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Cleveland Browns 27, Baltimore Ravens 13

Blogged under Bloglockers,Front Page,Game Recaps by dawgpounded on Sunday 30 September 2007 at 11:25 pm

The Cleveland Browns made some big plays early in this football game and they made them stand up despite going very conservative in the 2nd half.  Qb Derek Anderson had another solid game as he completed 10 of 18 passes for 204 yards with 2 TD passes and 1 interception.  Jamal Lewis did the heavy lifting in the running game as he carried the ball 23 times for 64 yards (2.8 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Jason Wright pitched in with a couple of nice carries for 29 yards (14.5 ypc).  Braylon Edwards was outstanding again as he caught 3 passes for 97 yards (32.3 avg) with 1 TD grab.  TE Kellen Winslow played with his bad shoulder and he also had a great game with 4 grabs for 96 yards (24.0 avg).  Joe Jurevicius also pitched in with 2 catches for 10 yards and a TD.  The Browns finished with 99 yards rushing on  30 carries (3.3 ypc) and they completed 10 of 18 passes for 204 yards.

The defense was bending but not breaking against the Ravens.  They allowed 111 yards rushing on 20 carries (5.6 ypc) and the Ravens completed 34 of 53 passes for 307 yards.  CBs Eric Wright (9 tackles), Daven Holly (8 tackles) and Leigh Bodden (7 tackles, interception) kept the Ravens receivers in front of them the whole game and played decent. 

The special teams again had a big role in this win as DE/OLB David McMillan recovered a Yamon Figurs fumble in the first quarter that led to a Browns TD.  KR Joshua Cribbs returned 3 kickoffs for 94 yards (31.3 avg) to give the Browns good starting position on offense.

A win is always nice but a win over the “Team Stealers” always feels extra good.

Cleveland Browns vs. Baltimore Ravens

Blogged under Bloglockers,Front Page,This Week's Matchup Report by dawgpounded on Thursday 27 September 2007 at 10:48 am
The Baltimore Ravens are going back to the city they once called home before the city of Baltimore stole the Browns in much the same way that the Colts were stolen from them.  The hate resonates from the parking lot into the stadium when the purple birds head to Cleveland.  And it no doubt will be there again this Sunday.  The cherry on the top for this game is that Jamal Lewis is out to prove that the Ravens made a big mistake in getting rid of him in the off-season!

The Ravens offense has to be excited about playing a Browns’ “defense” that is allowing 176.3 yards rushing per game and 254.3 yards passing per game.  They hope to control the football on the ground with Willis McGahee (272 yards rushing, 4.1 ypc) doing the heavy lifting.  But, look for Steve McNair’s groin to suddenly feel much better with Kyle Boller stealing some of his playing time and the Browns’ secondary having big issues.  The Ravens must keep OLB Kamerion Wimbley out of there backfield to give McNair enough time to look downfield.  TE Todd Heap (15 rec, 165 yards, TD) could cause the Browns defense big problems as FS Brodney Pool has been repeatedly torched so far this season.  Derrick Mason (23 rec, 209 yards, TD) has emerged as the go-to receiver for the Ravens but the Browns’ corners should be able to put up a fight with him.  But, look for Demetrius Williams and Mark Clayton to stretch the defense.  Clayton is off to a slow start but he had an outstanding game in Cleveland last season.

Look for the Browns to give Jamal Lewis every opportunity to attack the Ravens’ defense.  He has carried the football 53 times this season for 307 yards (5.8 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He will no doubt have some high impact collisions with MLB Ray Lewis and it will be fun to watch.  If the offensive line gives Derek Anderson time to throw the football he could have some success against the Ravens defense and they are allowing 239.7 yards passing per game.  Another interesting battle will be Kellen Winslow (16 rec, 271 yards, TD) against all-world safety Ed Reed.  The Ravens will likely put Chris McAllister on WR Braylon Edwards (15 rec, 278 yards, 3 TDs) and that will also be an outstanding matchup.  An advantage that the Browns should try to exploit will be Joe Jurevicius against backup corner Corey Ivy.

Special teams could also have a big impact in this game as Yamon Figurs (Ravens) and Joshua Cribbs (Browns) both have the capability to take any punt return or kickoff return to the house!

