The Break is Over

The blog has been on a hiatus for the last two weeks as I've been seeing Broadway shows, studying, traveling and home, but now I'm back to blog about a few mid-week topics before the game on Sunday between the Browns and Patriots.

Browns Big Win
First off, the Browns game I missed before the bye week was obviously a huge win for not just the team, but specifically for Eric Mangini who I believe is coaching for his job. I'm not going to make this too long, since the game is really no longer news, but it was great to see the highlights of the Browns dominating the defending Super Bowl Champions - again!

The Browns have a knack for beating Super Bowl champions, as they've done it the last three seasons. First it was the last great win Romeo Crenel coached for the Browns, a 35-14 Monday Night Football win on October 13, 2008 in which then QB of the Browns Derek Anderson threw for 310 yards and 2 touchdowns, and prima donna Braylon Edwards had 154 receiving yards and a touchdown reception. Wow. Last year, I'm sure you remember the great game the Browns put together against the Steelers to win 13-6 on a frozen night, Thursday, December 10, at Cleveland Browns Stadium. Now that game saw Josh Cribbs rush out of the wildcat for 87 yards, and Brady Quinn didn't lose the game, going 6/19 on throws for 90 yards. Chris Jennings was actually the feature running back for that game, with 20 rushes for 73 yards.

In any case, I just find it really interesting that the Browns have found a way to beat the defending Super Bowl champs the last three seasons. It must be because the Browns prepare well, and the opponent underestimates them, making it a textbook example of a trap game.

San Fran Wins World Series
I know I don't really blog about baseball on here very much anymore, but I figured I'd at least give the San Francisco Giants a shout out on winning their first World Series since 1954, when they were still playing in New York and beat the highly favored Cleveland Indians. Yes, highly favored and Cleveland Indians was something that actually existed at that time, since the Indians had just set a record for the regular season by winning 111 games. Wish I could have seen that...

The first game of that World Series was when Willie Mays made that spectacular over-the-shoulder catch that he became so well known for. So, that's the Cleveland spin on something that has pretty much absolutely nothing to do with Cleveland. Unless you want to say that Cleveland allowed San Fran to win the Series by Trading Cliff Lee to the Phillies...who traded him to the Mariners...who traded him to the Rangers where he served up a masterful choke job to Edgar Renteria. And there's another Cleveland connection , because he got the hit off of Charlie Nagy to win the '97 World Series for the Marlins! (Sure, it's a stretch, but go with it.) In any case, congratulations Giants; you're World Champions.

Randy Moss Cut from the Vikings, Claimed off of Waivers by Titans
Now this came as a pretty big surprise to me. I know Brett Favre is hurting right now, yet is still in line to start Sunday's game in Minnesota against the Arizona Cardinals - a game the Vikings will win if they have any shred left of self-respect. But I just can't see what in the wide wide world of sports was going on with Randy Moss to make that team release him. Of course, everybody is saying that he wasn't getting along well with Head Coach Brad Childress, and then there was the infamous expletive laden rant about the food in the  Vikings locker room, but was that really enough to release a hall of fame receiver? Apparently, yes it was. I don't really know enough about the situation to say whether or not it's a good decision at face value. It is common knowledge that Brett Favre was ecstatic about acquiring Moss, but in four games Moss only had 13 receptions for 174 yards and 2 touchdowns. Still, the Vikings gave up a 3rd round pick to get this guy. That's a pretty steep price to pay for someone who was only with you for 4 games...

On the flip side, the Tennessee Titans now have picked up Moss which I think is a great move - especially if you're Chris Johnson. Right now last years NFL leading rusher has 721 rushing yards in 8 games, well below the 2000 yard pace he reached last year. However, just having Moss on the team and the threat of him going deep should allow plenty of underneath space where Johnson can run wild. It's debatable, but I'm not sure that there is anyone else that can turn the corner and get up the field as fast as Johnson can. The only question about Moss with the Titans will be if anyone can deliver him the deep ball. This is not to say that Vince Young is a bad quarterback, he's not. But he has not displayed the type of arm strength like that of Tom Brady. Kerry Collins, Tennessee's serviceable backup quarterback, also may not have the arm strength to get the ball down the field. We're just going to have to get these questions answered on game day, it's nearly pointless to over-analyze in speculation.

To Top it Off...
It's been a big two weeks not only in the NFL but all around the sports universe. The NBA is back as well, and the Cavaliers are looking to replace begin a new era of basketball without You-Know-Who on the right foot. So far they're only 1-3, but they play the 1-4 Philadelphia 76ers tomorrow night in the city of Brotherly Love. Here's hoping Bryon Scott can coach them up to their second win. Until next time, Go Cavs and Go Browns!

~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