Browns 27 Texans 17

The following are my thoughts on today's win over the Texans:

1. Derek Anderson had another outstanding start today. He did throw the one pick which we have come to expect. But the fact is he is winning and gives us the big play capability we have been looking for. I do love the fact that he isn't afraid to make a tough throw and he seems to relish the opportunity to do so.



2. Jamal Lewis had a great day and he really punished the Texans defenders with his aggressive, downhill running style. It was nice to finally be able to run the ball at the end of the game to milk the clock and not have to rely as much on the passing game.



3. Braylon and especially K2 had great games today. Winslow made a lot of great catches in traffic. We as fans have really come to expect Winslow and Edwards get a 100 yards in receiving every game.



4. The defense as a whole had its best game of the year today. We finally saw corners with excellent coverage as well as constant pressure on the quarterback. Its amazing how much better the defense and the defensive backfield look when we get constant pressure on the quarterback.



5. I know their were times that we didn't get to Schaub but at least for the most part we made him at least move his feet in the pocket.



6. Brandon McDonald had a breakthrough game tonight and if he continues his solid play you could see him making Leigh Bodden a permanent nickel back in the future. It also lets Eric Wright recover from his knee injury and not force the Browns to rush him back into the lineup before he is fully recovered.



7. Can CBS please tune down the volume on Gus Johnson's microphone about 10 notches please.



8. I must give props to Nick Sorenson for a great game on special teams, he made two great tackles and nicely grabbed the onside kick to salt away the victory. The guy looks like someone from the munilot we found tossing around the football in the parking lot and gave him a uniform. Honestly, though if we see too many drops out of Tim Carter, why not make Sorenson a wide out.



9. I thought the most important play in the game was the D'Qwell Jackson interception because at that time the Browns were down 7 and the Texans were driving for another score. It was great to see D'Qwell back on the field again.



10. Looking ahead to next week's game against the Cardinals is a game that really scares me. Its not that the Cardinals are a juggernaut or anything but I have seen a lot of teams (i.e Philadelphia Eagles) riding a wave of momentum go out to Arizona and lay an egg. This game will tell a lot about the makeup of the team, cause this game does have trap written all over it.



11. The one good thing about playing the Cardinals is that they are fresh off a demoralizing loss and someone you want to get on early.

My 4 game balls go to

1. Kellen Winslow



2. Brandon McDonald



3. Brodney Pool



4. Nick Sorenson

Browns 33 Ravens 30

Here are my thoughts on Sunday's thrilling overtime win over the Ravens:

1. Derek Anderson bounced back from the Pittsburgh game with a solid effort. He did throw a pick that was returned for a touchdown, but ran the offense very effectively. Like I have mentioned in previous weeks the big thing with DA is that at the end of the game he always gets his team down the field and gives them a chance to win the game. His best play was in the fourth quarter shrugging off a defensive lineman and throwing a 15 yard completion to Braylon Edwards that set up the tying field goal.


2. Jamal Lewis responded and had a solid effort against his former team. I do like the intensity he brings and even though he did get a unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for spiking the ball on the Ravens sideline, I think this is something that will endure him to the fans who all would love to do that to the Ratbird sideline.


3. The defense seems to have found the fountain of youth with a day of six sacks against Baltimore.


4. If you asked me to name a defensive MVP for the team this year I would have to go with Robaire Smith. He has been excellent in run defense and leads the team with four sacks. Phil Savage should be lauded for an excellent signing. The thing I like about Robaire is that he goes out and does his job and you don't have to worry about him doing something stupid or undisciplined.


5. The Eric Wright loss will hurt the defense. He was really coming into his own and was excellent in run support. Preliminary indications say he will be out 2-3 weeks. While he has improved every week it seems that Leigh Bodden has gotten worse week by week.


6. Brandon McDonald has played well in his limited reps. I would like to see him come in as the nickel corner which I think he would do the job at.


7. The following is the biggest understatement of the year. Josh Cribbs is a beast. He is the best special teams player in the NFL. As a returner the thing that he does the best is always goes north and south and you rarely see him put the team in a bad situation. He also caused a fumble in coverage. The rest of the mainstream media is finally taking notice to the type of player he is.