PREDICTION:  I have to think that the Ravens will win this game because they have the better football team.  But, the Browns have played the Ravens well in Cleveland as they have won two of the last three meetings outscoring the Ravens 54-34!  With that in mind I would take the Browns and the points.

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Cleveland Browns’ TE Kellen Winslow has a shoulder injury

Blogged under Big Browns News,Bloglockers,Front Page,Injury Reports by dawgpounded on Wednesday 26 September 2007 at 7:00 pm

Kellen Winslow has a partially dislocated left shoulder and it’s up in the air as to whether or not he will play this weekend against the hated Ravens.  Winslow injured himself on the Browns last drive of the football game.  He vows to play and the Browns need him as he has been outstanding so far this season.  Winslow has caught 16 passes for 271 yards (16.9 avg) with 1 TD grab.  If Winslow can’t go, look for the Browns to throw the ball a lot more to WR Joe Jurevicius who is having a solid season.  Steve Heiden would start in Winslow’s place if he can’t go and he has caught 2 passes for 30 yards (15.0 avg) so far this season.  Heiden is dependable but he’s nowhere near the playmaker that Winslow is.

Oakland Raiders 26, Cleveland Browns 24

Blogged under Bloglockers,Front Page,Game Recaps by dawgpounded on Monday 24 September 2007 at 9:37 am

The Browns had appeared to win the game as Phil Dawson’s 40-yard field goal soared through the goal posts….but….Raiders coach Lane Kiffin called a timeout a split second before the ball was snapped.  When the Browns tried the field goal again it was blocked by the Raiders to end the football game.  QB Derek Anderson didn’t play well overall but he had a good second half as he put the Browns in postion to win the football game.  Anderson completed 18 of 37 passes for 248 yards with 1 TD pass and 2 interceptions.  He also carried the ball 2 times for 12 yards (6.0 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Jamal Lewis had a so-so game as he carried the ball 15 times for 56 yards (3.7 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 22 yards.  TE Kellen Winslow (6 rec, 88 yards) and WR Braylon Edwards (4 rec, 83 yards, TD) both stepped up again as they are starting to fulfill their vast potential.  The Browns only had possession of the football for 23:43 of the game and they still had 312 yards offense which is amazing.  The Browns finished up rushing for 88 yards on 19 carries (4.6 ypc) and they completed 18 of 37 passing for 224 yards.

Joshua Cribbs was also outstanding yesterday.  He returned 4 kickoffs for 174 yards (43.5 avg) with a 99-yard TD.  He also returned 1 punt for 22 yards and he carried the ball 1 time for 7 yards.

Only two players came to play for the Browns defense yesterday and they were Sean Jones (10 tackles) and LB Kamerion Wimbley (5 tackles, 2 sacks) but they needed more help.  The Raiders rushed for 186 yards on 41 carries (4.5 ypc) and they completed 14 of 26 passes for 210 yards passing.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=270923013

Cleveland Browns vs. Oakland Raiders

Blogged under Bloglockers,Front Page,This Week's Matchup Report by dawgpounded on Friday 21 September 2007 at 6:45 pm

This game could wind up being a shootout as both defenses have played pretty badly so far this season.  The Browns are allowing 448.0 yards per game and the Raiders are allowing 416.5 yards per game.  The Browns will likely run with Jamal Lewis to the left side behind guard Eric Steinbach and tackle Joe Thomas who helped pave the way for Lewis to run for 216 yards last week.  The Raiders are allowing 144.5 yards per game and 4.9 yards per carry so far this season.  If the Browns establish the run it will set up play action which would make it easy to throw the ball downfield.  WRs Braylon Edwards (11 rec, 195 yards, 2 TDs) and Joe Jurevicius (6 rec, 72 yards, 2 TDs) will challenge the corners of the Raiders who are pretty good football players.  TE Kellen Winslow (10 rec, 183 yards, TD) will likely be the guy that Derek Anderson targets the most in the passing game as the Raiders are young at safety.

