With Shaun Rogers out of action for the rest of the season it will be up to 23-year old Ahtyba Rubin to replace him.  He is a big guy at 6’2″, 330 pounds but he hasn’t shown much to this point in his career.  Rubin has played in 11 games this season for the Browns and he has 24 tackles and 1 forced fumble.  He has now played in 22 games in his NFL career and he has 35 tackles and he has forced 1 fumble.  Rogers’ injury does not bode well for the Browns’ D.

30-year old starting NT Shaun Rogers will miss the remainder of the season for the Cleveland Browns with either a ankle or Achilles tendon injury.  He played in all 11 games for the Browns this season and he made 36 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 2 sacks and 1 pass defensed.  Rogers has also blocked some kicks this season for the Brownies helping them out on special teams.  In two years with the Browns, Rogers has played in 27 games in which he has 112 tackles, 6.5 sacks and 5 passes defensed.  This will hurt the Browns big time as Rogers is without a doubt the best player on the defense.

UPDATE:  Shaun Rogers’ injury is a broken leg.

The Browns were simply awful on offense yesterday and it really hurt them as the defense did not play that bad.  Brady Quinn completed only 15 of 34 passes for 100 yards yesterday.  He did carry the ball 2 times for 10 yards with a TD run and he also caught 1 pass for 18 yards.  The Bengals made a concerted effort to stop Joshua Cribbs and they certainly achieved that goal.   He completed his only pass attempt (for 18 yards) on a nice pass to Brady Quinn but that was about it out of him yesterday.  He carried the ball 1 time for 0 yards and he caught 3 passes for 7 yards (2.3 avg).  The Bengals kicked away from him all game as he returned 2 kickoffs for 38 yards and he did not get to return a punt yesterday.  Jamal Lewis get some tough yards as he carried the ball 11 times for 40 yards (3.6 ypc).  Chansi Stuckey had another semi-decent game yesterday with 4 catches for 44 yards (11.0 avg).  The Browns finished up with a pathetic 169 total yards on offense (58 rushing, 111 passing) in the game yesterday as they only had possession of the ball for 21:49!

The defense was in bend but don’t break mode as they played o.k. yesterday.  CB/S Mike Adams (10 tackles) and OLB Jason Trusnik (10 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss) had solid games to lead the way for the Browns yesterday.  OLB/DE Matt Roth had a outstanding first game for the Browns against the Bengals with 7 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack and 1 QB hit.  The Bengals finished up with 306 total yards on offense (210 rushing, 96 passing) yesterday.  The Browns are now a woeful 1-10 on the season.

Anyone who saw the Browns game last week has to be a little bit excited about the play of Brady Quinn.  Sure, you can say it was just against the Lions but that doesn’t change the fact that he completed 21 of 33 passes for 304 yards with 4 TD passes and 0 INTs (133.1 QB Rating).  He has now played in 6 games this season for the Browns and he has completed 80 of 141 passes (56.7%) for 812 yards with 5 TD passes and 5 INTs (70.4 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 11 times for 39 yards (3.5 ypc) so far this year.  Quinn proved last week that if given time he can be effective throwing the football.  He has now played in 10 games in his NFL career and he has completed 128 of 238 passes (53.8%) for 1,375 yards with 7 TD passes and 7 INTs (68.5 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 16 times for 60 yards (3.8 ypc) in his career.  The Browns hope that last week was the beginning of a long, productive career for Brady Quinn but only time will tell.  After all, he’s not playing the Lions this week.