8. The best thing about the win was seeing pompous Brian Billick out coached and then seeing him cry in a press conference and on the field after the officials got the call right.


9. I think if the Browns make the playoffs this year we all owe a beer to Pete Morelli and his crew.


10. With the win and the Steelers loss the division title is still attainable but were going to have to run the table and hope that Pittsburgh loses to Jacksonville and New England.

My game balls go to:

1. Pete Morelli and his crew.

2. Josh Cribbs

3. Kellen Winslow

Steelers 31 Browns 28

The following are my thoughts on today's loss against Pittsburgh:

1. Derek Anderson had his worse start of the year today. He started out strong but really was shaky in the second half throwing behind receivers. He should get credit for still finding a way to give his team a chance at the end of the game to tie with a field goal.




2. I give credit to Braylon for making a tremendous catch in the end zone for a touchdown, but if he wants to be the player he says he can be he needs to have more than just one catch. K2 and Jurevicius came to play but sadly Edwards didn't. I do realize he isn't throwing the ball but I just think he should be able to get more than one catch.




3. I give Romeo credit for having the team ready to play at the onset of the game and they look fired up and ready to go. But the two timeout fiasco in the 4th quarter was a huge blunder. Look at it this way, if he doesn't waste those timeouts we get the ball back with around 2 minutes instead of 1:10 left in the game.




4. More infuriating is after the game he had no explanation for it, he just described the situation. I really think if Romeo would just say I screwed up and say put the blame on me for that, the fans would at least not be as hard on him. He needs to and will be held accountable for this.



5. The only problem I really had with the game plan on offense was that I thought it would have been nice to see Jason Wright get a few carries to see if he could give a change of pace and get some yards on the ground.



6. The biggest reason for the collapse in the second half was that we only ran about 16 plays and it tired the defense out.



7. To me the biggest turning point in the game was the Lewis fumble, because at that point the Steelers offense was sputtering. Also, that is really where the Browns started to struggle on defense.


8. I have ripped the defense in past weeks, but I do believe they deserve credit for getting more pressure than they had in the past few weeks. One thing that bothers me does Kamerion Wimbley know more than one pass rush move to get to the quarterback. Lineman are intelligent and pick up on this.


9. While analyzing the schedule if we want to win the division we really have to win out and even that might not be enough. But on the wild card chase our remaining opponents have a 23-39 won/loss record while Jacksonville's remaining opponents have a 33-28 record and Tennessee's opponents record is 27-34.


10. I really believe playing Baltimore is good for the Browns in that their should not be much of a lingering factor in this loss because were playing a team we hate just as much. This is a game where you want to get on them early because their liable to pack it in pretty quickly, but look to see Kyle Boller at quarterback on Sunday for the Rats.

My 3 goathorns go to:

1. Jamal Lewis: His turnover changed the game.


2. Roemo Crennel: His mismanagement of timeouts cost the team a chance of winning in overtime.


3. Braylon Edwards: Need more than one catch out of your big play receiver.

Browns 33 Seahawks 30

The following are my thoughts on Sunday's thrilling overtime win over Seattle:

1. Derek Anderson had another solid game. I think this was his best game so far since he put 33 points up against a very good defense and he picked apart that defense when they were expecting passes to be coming. There were some runs mixed in but the Seahawk defense was playing pass coverage much of the second half. He did throw a pick but it really wasn't his fault the defensive lineman just mad a great play. He did a great job of taking what the defense gave him and checked down numerous times.


2. Jamal Lewis had a big day with his 4 touchdowns, but the even bigger play was his reception on a screen pass in overtime that but the Browns in position to win the game. As this team evolves in the coming years I think you could groom Jamal Lewis into a Bettis type role. I think his contributions behind closed doors have also helped this team immeasurably.


3. Kellen Winslow had probably the best game of his young career. He played eerily similar to the Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State in that the opposition knew he was going to get the ball, but had no way to stop him.


4. The defense gave up plenty of yardage but didn't let the Seahawks in the end zone in the second half. They aren't playing great but they are playing well enough to keep the team in the game until the offense catches fire. But like Tony Grossi said in years past the defense would play great for 58 minutes and lose it in the last 2 minutes, but now they are playing below average for 58 minutes and winning the game in the last 2 minutes.


