This was my last Browns game I will goto for  long time to come.  I do not have season tickets, I unfortuately cannot afford them.  I live and die Orange & Brown.  I cried, literaly in ’86, ’87, etc.  I take a losses very hard, as a fan.  But it has gotten easier since 1999…the product, from Owner to Kicker has been a pathetic excuse for an NFL organization.  I think that while the NFL didn’t do the Browns justice when they came back (with draft picks, startup time, etc.) the owner ship has failed, more so since Al Lerner died and Randy took over.

 The stadium itself, isn’t even the premier NFL venue anymore either.  The minute you walk into the stadium, its very disaponiting.  The inside is dark, the field doesn’t look sharp.  What ever happened to the Orange, White and Brown drapes that used to be on the fence that seperates the field and the stands??  Now its brown, and blank!

 Then the product….the team has no President….would Randy Lerner run his other businesses without a President?  The team which was new (still is technically) with so little structure and talent, and yet each head coach is also inexperienced as an NFL head coach and Romeo Cornell has proved he too has no structure.

He picks a starting Quarter back and then takes him out a few minutes into the 2nd Qtr.??????

 His punter tells him on Monday the week before the first game of the season, against your longest rival….he “interviews” 4 other punters, but then his punter tells him he can go for the game, until the day before kickoff?????   Why didn’t Romeo realize if his Punter is hurt (calf injury – hello, he’s a punter, that would like a shoulder injury to a QB), he needed to get somone in here on Tuesday to practice w/ the team for the whole week.

 Stupid penalites, improper game planning, not able to improve Charlie Fryes lack of reading defenses….this head coach sucks!

I seriously think Randy should sell the team, and we should start over  – But in the meantime, I will watch some of the games on TV, until then…the organizion will not get 1 penny of my money for tickets, food, or merchandise.

Sincerely,

Adam A

The Browns signed Paul Ernster on Saturday and started him Sunday against the Browns due to a back injury to starter Dave Zastudil.  All I can say is the Browns better hope Zastudil can return soon.  Ernster punted the ball 7 times for 256 yards (36.6 avg) and he pinned the Steelers inside their 20-yard line 2 times.  Still, he shanked a punt in the first quarter that directly led to Steelers points and that is just not acceptable in the NFL.  The Browns cut reserve CB Jereme Perry to make room on the roster for Ernster.  The Browns also released special teams ace Mason Unck after agreeing on an injury settlement.  He had a knee injury.

After watching this football game in person I have come to the conclusion that Charlie Frye is one of the worst QBs in the NFL and he should thank God everyday that he’s getting paid to play.  He got pulled early in the 2nd quarter after he completed only 4 of 10 passes for 34 yards and 1 interception.  He also was sacked 5 times as he was often taking way too much time to get rid of the football.  Derek Anderson finished up the game by completing 13 of 28 passes for 184 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 interception.  He also lost a fumble.  The Browns need to play Brady Quinn now!  Jamal Lewis had a rough time trying to find running room against the Steelers defense as he carried the ball 11 times for 35 yards (3.2 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 11 yards.  Still, Lewis lost a fumble that resulted in the Steelers scoring.  Fullback Lawrence Vickers was one of the very few Browns that came to play.  He carried the ball 2 times for 8 yards (4.0 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 7 yards (3.5 avg) with 1 TD grab.  TE Kellen Winslow also had a solid game with 4 grabs for 83 yards (20.8).  WR Braylon Edwards caught 3 passes for 49 yards (16.3 avg) but he lost a fumble.  The Browns finished up their pitiful performance with 46 yards rushing on 16 carries (2.9 ypc) and they completed 17 of 38 passes for 175 yards.

The Browns defense didn’t play too well against the Steelers.  The Steelers ran the ball 42 times for 206 yards (4.9 ypc) and they also completed 12 of 23 passes for 159 yards with 4 TD passes.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=270909005

If the Browns were starting Brady Quinn from day #1 I might be tempted to take the over.  The Browns will likely be a much better football team than they were in 2006 but they have a really tough schedule this season.  Plus, the Browns did not address the defensive line like they needed to in the off-season adding only DE Robaire Smith and backup DT Shaun Smith.  So the Browns will likely have problems stopping the run again and it’s hard to win that way.  The Browns will likely try to ride Jamal Lewis’ running to keep the opposition off of the field and keep Charlie Frye away from making big mistakes.  Take the under but it will be close.