The Raiders will also likely keep the ball on the ground with LaMont Jordan.  Jordan has rushed for 229 yards this season and he’s averaging 5.7 ypc.  Jordan also is a big part of the passing game as he has already caught 9 passes for 89 yards (9.9 avg).  So the Browns front 7 better bring their “A” game to deal with Jordan.  The Browns are allowing 171.5 yards rushing per game and 5.0 ypc this season.  The Raiders would like to attack the Browns deep in the passing game as they only have one healthy safety (Sean Jones).  McCown should have time to throw the ball this week as the Browns only have 2 sacks this season.  That will allow McCown to throw the ball to the WRs (Ronald Curry and Jerry Porter).  He also will likey target Zach Miller against the Browns safeties.

The Raiders must be careful kicking the ball to Joshua Cribbs of the Browns because he can return any kick or punt for a TD.

PREDICTION:  The Browns will ride the positive wave of last week to another close, high scoring victory.

Is QB Derek Anderson of the Cleveland Browns for real?

Blogged under Bloglockers,Front Page by dawgpounded on Friday 21 September 2007 at 5:37 pm

This will be a question that will take a few weeks to have an answer for.  He replaced Charlie Frye in Week #1 against the Steelers and he led the Browns to 7 points in three quarters of action.  Last week he led the Browns to an unbelievable 51 points against the Bengals!  Anderson has now completed 33 of 61 (54.1%) passes for 512 yards with 6 TD passes and 2 interceptions (101.3 QB Rating).  As long as the Browns offensive line is blocking well for him (only 1 sack this season with Anderson at QB) he should hold off the Brady Quinn era from starting for a while.

The Cleveland Browns sign punter Scott Player

Blogged under Big Browns News,Bloglockers,Free Agent Additions,Front Page by dawgpounded on Thursday 20 September 2007 at 4:58 pm

The Browns have signed Scott Player.  Starting punter Dave Zastudil has an injured oblique muscle to add to his bad back so he might not be available for the Raiders game.  In his first start last week, Zastudil punted the ball 2 times for 86 yards (43.0 avg) and he pinned the Bengals inside the 20-yard line once.  Player played in 15 games last season for the Cardinals and he punted 66 times for 2,965 yards (44.9 avg).  He had a net average of 37.7 yards per punt and he also placed 18 of his punts (27.3%) inside the opposing 20 yard line.  To make room for Player the Browns have released punter/kicker Paul Ernster.  Ernster punted the ball 7 times against the Steelers and he averaged 36.6 yards per punt.

Cleveland Browns 51, Cincinnati Bengals 45

Blogged under Bloglockers,Front Page,Game Recaps by dawgpounded on Tuesday 18 September 2007 at 11:28 am

The Cleveland Browns won a type of game that they usually lose.  As Carson Palmer got the football with a little more than a minute to go with the Bengals down six, a bad feeling started to sweep through the Dawg Pound.  We have seen this all before too many times…..so when Leigh Bodden picked off a pass to seal the victory the Stadium exploded!  The offensive line were the real heroes on the Browns this day….especially the left side of guard Eric Steinbach and tackle Joe Thomas.  The Browns line didn’t allow a sack and they paved the way for 226 yards rushing!  QB Derek Anderson was outstanding as he completed 20 of 33 passes for 328 yards with 5 TD passes and 1 interception.  RB Jamal Lewis had a day for the Browns that he used to have against them as he carried the football 27 times for 216 yards (8.0 ypc) with 1 TD run.  WR Braylon Edwards was outstanding with 8 receptions for 146 yards (18.3 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  TE Kellen Winslow was also outstanding with 6 catches for 100 yards (16.7 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Joe Jurevicius was also great catching 4 passes for 44 yards (11.0 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  The offense was also set up with some short fields due to kickoff returner Joshua Cribbs having a fine game.  Cribbs returned 5 kickoffs for 183 yards (36.6 avg) including a 85-yarder that set up a TD.  The Browns finished up with 226 yards rushing on 30 carries (7.5 ypc) and they completed 20 of 33 passes for 328 yards.

The Browns defense was awful until they needed to make a big play to win the football game and that’s when CB Leigh Bodden stepped up as he picked off a Carson Palmer pass to end the game.  Bodden finished with 4 tackles, an interception and a fumble recovery.  The Browns allowed the Bengals to rush for 137 yards on 26 carries (5.3 ypc).  That wasn’t the worst of it though as they allowed the Bengals to complete 33 of 50 passes for 394 yards with 6 TD passes!

