Start Me Up - Browns vs. Titans

I'm back in the saddle for a full-fledged version of the Start Me Up this week, as the Browns stay at home to face off against the Tennessee Titans.

These Titans have a new head coach for the first time since they moved from Houston, and so far the change has been successful. They come into Cleveland today with a 2-1 record, backed by the not-as-washed-up-as-some-might-have-guessed Matt Hasselbeck, who comes in with 932 passing yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions. Pretty quality numbers. But the man the Titans really, really want to get going has to be running back Chris Johnson, whose new six-year, $56 million deal isn't looking so great after his long August holdout. Johnson has carried the ball 46 times for just 98 yards—a 2.1 average. Now I'm no GM, but that certainly isn't $56 million worthy.

I actually think this is going to be a real tough one for the Browns today. Tennessee's defense is only letting up 261 yards per game, 172 through the air and 89 on the ground. If Peyton Hillis and Montario Hardesty can't get going early, and the Browns take a quarter warm up as they have all season, Hasselbeck could have his team with an early 7-0 or 10-0 lead after the first quarter.

So to me, the biggest key for the Browns today is to get it going early. We've got to score on the first drive, I don't care if it's a field goal or touchdown (okay, I would vastly prefer a touchdown) but it's just got to happen.

The other key is going to be making Matt Hasselbeck beat us. Yes, I know Hasselbeck has been pretty darn good so far, but it's supposed to be a pretty windy day out at Cleveland Browns Stadium, and to be honest, I trust our secondary a lot more than our running defense. As it stands right now, we're 9th in the league in defensive yards, (yeah, 9th! I mean, I know it's only been three games, but we're in the top ten!!) with 316 per game, 187.3 passing, but a not-so-great 128.7 on the ground. If we let Chris Johnson get going, he and Hasselbeck will carve up the defense like a Thanksgiving turkey in the wind. And if that happens, we lose. Bigtime.

So what's going to happen? I'm not really sure about this one. I'd really like to say that the Browns are going to come out, be efficient on offense on their first drive, Peyton Hillis will shake off the illness he had last week (which, by the way, if you've been criticizing the guy for not playing, stop it. He lost 10 pounds. I had strep throat last year and it landed me in the hospital. So it's not like he had a cold, he was seriously ill.), and the defense will be as stout as it has all year.

The problem is that Tennessee comes in with a defense that, as I said before, only has given up 261 yards per game—good enough for #1 in the league. But then again, it's points that count, not yards. And Tennessee's special teams have not been great so far, so if Josh Cribbs can break one today, it may be the difference.

So what the heck, I'll go against my head and with my heart on this one.

The Prediction: CLE 20 - TEN 17

Special teams is going to win this one for the Browns. I think Colt is going to have another frustrating day, but he'll pull it together when he needs to, just like last week.

I'll see you at the half!
~MAS

Believe It, Baby, We Won

I have one word for this game today:

Unbelievable.

I can't remember being so excited about a Browns win. And what a win it was.

Can you believe after stinking so much all day, Colt McCoy was able to drive the ball 80 yards in the 2-minute drill to get the Browns a 17-16 lead? And that after being shut down all day Mohammed Massaquoi and Greg Little were able to make beautiful, key catches in order to get the ball down the field? And that Massaquoi made that 14 yard catch in the endzone for the touchdown?

Seriously, that was one of the more impressive wins I think the Browns have had since we got back in '99. All this, plus we've started out a season 2-1 for the first time since 2002—when the Butch Davis Browns lost their first game against the Chiefs, then defeated Cincinnati and Tennessee in their next two games.

It might not even be worth it to take a look at the numbers today, cause who cares, we won?! But Colt McCoy finished the day 19/39 with 210 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. That's 48% completions, and a QB rating of 71.5. Not the McCoy we expect in terms of accuracy, but we won the game because he was accurate when we needed it the most. I'll take it.

Ben Watson was the leading receiver with 5 catches for 64 yards, but Mohammed Massaquoi and Greg Little came up huge in that 2-minute drill, with Little catching 3 passes for 24 yards, and Massaquoi catching 2 for 26, including the game-winning touchdown. If we can get execution like that earlier in the game from those receivers, we'll be in really good business.