The Lions proved yesterday that their offensive explosion last week was a mirage.  The Browns hope that last week wasn’t a mirage offensively and that Brady Quinn can build off his outstanding effort.  The Bengals represent a bigger challenge for the Browns’ offense as they have a ballhawking secondary as CBs Jonathan Joseph and Leon Hall have 12 interceptions between them.  With that being said the Browns had their second best offensive game of the year against the Bengals in the first matchup between these teams earlier this year.  The Browns should fight fire with fire and let Quinn continue to throw the ball downfield in this game.  The Bengals don’t have a great pass rush so Quinn should have time to throw the ball so they should let er rip.  Mohamed Massaquoi can not afford to drop anything that hits his hands if the Browns are going to have any hope of an upset this weekend because he is the teams’ lone deep threat.  Chansi Stuckey had his best game of the year last week and the Browns need him to keep up the good work against the Bengals on Sunday.  Joshua Cribbs will be the X-factor for the Browns in this game as he is averaging 6.2 yards per carry running the Wildcat Formation for the Browns and he also is a severe threat out of the backfield in the passing game for the Browns.  The Bengals had also better be careful and not kick the ball to often to Cribbs who can make them pay dearly for that decision.  Jamal Lewis will likely still get the bulk of the work in the running game for the Browns this week.  But, Chris Jennings is starting to catch the eye of the Browns coaching staff as of late.  Still, the Bengals will likely be glad if they don’t see much of Jerome Harrison who torched them in the first meeting between these two teams earlier this season who is currently in Eric Mangini’s Dog House.

The Bengals can’t afford to just run the ball this week as they did against the Raiders last week and why would they?  Carson Palmer loves playing the Browns as he has 22 career TD passes against them in only 9 games.  The Browns are allowing 247.1 yards passing per game this season and QBs have a 93.7 Rating against them so look for Palmer to attack them through the air  early and often in this game.  Chad Ocho Cinco could be in line for a huge game against the Brownies this week.  Cedric Benson is iffy for this game with a hip problem.  If he can’t go look for rookie Bernard Scott to pick up the slack against a Browns’ D that is allowing 154.9 yards rushing and 4.6 yards per carry this year.  Brian Leonard and Larry Johnson could also get in on the fun.  Still, this is the Battle of Ohio and the Browns will probably bring their best effort into the Jungle.

PREDICTION:  BENGALS 30, BROWNS 20

The Cleveland Browns have claimed 27-year old OLB/DE Matt Roth off waivers from the Dolphins.  Roth played in 4 games this season for the Dolphins and he made 4 tackles.  But, he has been a solid player over his career so this was a outstanding move by the Browns.  Roth has played in 65 games in his 5 years in the NFL and he has made 158 tackles, defensed 5 passes, has 12.5 sacks and he has forced 6 fumbles.  Roth will probably get playing time right away for the Browns who need all the help they can get on defense.

This was a exciting football game but it ended in shocking fashion for the poor Cleveland Browns.  The Browns appeared to intercept a Hail Mary pass by Lions’ QB Matt Stafford on the last play of the game.  But, pass interference was called on Browns’ CB Hank Poteat giving the Lions a untimed play.  On that untimed played Matt Stafford hit fellow rookie Brandon Pettigrew for a 1-yard TD pass.  The Lions then kicked the extra point putting the Browns away once again.

That shocking end ruined a great effort on offense by the Cleveland Browns.  It all started with Brady Quinn who was awesome today completing 21 of 33 passes for 304 yards with 4 TD passes and 0 INTs.  He also carried the ball 2 times for 4 yards on QB sneaks right behind the center for first downs.  Quinn was fantastic today as he looked calm in the pocket and delivered perfect pass after perfect pass.  Jamal Lewis got his work in today with 24 carries for 75 yards (3.1 ypc).  Chris Jennings was also a busy body carrying the ball 10 times for 36 yards (3.6 ypc) and he also caught 5 passes for 38 yards (7.6 avg).  Joshua Cribbs pitched in with 4 carries for 16 yards and he also caught 2 passes for 39 yards (19.5 avg) with a TD grab.  Mohamed Massaquoi dropped some easy passes but he also caught 5 for 115 yards (23.0 avg) with a TD.  Chansi Stuckey finally showed up for the Browns in this game catching 5 passes for 76 yards (15.2 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Huge TE Michael Gaines caught 2 passes for only 5 yards but one of his grabs went for a TD that put the Browns ahead in this game in the 4th quarter.  The Browns finished up with 439 totaly yards on offense (131 rushing, 308 passing) as they had possession of the football for 34:46 in this game.