The Pittsburgh Steelers travel to Cleveland to open the season against their hated rivals…the Cleveland Browns.  The Steelers will try to run the football against the Browns mostly behind C Sean Mahan, LG Alan Faneca and LT Marvel Smith as the right side of their offensive line is weak.  Willie Parker has had some stellar games against the Browns in his career and he will again unless the Browns get some push out of their defensive line.  Inside linebackers Andra Davis and D-Qwell Jackson are good run defenders if they are kept clean by the defensive line.  OLBs Kamerion Wimbley and Antwan Peek will be unleashed to blitz QB Ben Roethlisberger into mistakes so the Steelers must be able to hold them out of the backfield.  The Browns secondary will be at full strength against the Steelers for the first time in quite a while and that could cause the Steelers problems.  CBs Leigh Bodden and rookie Eric Wright are both skilled enough to handle Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes.  The Browns safeties should also have no problem in dealing with TE Heath Miller.  SS Sean Jones is every bit as good as Troy Polamalu and the numbers back that up.  Look for him to make a big play or two against the Steelers offense.

The Steelers defense is an overrated bunch who will miss their spiritual leader Joey Porter.  Like him or hate him he got the Steelers defense fired up.  The Browns will likely try to run the football to the left side behind rookie OT Joe Thomas and veteran OG Eric Steinbach.  They should be able to control that side of the football field unless the Steelers bring Troy Polamalu over there.  The Browns will feed RB Jamal Lewis the rock to try to keep the ball away from the Steelers and to set up play action passes down the field for the Browns.  QB Charlie Frye will have to limit his mistakes against a secondary that can make some plays on the ball.  Still, Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow could cause the Steelers defense problems.  Look for Joe Jurevicius and TE Steve Heiden to be the Browns secret weapons against the Steelers.

The special teams could play a big factor in this football game.  Neither Jeff Reed or Phil Dawson is very accurate so chances are they couldn’t make a pressure kick to win the game.  The Steelers are going with a rookie punter in Daniel Sepulveda so he could have the jitters in his first game.  Browns punter Dave Zastudil has been gimpy this week as the Browns have brought P/K Paul Ernster just in case.  The Steelers added themselves an impact kick returner in Allen Rossum and he should give the Steelers good field position in this game.  But, Joshua Cribbs was even better than Rossum last season and he will make some big plays against the Steelers.

PREDICTION:  The Steelers have owned the Browns lately but Coach Tomlin is no Bill Cowher.  Look for this to be a very close game as either team could win it.  I tend to think the Steelers will win a close game but it would not surprise me at all if the Browns scored an upset.

The Cleveland Browns have named Charlie Frye as the starting QB against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the season opener this Sunday.  Frye did not have a good pre-season as he completed 24 of 37 passes (64.9%) for 251 yards with 0 TDs and 1 interception (73.1 QB Rating).  Brady Quinn was the most effective QB in the pre-season for the Browns as he completed 29 of 45 passes (64.4%) for 300 yards with 3 TDs and 1 INT (96.5 QB Rating) but the Browns want to take it a little slow with the rookie from Notre Dame.  Derek Anderson made the team but it’s unclear as to who is the #2 QB on the Browns.  Anderson did not play well in the pre-season as he completed 26 of 42 passes (61.9%) for 268 yards with 0 TD passes and 1 interception (70.3 QB Rating).

The Cleveland Browns have signed 4 players to the practice squad.  Running back Chris Barclay was likely the last player the Browns cut as they seriously considered keeping him on the opening day roster.  They were fortunate to sign him on to the practice squad after how well he performed in the pre-season.  He carried the football 11 times for 47 yards (4.3 ypc) and he also caught 4 passes for 46 yards (11.5 avg).  Barclay did his most damage returning kicks as he returned 5 kickoffs for 185 yards (37.0 avg) including a game-winning 88 yard TD scamper against the Kansas City Chiefs.  The Browns also re-signed three of their draft picks.  WR/KR Syndric Steptoe played pretty well but he was beaten out for the punt return job by Joshua Cribbs.  Steptoe caught 3 passes for 43 yards (14.3 avg) and he returned 6 punts for 47 yards (7.8 avg) and 2 kickoffs for 47 yards (23.5 avg).  DEs Melila Purcell (10 tackles, 1 sack) and Chase Pittman (2 tackles, 1 fumble recovery) both have signed on to practice with the Browns.

The Browns have placed special teams hero Mason Unck on the Injured Reserve List ending his season.  Unck has played in 44 games for the Cleveland Browns and he has made 41 tackles.  The Browns will try to find a player to replace Unck who played on all of the Browns’ special teams.  He often would rile the Dawg Pound up before kickoffs and he will be missed.

Ryan Krause played well in the pre-season for the Browns as he caught 10 passes for 87 yards (8.7 avg) but he was caught in a numbers game at TE.  He was beaten out for a roster spot by third-teamer Darnell Dinkins who caught only 5 passes for 39 yards (7.8 avg).  The tiebreaker was the fact that Dinkins is a solid special teams player.

The Cleveland Browns have released Ken Dorsey despite him being the 2nd best QB on the roster during the pre-season.  Dorsey completed 13 of 18 passes (72.2%) for 120 yards with 0 TDs and 0 INTs (90.0 QB Rating).  Many thought that Dorsey would make the team based on his relationship with rookie Brady Quinn but that was not the case as the Browns like Charlie Fyre and Derek Anderson better than him.