The running game was actually pretty decent, despite the loss of Peyton Hillis today. Montario Hardesty did a very nice job filling in, even though he didn't get to 100 yards. He did have 67 yards on 14 carries, good for a 4.8 average. I'll always take that. And now that we've seen Hardesty can produce, I think we'll start to see more of Hillis & Hardesty in the same backfield. If not next week, then for sure after the bye week.

I don't know how he's done it, but Dick Jauron has done a fantastic job early with converting the Browns 3-4 defense into a 4-3. I just remember so many growing pains when we initially switched to the 3-4 under Romeo Crenel that it's really astonishing to me how well the defense has played—especially the defensive line. As a unit, the defense had 5 sacks, 6 tackles for loss, and 8 QB hits. Those are exceptional numbers, and I think we've really got to take our hats off to Jauron for that.

Since I love defense so much, I've just got to highlight the dominance of our defensive line. I'm telling you, Athyba Rubin and Phil Taylor are just a joy to watch stuff the middle. They combined today for 16 total tackles, 2.5 sacks, 2 tackles for loss and 2 QB hits. In this 4-3 defense, you want those two guys along with the middle linebacker to have the most tackles, and D'Qwell Jackson led the team with 11 tackles. That's 27 total tackles between those three, the middle core of what could turn out to be fairly dominating defense for the next few years. I'm lovin' it.

Obviously, this is a great end to the weekend and a great start to the week. A comeback win is exactly what this team and city needed to really get behind the Browns again.

And as an aside, I think it's wonderful for football that the Bills and Lions are 3-0, and the Browns are 2-1. How about them apples?!


Enjoy this feeling, and I'll see you next week!
~MAS

Browns Halftime Blurb - 9/25 Browns vs Dolphins

Well, so far this game hasn't gone particularly well, but it hasn't been particularly awful either as the Browns are down just 10-7 to the Dolphins. 

Offensively, this team needs to start coming out to play in the first quarter. It's ridiculous to me that we take at least a quarter to "warm up" and then we can finally complete some passes and score some points. Quarterback play from McCoy has been erratic, at best. He hasn't been his usual, accurate self, going 5/14 with 73 yards, a touchdown and an interception in the first half. I think Peyton Hillis' absence has consequences for the entire offense, but we've got to be better. Running the ball, Hardesty hasn't been bad so far, with six carries for 25 yards, good for a 4.2 average. We just have to be more consistent with that aspect of the game, as there have been some good runs, but also a few times when we've been stopped behind the line for three & four yard losses. Yikes.

In the passing game, Josh Cribbs obviously had the best catch with that touchdown reception. But an interesting thing is that Massaquoi has been targeted four times, but caught none of them. That's partially to blame on McCoy, but there were at least two of those passes that could've been caught, I think.

Defensively, I think these guys have been their consistent selves so far. Despite the fact that Chad Henne has looked awesome today so far, going 15/19 for 191 yards and a touchdown in the first half, we've held them to just 10 points. I'll take that. In the running game, rookie Daniel Thomas has been a force so far, with 12 carries for 50 yards, good for a 4.2 average. But the defensive line has been quit good, espeially Jayme Mitchell, who has 1.5 sacks, 1 tackle for loss, 1 pass defended and 2 QB hits. That's a great stat line for a game, let alone the first half.

So the key to victory? Get the offense going. We've got to control the clock a little more with the running game, and I'd really like to see McCoy getting back to looking like his accurate self with some nice short, quick passes. This is a winnable game, it's just going to be a matter of if we can get this game under our control or not. 

I'll see you after the game, hopefully to celebrate.

~MAS

Start Me Up - Dolphins vs. Browns

Unfortunately, I've got a couple meetings this morning so this start me up is going to be short and sweet.

-Offensively, Colt McCoy could have a great day against this not-so-good Dolphins secondary. Peyton Hillis and Montario Hardesty could combine to have a great day, or Hillis may still be out with steep throat and a fever. Either way, look for Hardesty to get some good carries.