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=270916005

Cleveland Browns vs. Cincinnati Bengals

Blogged under Bloglockers,Front Page,This Week's Matchup Report by dawgpounded on Thursday 13 September 2007 at 9:46 am
The Battle of Ohio.  That sounds good in theory but it was not a battle at all last season as the Bengals swept the Browns by a combined score of 64-17 last season.  The Bengals even thumped the Browns 30-0 on their home field last season!  The Bengals travel to Cleveland after getting a big win on Monday Night 27-20 over the division rival Baltimore Ravens.  The Browns are coming off a 34-7 drubbing at the hands of the hated Pittsburgh Steelers.  The Bengals will likely feed the rock to RB Rudi Johnson who will find the Browns defense much softer than the Ravens.  Johnson only had 50 yards on 18 carries (2.8 ypc) last week against the Ravens but the Browns allowed 206 yards rushing on 42 carries (4.9 ypc)!  After the Bengals push the Browns around a little and soften them up look for QB Carson Palmer (100.3 QB Rating) to attack the Browns pass defense which allowed Ben Roethlisberger to throw 4 TD passes last week.  Chad Johnson promises a spectacular Cleveland celebration if/when he scores a TD.  He caught 5 passes for 95 yards and a TD against the Ravens.  T.J. Houshmandzadeh also had a solid game with 9 grabs for 50 yards and a TD against the Ravens and he also could have a huge game against the Browns.

The Browns only hope in this football game on offense is to attack the Bengals run defense which looked a little soft against the Ravens.  The Ravens rushed for 107 yards on 25 carries (4.3 ypc) against the Bengals defense.  The line must block well against the Bengals who will likely have 8 men in the box to try to stop Jamal Lewis.  Lewis had a rough time against the Steelers as he carried the ball 11 times for 35 yards (3.2 ypc) and he lost a fumble.  The Browns line allowed 6 sacks last week but only one after Derek Anderson entered the game. If the Browns give him time to throw he could have some success against the Bengals secondary.  Braylon Edwards needs to start putting up on the field or he needs to shut up.  He only caught 3 passes for 49 yards (16.3 avg) and he also lost a fumble.  It will be interesting to see if he has a good game or not against a team that can be passed on.  The key matchup however will be the Bengals safeties against TE Kellen Winslow who had a solid opening game.  He caught 4 passes for 83 yards (20.8 avg) and the Browns will need production like that from him again to have any chance to put up a fight with the Bengals.  It’s very possible that the Brady Quinn era could start during this game as Romeo Crennel has said that he will yank Anderson if things don’t go well.

PREDICTION:  The Bengals will kick the Browns butt up and down the field.  The Bengals took the fight to the Ravens on Monday Night and if the Browns get hit in the mouth like that….they will back down.  Tune in late to see Brady Quinn’s first passes of his NFL career.

 

The Cleveland Browns trade QB Charlie Frye to the Seattle Seahawks

Blogged under Big Browns News,Bloglockers,Front Page by dawgpounded on Tuesday 11 September 2007 at 2:54 pm

The Cleveland Browns decided that they have seen more than enough of Charlie Frye so they traded him to the Seattle Seahawks for a 6th round pick.  You could see this coming from a mile away if you were paying attention.  Frye was so awful against the Steelers Sunday that he was yanked out of the game in the 2nd quarter…..never to return.  He only completed 4 of 10 passes for 34 yards and he threw a horrible interception right between the numbers on a Steelers’ defenders chest!  Frye finishes his career with the Browns having played in 21 games (19 starts) and he completed 354 of 567 passes (62.4%) for 3,490 yards with 14 TD passes and 23 interceptions (71.1 QB Rating).  He also rushed for 276 yards on 66 carries (4.2 ypc) with 4 TD runs.  The Browns had to get rid of Frye as he is no better now than he was when he walked off the campus at Akron U and that’s not good enough to play in the NFL.

The Browns have re-signed Ken Dorsey to serve as the #3 QB.  It will be interesting to see if this is the beginning of the Brady Quinn era in Cleveland.  I say the Browns should start him because Derek Anderson is not that much better than Frye was.  The Browns can’t win with Anderson as the starting QB so why not just play the Golden Boy from Notre Dame?  Crennel and Savage’s jobs are on the line and I doubt that they trust Derek Anderson to save their jobs.