The defense tightened up against the run today but they still made rookie QB Matt Stafford look like John Elway today.  Stafford set a all-time NFL record for rookie QBs by tossing 5 TD passes today.  Abram Elam led the way for the Browns with 7 tackles today.  LB David Bowens had another decent game for the Browns with 6 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack and 1 QB hit.  The Lions finished up with 473 total yards on offense (57 rushing, 416 passing) today.  The Browns are now a pathetic 1-9 on the season.

32-year old WR Mike Furrey might not be a game breaking WR for the Browns but at least he catches the ball if it hits his hands.  Furrey has played in all 9 games for the Browns this season and he has caught 21 passes (leads team) for 151 yards (7.2 avg) with 0 TDs.  He has also returned 1 kickoff for 12 yards, has 4 tackles and he has defensed 1 pass.  Furrey is not a threat to stretch the defense but he has good hands and runs solid routes so Brady Quinn should be looking for him a lot the rest of the year.  Furrey has now played in 87 games in his NFL career and he has caught 219 passes for 2,279 yards (10.4 avg) with 7 TD grabs.  He has also returned 23 punts for 213 yards (9.3 avg) and 21 kickoffs for 387 yards (18.4 avg) in his career.  Furrey can also play some safety if the Browns need him to.  He has 78 tackles, 9 passes defensed and 4 INTs (1 returned for a TD) in his career.

This is a game for diehards only as it will be blacked out in Detroit.  Something will have to give in this game as the Browns are allowing 394.1 yards per game while the Lions are not much better giving up 386.2 yards per game.  Could this be the game that the Browns actually allow Brady Quinn to throw the ball downfield?  Opposing QBs have a 107.8 QB Rating against the Lions’ D so it appears that the Browns might be throwing more than usual despite not having a lot of weapons on offense.  Ex-Lion Mike Furrey is leading the Browns in receptions this season with 21 but he is only averaging 7.2 yards per catch.  Still, look for him to be somewhat inspired playing against his old team.  This could also be the game that the Browns really turn rookie WR Mohamed Massaquoi loose and he has speed to burn.  Joshua Cribbs is going to play on Sunday and I imagine that the Browns will use the Wildcat Formation a lot against the Lions to get the ball into their best player’s hands which could be bad news for the Lions who are allowing 114.6 yards rushing and 4.7 yards per carry this year.  Jamal Lewis will also likely get his share of carries on Sunday for the Browns.

The Lions will probably try to be more balanced than usual due to the Browns’ lack of a run defense.  For the Lions to be effective running the ball they must be able to handle ex-Lion Shaun Rogers of the Browns and that won’t be easy.  Kevin Smith has probably been antsy for a matchup like this one as the Browns allow 166.4 yards rushing and 4.7 yards per carry.  He should have a solid game for the Lions on Sunday.  The Browns don’t blitz a lot so rookie QB Matt Stafford will have time to throw the ball.  He will be looking a lot for Calvin Johnson this week as they need to start getting on the same page.  Dennis Northcutt will also be plenty motivated against his old team.  Rookie TE Brandon Pettigrew could also have a big game as the Browns are having issues dealing with the TE in the passing game.

PREDICTION:  LIONS 27, BROWNS 17

26-year old outside linebacker Kamerion Wimbley is the only good pass rusher the Browns have so they should let him loose.  He can defend the run on the way to the QB in my opinion.  Wimbley has played in 8 games for the Browns this season and he has 44 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 pass defensed and 5 sacks.  With the trouble the Browns are having at CB they should be blitzing way more often to rattle the opposing QB.  Wimbley has now played in 56 games in his 4-year career with the Browns and he has made 223 tackles, defensed 4 passes, has 1 interception, 6 forced fumbles and he has 25 sacks.  Wimbley will meet up with Lions’ QB Matt Stafford a lot this Sunday if the Browns take the shackles off of him.