Charlie Frye made a surprise start for the Cleveland Browns, but he didn’t play any better than Ken Dorsey would have played.  Frye completed 25 of 34 passes for 187 yards and a INT (which killed a long drive).  Frye also carried the ball 5 times for 36 yards (7.2 ypc), but he lost a fumble that was returned 47 yards for a TD!  Reuben Droughns had a decent game with 19 carries for 83 yards (4.4 ypc).  Kellen Winslow had a great game with 11 catches for 93 yards.  Braylon Edwards had a decent game with 4 catches for 46 yards.  Steve Heiden pitched in with 3 catches for 17 yards.

Safety Sean Jones led an inspired effort by the Browns defense with 7 tackles.  The Browns held the Texans to 94 yards rushing on 26 carries (3.6 ypc).  The Texans only completed 9 of 15 passes for 83 net yards passing.

The Browns have lost 3 straight games by a combined score of 76-31!  The Texans are coming off their first victory in 10 tries against the Indianapolis Colts.

The Browns will likely be playing without both of their starting guards against the Texans which is not good news for third-string QB turned starter Ken Dorsey.  The Browns will likely lean on the running game a bit more than usual as the Texans are allowing 121.9 yards rushing and 4.4 yards per carry so far this season.  Reuben Droughns had a nice game last week and could have another if the new guards give him a little daylight.  Ken Dorsey is lucky that the Texans don’t have much of a pass rush, so he could have some success despite his lack of arm strength.  Look for Kellen Winslow (78 rec, 782 yards) and Joe Jurevicius to be targeted often in the short passing game. 

The Texans will likely also keep their offense basic and run the ball.  Ron Dayne has been playing well lately and the Browns defense is allowing 145.3 yards rushing and 4.5 yards per carry so far this season.  David Carr (68.6% completions) could have a big game too if the line gives him time to throw, which means they’ll have to contain rookie LB Kamerion Wimbley who has 10 sacks this season.  Andre Johnson (101 rec, 1,135 yards) should have a huge game against the Browns banged up secondary.

This game has all the makings of a disaster for the Browns.  The Browns only hope in this game is a letdown by the Texans after their huge win last week over the Colts.

Derek Anderson was starting to make a believer out of a lot of people in the Browns organization until his debacle on Christmas Eve.  Not only did he throw 4 interceptions, but he got sacked in the 4th quarter from his blind side and was driven into the ground.  He wound up dislocating his throwing shoulder thus ending his season.  Ken Dorsey will start this week against the Texans and the Browns signed Lang Campbell to back him up.  Campbell is familiar with the Browns offense as he has been with them the last 2 pre-seasons.

Among the three hours of disgust I felt from noon to 3 p.m. watching the Browns lose 22-7 to the Buccaneers on Sunday, I also had a heavy heart as well. I knew that when the game was over, that I would never see Dennis Northcutt in an orange helmet in that stadium ever again.

Yes…call me crazy…I said I feel sad that Dennis Northcutt will never play another home game as a Brown.

Northcutt isn’t a very popular Brown - and I know many of you won’t have many kind words for him as he walks out the door into free agency at the end of the year. But, I for one, will miss him as a player on this team. Sure, he has dropped several key passes in his career as a Brown, and no he did not live up to his second round draft billing. However, Northcutt’s abilities as a punt returner are unquestioned - and I truly believe the Browns may struggle in finding the same consistency in a punt returner next season that they had in Northcutt. I feel that they will realize how valuable he was back there, and also realize that they took him for granted.

There is no need to take my word for it though. The numbers speak for themselves. This year Northcutt is in familiar territory - among the top 5 in the NFL in punt returns. He is currently third in punt return average at 11.1, trailing only Roscoe Parrish (11.7) and Devin Hester (13.3).

In 2005, Northcutt finished the year ranked 5th in the NFL in returns, averaging 10.5 yards per return. In 2004 he was third with a 12.0 average, and in 2002 he finished third again, with a career high 14.7 return average.

His only down season as a punt returner came in 2003 when he averaged only 8.2 yards per return and finished in the lower half of the league.

Consistent production like that is hard to find in the NFL - especially in an area such as punt returns - one of the more dangerous and volatile plays of the game.

So when this season is through (thank God), and Northcutt walks off the field for the last time as a Brown, it will be easy for us to remember his failure to become a dominant receiver. However, let’s not forget that as bad as he failed in that role…..he excelled just as well in another.

Punt returner could be the most important position fans take for granted on the football field, and with the consistency that Northcutt gave us at that position game in and game out, it was easy for us as Browns fans to do so.

Northcutt deserves our praise as knowledgeable fans for the job he has done as a Brown punt returner. His body of work as a returner is impressive, and one of the few positives statistics that we have seen from this franchise since it’s return in 1999.

How many positive stats can the Browns say they have been consistently ranked in the top 5 of the league over the past 8 seasons?

One. Punt return average…thanks to Northcutt.

I just hope next Sunday in Houston he breaks one the distance…so we can appreciate him in that role one last time.

The Browns played one of their worst games of the season yesterday.  Derek Anderson took a bunch of steps backward yesterday before dislocating his throwing shoulder in the 4th quarter of this horrible loss.  Anderson really stunk up Cleveland Browns stadium on Sunday.  He completed only 10 of 27 passes for 123 yards and threw 4 interceptions!  Reuben Droughns was one of the few Browns that came to play as he carried the ball 19 times for 92 yards (4.8 ypc).  Joe Jurevicius was another guy that came to play yesterday as he caught 4 passes for 58 yards.  Braylon Edwards was getting soundly booed yesterday as he gave a very poor effort and only caught 2 passes for 7 yards.

The defense had a few bright spots yesterday.  Rookie LB Leon Williams was all over the field as he finished with 13 tackles and a sack.  Chaun Thompson (12 tackles) and Sean Jones (13 tackles) were both very active too.  Kamerion Wimbley and Daven Holly were the real playmakers in this game for the Browns.  Wimbley had 6 tackles and 2 sacks.  On one of the sacks, Wimbley caused a fumble that was picked up by Holly and returned 40 yards for a TD.  Holly also had an interception in this game.  The Bucs ran the ball 44 times against the Browns for 153 yards (3.5 ypc).  The Bucs also completed 16 of 26 passes for 202 net yards passing.

The Browns fell to 4-11 on the season with this loss.  This was another pitiful Christmas performance as the Browns have been outscored 63-7 in their last two games played on December 24th.