The matchups in this game certainly don’t favor the Cleveland Browns but the Bears showed some cracks in the defense last week.  But the Browns are only averaging 225.4 yards per game on offense and 10.3 points per game so they likely don’t have the weapons to exploit the weaknesses that the Bears do have.  I have a feeling that the Browns are going to unleash the Wildcat Formation a lot this week against the Bears.  Josh Cribbs will be working from the shotgun ala Walter Payton when all three of the QBs of the Bears were hurt.  Just like Payton, look for Cribbs to take off running the ball a lot in this game as he and Jamal Lewis will likely be the focal point of the offense against a Bears’ D that is allowing 109.5 yards rushing per game and 4.0 yards per carry. 

The Chicago Bears would likely be smart to come out throwing the ball against the Browns to attempt to get the Browns out of their gameplan on offense.  If the Bears get a early led through the passing game then they can grind this game out on the ground with Matt Forte.  The Browns are allowing 170.6 yards rushing per game and 4.9 yards per carry so Forte should have by far his best game of the year just like Ryan Grant of the Packers did last week.  The Bears will also likely kick the ball away from Josh Cribbs who is the best player on the Browns.

PREDICTION:  BEARS 30, BROWNS 13

Teams have been foolish so far this season as they have challenged Josh Cribbs a lot and they have paid for it.  Cribbs has returned 25 kickoffs for 723 yards (28.9 avg) with a TD return this season and he has also returned 18 punts for 295 yards (16.4 avg) with a TD.  The Browns have only scored 72 points this season and 14 of them were scored by Cribbs so maybe opposing teams should be more careful with him back to return kicks and punts.  Not to mention that Cribbs has set up a lot of short fields for the offense to work on.  Kicker Billy Cundiff has done a excellent job in filling in for Phil Dawson who has been injured.  Cundiff has made all six of his field goal attempts and he has converted all four extra points this year for 22 points.  But, punter Dave Zastudil is probably the 2nd best player on the Browns (behind Cribbs) and that really says something about the quality of the roster.  He has punted the ball 43 times for 1,916 yards (44.6 avg) this season.  Zastudil has 5 touchbacks this season (11.6%) and he has pinned the opposition inside their 20-yard line 25 times this season for an alarming 58.1%!  Zastudil and Cribbs should be representing the Browns in the Pro Bowl this season if they stay healthy and continue to play at their current level.

32-year old inside linebacker Eric Barton was one of Eric Mangini’s guys from the Jets that he brought over.  He has played in all 7 games for the Browns this season and he has 56 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and he has defensed 2 passes.  Barton will probably lead the Browns in tackles this season as long as he stays healthy with D’Qwell Jackson out for the season.  Barton is one of only a couple of sure tacklers for the Browns but the D-Line doesn’t keep him too clean causing him problems.

The Browns scored first in this game and that seemed to piss off the Packers who destroyed them the rest of the way.  Derek Anderson was terrible again completing 12 of 29 passes for 99 yards with 0 TD passes and 1 INT.  The Packers ganged up on Jamal Lewis in this game as he rushed for 47 yards on 15 carries (3.1 ypc).  Jerome Harrison didn’t get much action in this game as he carried the ball 3 times for 7 yards (2.3 ypc).  He also caught 4 passes for 23 yards (5.8 avg) in this game.  TE Michael Gaines added 2 catches for 30 yards in his first game with the Cleveland Browns.  The Browns finished up with only 139 total yards on offense (58 rushing, 81 passing) in this game as they only had possession of the football for 24:06!

DE Robaire Smith probably had his best game ever for the Browns with 12 tackles including 1 tackle for a loss.  LB David Bowens pitched in with 8 tackles for the Browns yesterday.  The Packers finished up with 460 total yards on offense (202 rushing, 258 passing) in this game.  The Browns are now 1-6 on the season after this pathetic performance.

23-year old Clay Matthews wanted the Browns to draft him in the first round last April so that he could wear his dad’s old number that he wore 16 years for the them.  But, the Browns passed on him twice in the NFL Draft so he will be determined on Sunday to prove that the Browns made a big mistake.  Matthews has played in 5 games for the Packers this season and he has 12 tackles, 3 sacks, 3 tackles for a loss, 1 forced fumble and he has defensed 3 passes.  He has also scored a TD on defense this season.  No doubt he would have looked good wearing the orange and brown with the #57 on his back.

Clay Matthews #1 played 16 years for the Cleveland Browns at outside linebacker.  He played in 232 games (216 starts) in which he amassed 1,430 tackles, 62 sacks, 14 interceptions (1 TD return), 24 forced fumbles and he has recovered 14 fumbles (one he returned for a TD).  I hope that Clay Matthews Sr. gets introduced at the game on Sunday and it would be classy of the Browns’ fans to give one of their old heroes a standing ovation.

The Green Bay Packers (3-2) travel to Cleveland to play the Browns (1-5) on Sunday.  The Packers really need this game so they won’t be looking past the Browns.  This is the game that the Packers will likely try to get Ryan Grant going on the ground against a Browns’ D that is allowing 165.3 yards rushing and 4.9 yards per carry.  That doesn’t mean that the Packers won’t come after  the Browns with Aaron Rodgers and his fantastic receivers.  After all, the Browns are also allowing 242.0 yards passing per game this season.  The Browns will likely be blitzing often in this game with Kamerion Wimbley (4 sacks) being the most likely player to meet up with Aaron Rodgers in the backfield.

