of poise and determination when he is on the field. Most people just stop with the "poise in the pocket" but I think that the kid simply has a winning personality. You look at the play where he ran 16 yards for a touchdown in this game and, to me, it just shows how much he wants to win. When I look at McCoy playing, he just doesn't seem to panic. He lets the play develop, and if it breaks down, then he'll scramble. Because of his mobility, he extends plays well and can then throw a very accurate pass - as he did today in the red zone throwing a dart to Josh Cribbs for a first down. I don't think the Browns have had a quarterback with this kind of potential since they ruined Tim Couch's career, and they also haven't had such a good game manager since the days of Kelly Holcomb (who's #10 jersey I'm proudly wearing today).

But that's enough about the offense, Rob Ryan's defensive crew yet again came out to play today. They may not have had the same type of special performance that they did against the Saints a couple of weeks ago, but anytime you can hold the Patriots to 14 points you're doing your job well. Tom Brady had a pretty good day on paper, going 19/36 for 224 yards and 2 touchdowns, but a lot of those incompletions had him reeling in frustration. The Browns also forced an interception off of Cleveland native Brian Hoyer in the last 3 minutes of the game to get the ball for the end of the game. But the Browns offensive dominance really helped the defense as evidenced by the measly 68 yards on the ground. I sort of hate to say this, because selfishly I don't want the Browns to lose him, but I think Rob Ryan may be coaching himself onto the short lists of teams that will be searching for a head coach after the season. We'll see about that.

But what's the bottom line today? The Browns dominated an excellent team for an excellent win. I say props to everybody in the Browns organization, especially coach Mangini and coordinators Daboll and Ryan. Next week we've got the Ryan bowl as the Browns take on the J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets, who (barely) defeated the Motor City Kitties (a.k.a. Detroit Lions) in OT today. But for now, we've got a lot to celebrate about Browns fans!

~MAS

Browns Halftime Blurb, 11/7 Vs. Patriots

Wow. Can you believe this? The game could not have started any better. A nice opening drive, a mishandled kick off by the Patriots, and then a Peyton Hillis rushing touchdown - all in the first 4 minutes of the game. Not only that, but the Browns continue to dominate the rest of the first half with trickeration, and some pretty fine defense to go into the half with a 17-7 lead. Yes, a 17-7 lead against the New England Patriots.

Give a lot of credit to the coaching staff for this first half performance. Rob Ryan's defense allowed 1 Patriots first down in the entire first quarter. That's a defensive performance for the ages, if you ask me. Not only that, but even after Tom Brady and crew started to get it going, the defense never stopped going after him. On Brady's touchdown throw, the ball was tipped way up into the air and I think it was a little bit of luck that allowed Aaron Hernandez to make his first career NFL touchdown reception. Other than that, the numbers read like this. Brady is 10/17 for 135 and 1 TD, and the Browns have only allowed 36 total yards on the ground to the rushing combination of Woodhead and Green-Ellis. Not bad at all.

And my favorite whipping boy, Brian Daboll, can no longer be whipped - well...at least not for today. He's come up with some great stuff the last couple of games. The fourth down and inches play in the first quarter which the Browns converted with the shift of formation before the QB sneak was brilliant. And the Chansi Stuckey touchdown run for me was nothing short of unbelievable. I have watched a lot of NFL over my 19 years on earth, and I don't think I've ever seen a play like that. For the team in orange and brown, Colt McCoy is 9/16 for 106 yards, and Peyton Hillis has 73 yards on 11 carries and 1 TD. The Patriots have not allowed a 100 yard rusher yet this season, but I do believe that it's going to happen today based on the fact that the rushing game has shredded that defense so far.

I mean, of course I'm going to say hopefully the Browns can keep this up in the second half, but I really think they will. The Browns look for real and I think they're going to get a big win today.See you after the game,

~MAS

Moss to the Vikings? Wow

I know this isn't about the Browns nor does it have anything to do with Cleveland sports in general, but I love both football and the NFL and felt compelled to write about the trade of Randy Moss from the New England Patriots to the Minnesota Vikings.

Anytime a player is dealt in the middle of the season in the NFL it's usually a pretty big deal. It's not like baseball, where people can be traded 3/4 of the way through the season and keep playing like pretty much nothing has ever happened. When a NFL player switches teams a lot of times everything is different. It's a different system, it's a different playbook, it's different terminology, different coaches, different team leaders, a different quarterback. The only thing familiar about this situation for Randy Moss is probably the practice facility, the stadium and the colors - although even the uniforms are different since he last played for the Vikings.

And you know that team is ecstatic that Moss is back. You've got a guy who is nearly 41 playing quarterback, and right now Brett Favre clearly needs a big play wide receiver while Sidney Rice recovers from his hip injury. I think it's safe to say right now that Favre is riding the struggle bus with only 2 touchdowns and 6, yes 6 interceptions. It's been well publicized that Favre wanted the Packers to get Moss in Green Bay a few years ago in 2007 before Raiders traded him to the Patriots. The Vikings right now are 1-2, but they've got one of the best running backs in the league in Adrian Peterson and should be able to get right back on track if the chemistry between Moss and Favre clicks early and often.

On the flip side of that, it's interesting to take a look at the New England Patriots to see that they gave up a future hall of fame wide receiver for just a third round pick in next year's draft. In fact, Bill Bellichick sent Moss and a 7th round draft pick in 2012 to the Vikings for Moss. Sure, he hasn't had the type of production this year that he did in the past (specifically 2007, when Tom Brady threw for 50 touchdowns and 23 of them went to Moss), but I think he can still play at a very high level.

That being said, the Patriots have a reputation for not paying people once Bellichick determines they've reached a "certain age." Think about Richard Seymour, Lawyer Malloy, and Deon Branch, just to name a few and now Randy Moss joins that list. All those guys were fairly critical parts of New England's success, but, as Bellichick put it in his press conference earlier today, the Patriots have won more games than any other NFL team in the past decade. I think what we're seeing from that organization right now is clearly a trend to make the team younger as they've now stockpiled eight draft picks in the first four rounds, two in each round. I'd definitely consider the Patriots to be a dynasty team based on what they've done in the past decade - which is win all the time. I like them getting all the draft picks because they do need to get younger, and with their coaching and veterans on that team, rookies can easily make an impact (see Julian Edelman last year). To me, this speaks volumes about their organization's commitment to winning and obviously Bellichick is a big part of that.

I think this is really going to prove to be a win-win for both teams. Brett Favre gets the wide receiver of his dreams for a run that could go deep into the playoffs, while the Patriots rid themselves of a contract situation that would have distracted them for the rest of the season and acquire another draft pick for talent in the future. I'm really looking forward to the Monday Night Football match up of Vikings and Jets coming up this week as we'll get to see if Moss can escape from "Revis Island" once again.

~MAS