-Defensively, I'm thinking we'll take another good step in the right direction with a Brian Daboll offense coming to town. They have been fairly decent this season, but Chad Henne is still very prone to turnovers. I'd look for Joe Haden to pick one off today. Run defense is also going to be key, with the always dangerous Reggie Bush in play.

And now, for the bottom line...

The Prediction: CLE 27 - MIA 20.

I think a defensive score or points off of turnovers is going to be the difference for the Browns today. I think they'll drive us crazy, but will come away with the win.

I'll see you at the half!
~MAS

Why Yes, That is a Sigh of Relief

It's no secret that I was super nervous for today's game. The prediction in the Start Me Up really says all you need to know. But oh is it nice to be pleasantly surprised with this 27-19 victory over the Colts.

Yes, the Colts are a shell of themselves without Peyton Manning, but in the NFL a win is a win, you can't turn up your nose at it. And besides, the Browns played pretty darn well today once we got out of the mess that was the first quarter.

Offensively, the Browns made the West Coast offense look exactly like it's supposed to. Colt McCoy was  20/32 for 211 yards and a touchdown. That's a 69% completion rate and a 97.3 rating. Hopefully Colt can keep that up, because we haven't seen consistent production like that for a very long time. Mohammed Massaquoi was today's leading receiver with 3 catches for 45 yards, while Josh Cribbs and Greg Little also had nice games with 3 catches for 41 yards, and 4 catches for 38 yards, respectively. Evan Moore made the touchdown catch—a 16 yarder. I'd still like to see a little bit better production out of the wide outs, but when we score 27 points and win it's a little hard to complain.

One thing I'm still not too happy about is the running game. I'm not sure what it's going to take to get these guys going up front, but 94 yards on 27 carries is just not good enough for Hillis. Don't get me wrong, he had some big runs, especially late in the game, but we've got to get him averaging more than 3.5 yards a carry. He's a better back than that, bur tight now the offensive line is not doing him justice.

The other thing I didn't like today was the fumbles. Four times the Browns put the ball on the ground today, four times. I don't care that we only lost one, we've got to do a much better job of securing the football. Those bounces won't go our way when we're playing better teams.

Defensively, I just think we did a really great job. There were a few times when the Colts got down in the red zone, and the Browns defense never seemed to waver until "garbage time" at the end of the game. We did allow 109 yards on the ground, but thats's really not so bad considering what we allowed against Cedric Benson last week. Kerry Collins was just 19/38 for 191 yards, 1 TD (in garbage time) and 1 INT.

Individually, the defensive line had a fantastic day. Rookie Jabaal Sheard showed a whole lot of progress from last week, with 5 tackles—one for loss—a sack, and a QB hit. As I said in the Halftime Blurb, Phil Taylor and Athyba Rubin also had great games with five and four tackles, respectively. There was a drive when the Browns just gave up run after run after run, but for the most part, I think this new look defensive front has made some major improvements from last year.

Also, we have got to find ways to keep the ball in Josh Cribbs' hands. I mean, this guy must have really been hurt last year, because he didn't look anything like he has so far this year. He is a game changer no matter where he is on the field, and it's a pleasure to watch him.

So what's the bottom line? The Browns got a win. We won't be 0-16. And we're tied for 1st place in our division! (Never mind that the rest of the division has a 1-1 record too.)

Enjoy this one Browns fans. It's going to be a Happy Monday!

See you next week,
~MAS

Browns Halftime Blurb - Browns @ Colts

The Browns have surprised me so far today, and I must say I love it. I was really skeptical about the offenses potential today, but they've come through in a big way after an ugly first quarter, out-scoring the Colts 14-6 in the second to lead 14-9 going into the half.

The big thing today was definitely trying to stabilize the offensive line, and the Browns have done that relatively well, but I still think there is a lot of room for improvement. Joe Thomas especially has got to be better against Dwight Freeney. That being said, there's only been one sack and one other QB hit, so that's definitely a positive.