The Packers also have a underrated defense which is only allowing 298.0 yards per game of total offense.  The best chance for the Browns to make a game of it on Sunday is to give the ball to Jamal Lewis and Jerome Harrison a combined 40 times.  That won’t be easy though as the Packers are allowing 105.4 yards rushing per game but only 3.6 yards per carry.  Derek Anderson will likely be under some fire from the Packers’ pass rush in this game and he better beware of OLB Clay Matthews (3 sacks) who is playing where his dad did as a star for the Browns.  The Packers have two outstanding corners and the Browns would be wise not to attack them much down the field. 

PREDICTION:  PACKERS 31, BROWNS 13

I have only seen evidence that three players on the Browns will likely catch the ball when they throw it to them.  Mike Furrey, rookie Brian Robiskie and TE Steve Heiden appear to have good hands and that’s about it on the Browns.  Furrey should be used more as he is the #3 WR on the Browns.  He has caught 13 passes for 107 yards (8.2 avg) so far this season.  Rookie 2nd round pick Brian Robiskie was known for his hands in college but he didn’t make his first catch of the season until last week in Pittsburgh and it was good for 23 yards.  TE Steve Heiden’s knees are banged up right now but he almost never has a football bounce out of his hands.  He has caught 8 passes for 54 yards (6.8 avg) with 1 TD grab this season.  The Browns just can’t afford to keep throwing the ball to guys that can’t catch.

The Browns have signed 29-year old TE Michael Gaines.  Gaines played in 1 game for the Bears this season but he didn’t catch any passes.  Gaines has now played in 74 games (41 starts) in his six years in the NFL and he has caught 79 passes for 810 yards (10.3 avg) with 5 TD grabs.  At 6’2″, 267 pounds Gaines is more of a run blocker than a receiver so don’t expect miracles out of him.

The Browns have lost starting inside linebacker D’Qwell Jackson for the rest of the season due to a serious shoulder injury.  This is a huge blow for a Browns’ D that already stinks.  Jackson played in all six games for the Browns this season and he had 59 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 1 forced fumble and 2 passes defensed.  In four years with the Browns, Jackson has played in 49 games in which he has made 407 tackles, has defensed 11 passes, 3 sacks, 1 forced fumble and he had 4 interceptions.  The Browns will likely replace Jackson with rookie Kaluka Maiava or Jason Trusnik.  Maiava was a 4th round pick in last April’s NFL Draft out of USC.  He has played in all six games for the Browns this season and he has 10 tackles and 2 forced fumbles.  The thing that worries the Browns the most about using Maiava full time is his size as he is 6’0″, 229 pounds.  25-year old Jason Trusnik came over from the Jets in the Braylon Edwards trade.  Trusnik has played in 2 games for the Browns since coming over from the Jets and he has 7 tackles, 1 sack and 1 tackle for a loss.  Trusnik offers more size at 6’4″, 250 pounds but he has been nothing more than a special teams player to this point in his career.  Losing Jackson was a major blow to the defense of the Cleveland Browns.

UPDATE:  Jackson actually has torn pectoral muscles in addition to a bum shoulder.

The Browns actually played hard in this game but they were just overmatched personnel wise by the Steelers.  Derek Anderson was awful as usual completing 9 of 24 passes for 122 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 interception.  He also lost two fumbles in this game as he was just plain putrid.  The Browns ran the WildCat formation a lot in this game and it worked some.  Josh Cribbs was the leading rusher for the Browns in this game with 45 yards on only 6 carries (7.5 ypc).  He also threw 2 passes completing 0 with a drive killing interception in the first half of the game deep in Steelers’ territory.  Jerome Harrison should have gotten the ball a few more times as he had 26 yards rushing on 5 carries (5.2 ypc).  Jamal Lewis had a rough time in this game with only 21 yards on 11 carries (1.9 ypc).  He also caught 2 passes for 15 yards.  Fullback Lawrence Vickers didn’t get any carries in this game but he did catch a 1-yard TD pass from Derek Anderson.  Rookie WR Mohamed Massaquoi led the Browns again in the passing game with 83 yards on 5 catches (16.6 avg).  The Browns only could muster 197 total yards on offense in this game (91 rushing, 106 passing) as they only had possession of the ball for 23:14!

The Browns’ D forced 4 turnovers in this game which allowed to keep the Browns in firing distance in this game.  They also stopped the Steelers on a 4th and 1 right before the half in which the refs somehow gave Steelers a first down resulting in a field goal to put the Browns behind 17-7 and that changed the way the rest of the game was played.  Linebacker Eric Barton led the way for the Browns in this game with 12 tackles.  Safety Abram Elam was also effective in this game at least against the run as he finished up with 9 tackles and a fumble recovery.  OLB/DE David Bowens was also busy in this game as he finished with 7 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 passs defensed, a QB sack and a QB hit.  The Steelers finished up with 543 total yards in this game (140 rushing, 403 passing) as they had the ball for 36:46!

The one area the Browns had a huge edge in as usual was special teams.  Josh Cribbs returned 3 kickoffs for 132 yards (44.0 avg) including a 98-yard return for a TD.  He also returned 1 punt for 26 yards.  The Steelers then decided to quit kicking to him which was smart on their part.

The Browns are now 1-5 on the season as they appear to be in the hunt for the first pick in the NFL Draft next April.  But, that was not the goal when the season started.