5. Seeing that we cant get any pressure, I really think our game plan against Pittsburgh should be to keep the quarterback in the pocket and make him beat us from their.


6. The defense really didn't give up the big play so that is progress in that regard as well.


7. I really think it is about time to extend the contract of Romeo and give him that security that he deserves.

Browns 27 Rams 20

The following are my thoughts on today's win over the Rams:

1. Derek Anderson had another solid day throwing 3 td's and not turning the ball over he is showing that he is growing in leaps and bounds as a player. You can tell in some of his throws how his confidence is growing in leaps and bounds. It is scary to think how close he was to getting waived in training camp.


2. The big negative for me in today's game was the way we started. If we want to be a playoff team we have to come out strong. Because when we score early it takes the opponents running game out of the equation.


3. I love how we used all three running backs today. They all our different kinds of backs and really give a defensive coordinator fits.


4. You could really see today after we got the passing game how the running game really got going and the holes started to open up.


5. Give the offensive line credit again though on opening up the holes and keeping Derek Anderson clean in the pocket.


6. Braylon Edwards had an excellent day today. It really seemed like he could of caught the ball at will anytime he wanted today. The only negative was his drop that could have salted the game away today. But with that being said, Braylon is well on his way to being in Honolulu for the pro bowl. Also, Derek Anderson deserves consideration for the pro bowl.


7. I know the defense game up lots of yardage today, but when they needed a play to win the game they got it. Also, they only gave up 2 field goals after the first quarter. But we are going to need a bigger performance out of them next week against Seattle.

Tribe 7 Red Sox 3

The Cleveland Indians took a commanding 3 games to 1 lead tonight with a 7-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox at Jacobs Field. Here are my thoughts on tonight's game:

1. Paul Byrd came through win a solid start tonight. He was a big key in that he matched 0's with Wakefield and wouldn't let the Tribe fall behind. He really only had one inning in the first five where he fell into trouble. I thought he did get tired in the 6th inning but I think the 30 minutes sitting in the dugout had something to do with it. But give Byrd credit he has given his team a big lift in his last two starts.


2. Nice job by Jensen Lewis and Betancourt of pitching 4 innings of quality relief. I would have liked to see Rafael Perez get some work tonight, but you cant fault Eric Wedge for going with the hot hand tonight.


3. I love the quiet confidence this team plays with. You could tell just by the look in the player's eyes in the dugout and in the field that they fully expected to win tonight.


4. I think the off day will be a good thing for the Indians with giving the bullpen a day of rest and there will be no hangover from tonight's game.


5. The fans tonight were tremendous and have had a huge impact on the game the last two nights and have been much louder and more intimidating than those idiot Red Sox and Rockies fans.


6. Big props go to the Tribe hitters because they kept a solid approach against Tim Wakefield and didn't let the knuckleball get to them. Hitting coach Derek Shelton deserves a lot of credit for this as well.


7. I really believe that if we can get a lead early against Beckett on Thursday night we will be in really good shape. Because you don't want to give the Red Sox any hope because they can turn things around in a big way.

Tribe 4 Red Sox 2

The Cleveland Indians took a 2-1 series lead in their ALCS series with the Boston Red Sox tonight at Jacobs Field. Here are my thoughts on the game:

1. Jake Westbrook was great tonight. He was locked in with getting numerous ground ball outs and worked out of a key jam in the second inning that was the turning point in the game. The key thing with this rotation is that your going to get professional outings out of all four starters.
2. Another key in tonight's game was Jensen Lewis getting a big strikeout over Pedroia in the 7th inning. This really stopped the momentum the Red Sox had with the Varitek homer to cut the lead to two.
3. Rafael Betancourt was locked in and worked a 1-2-3 inning in the 8th and this was really where the save was had.
4. I have said before but tonight pointed out that if you can keep the Boston 3, 4, 5 hitters off the bases you will beat the Red Sox.
5. You have to love the Indians chances tomorrow night against a guy who hasn't faced live action in 22 days. I fully expect Paul Byrd to give a good outing. I'm not a big believer in momentum but has been clear the last two nights the Tribe is the better team.