Colt McCoy had a great first half, going 13/17 for 142 yards and a TD. That's a 120.2 rating for those of you who care about those types of things. Mohammed Massaquoi also had a great first half, stepping up with 3 catches for 45 yards—one of which was the key play at the end of the first half to get the Browns to the 1 yard line. Josh Cribbs also had a huge 3rd down play where he caught a quick pass at the line of scrimmage and ran about 10 yards to get a first down.

Speaking of Cribbs, he ignited the first touchdown drive with his 52 yard kickoff return. Watching him so far this year makes me realize so much more that he was just not healthy at all last season. He is really a talented player.

Defensively, the big men on the D-line have been impressive. The combination of Phil Taylor and Athyba Rubin have been good for a combined six tackles, with Rubin having a sack, tackle for loss and a QB hit and Taylor having a pass defended. I'll take that any day of the week. As a unit, they've let the Colts go down the field, but they haven't broken yet as the Colts have only kicked three field goals. I'll take that too.

The key to the second half: play both quarters. Last week we saw the Browns crumble after playing well in the 2nd quarter. If they want to win today, they've got to keep their foot on the gas pedal. We get the ball first, and I'd love to see Cribbs have another great return to ignite this offense. We've got the knife out, it's time to shove it in and twist it.

See you after the game!
~MAS

Start Me Up - Browns @ Colts

After last week's debacle, I think I needed a little time away from a place where I might have been liable to use some not-so-friendly words to describe the way I felt about the Browns—hence the lack of "filler" this week. But lo and behold, it's Sunday again and our favorite football team is going agaginst a beatable Manning-less Indianapolis Colts team. 

Look, I know I dont' have to tell you how many problems the offense/defense/special teams units had last week, so I'll just get right to what I believe will be the keys to the game.

Offensively, I'm a big believer in the old adage, "It all starts up front." Maybe it's because I played on the O-line in high school, but I'm telling you, without solid play from those five guys, it doesn't matter how good the rest of the offense is—it's going to be ugly. We saw that last week with the play of Jason Pinkston at left guard and then the rotating right tackles Oniel Cousins and Artie Hicks. It's like they say about quarterbacks—if you have two of them, you have none of them (see: the Ohio State University football team last night @ Miami. Yikes). 

So my biggest key this weekend for the Browns O is stabilize the offensive line. If you do that, the West Coast offense can go to work. I believe in Colt McCoy, and I think with proper time he can run the offense very effectively. We saw flashes of that last week and also in the pre-season, but it's got to be sustained for four quarters. Again, that all starts up front. If our tackles can't contain the Colts' Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis, it's going to be a very, very long day. 

Defensively, I actually don't have too many complaints. Joe Haden is obviously emerging as a big time, lockdown cornerback, and that is exactly what this team needs. D'Qwell Jackson was also excellent in the season opener, especially considering how much he hasn't played in the last couple of seasons. 

If there's one concern I really have, it's the defensive line's ability to stop the run. Joesph Addai and Delone Carter shared the load last week, only gaining 39 and 25 yards, respectively. But keep in mind that the Colts were down by so much so fast, Kerry Collins was mostly trying to sling it all over the field to get them back in the game. So I guess I'm worried about Jabaal Sheard over on the right side, especially after he was destroyed by Cedric Benson and the Bengals last week. 

I don't usually need to talk about special teams, but seeing as how the punting was so incredibly awful last week that we had to sign a new punter—oh, that's right, I'm sorry, McGee was injured. Well, in either case, the punting should be better this week. I'd also look for Josh Cribbs to take one to the house this week—you heard it here first, folks.

So down to business here,

The Prediction: CLE 14 - IND 24

After last week, I just don't see us winning this game. I think the problem with last week was more or less that Shurmur just didn't have his team ready to play. We'll probably be better this week, but Indianapolis isn't as bad as they looked last week. I know Peyton Manning does more for his team than any other QB in the league, but they have talent in other positions. Peyton isn't the only key to them getting in the playoffs week in and week out. 

So that's why I think we'll be starting another season 0-2, but I really, really hope that I'm wrong. 

I'll see you at the half!

~MAS