The Browns have claimed 27-year old linebacker Arnold Harrison off waivers from the Steelers and WR Jake Allen from the Packers.  Both players will have a chance to contribute on special teams and Allen might get a chance to go out for a couple of passes the rest of the year.  Harrison played in 8 games for the Steelers this season and he had 7 tackles.  In 3 years in the NFL, Harrison has played in 28 games in which he has 30 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 2 forced fumbles.  Allen has yet to play in a regular game during the NFL season.  Don’t expect miracles out of either of these guys as their was a reason they both got cut by better teams than the Browns.

I was not too happy when I learned of the signing of 30-year old TE Robert Royal last summer.  He has never been a good pass catcher which is what the Browns need at that position.  Still, he has been pathetic this season and he needs to start catching the football when it hits him in his hands.  He has played in 7 games for the Browns this season and he has caught a whopping 9 passes for 100 yards (11.1 avg) with a TD.  I would have no problem with the Browns ripping up his contract at the end of this season unless he has a huge second half.

The Cleveland Browns have placed 33-year old TE Steve Heiden on the Injured Reserve List ending his season with a ankle injury.  Heiden played in 7 games for the Browns this season and he caught 10 passes for 73 yards (7.3 avg) with 1 TD grab.  This hurts the Browns a little bit as Heiden was one of the few players on the team that actually can catch the football when it’s thrown to him.  This injury could end Heiden’s time in Cleveland.  If it does he has been a decent player for the Browns.  He has played 8 years now for the Browns appearing in 106 games in which he has caught 187 passes for 1,602 yards (8.6 avg) with 12 TD grabs. 

Undrafted rookie running back Chris Jennings has somehow passed up Jerome Harrison on the depth chart.  He has played in 2 games for the Browns this season and he has 8 carries for 26 yards (3.3 ypc) and he has also caught 2 passes for 12 yards (6.0 avg).  This is a puzzling move for the Browns as Harrison has the speed to make big plays and it’s not like the team has a lot of that.  Harrison has played in 8 games for the Browns this season and he has carried the ball 69 times for 254 yards (3.7 ypc).  He has also caught 18 passes for 111 yards (6.2 avg) so far this year.  With the Browns looking at their younger players maybe it’s Jamal Lewis who should start losing carries instead of Harrison.

With the Browns down 16-0 with just seconds left in the game Brady Quinn threw a short pass to Joshua Cribbs in which he caught.  He then pitched the ball just before he was hit hard right around the head area causing him to spend last night in the hospital with a concussion.  He will likely miss at least 1 week and he is the player the Browns could least afford to lose.  Cribbs has played in all 9 games for the Browns this season and he has carried the ball 25 times for 164 yards (6.6 ypc).  He has also caught 12 passes for 71 yards (5.9 avg) for the Browns.  They will miss him most on special teams however as he has returned 34 kickoffs for 923 yards (27.1 avg) with 1 TD return and 23 punts for 313 yards (13.6 avg) with 1 TD return.  Cribbs also is great as a gunner on the special teams as he has 5 tackles this season.  It could take as many as five players to replace what Cribbs does for the Browns so they need him to get well soon.

UPDATE:  Cribbs left the hospital on Tuesday Morning and it’s quite possible that he could play this week as doctors said he didn’t have a concussion.

The Browns played hard on defense last night as they only gave up 9 of the points (Brady Quinn gave up the other 7 with a pick six).  OLB David Bowens had by far his best game of the season for the Browns last night as he actually looked like a good football player.  He had 9 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 tackles for a loss and he had 2 QB hits last night.  Rookie inside linebacker Kaluka Maiava also had a solid game for the Browns with 8 tackles against the Ravens.  The Ravens finished up with 274 total yards on offense (134 rushing, 140 passing) last night so the defense did their part.

The offense was pathetic again last night.  Brady Quinn got the start at QB and he was awful last night completing 13 of 31 passes for 99 yards with 0 TD passes and 2 INTs (1 of his INTs was returned 48 yards for a TD by Ravens’ safety Dawan Landry).  He often looked very scared in the pocket and that’s not the way to play in the NFL, period!  Jamal Lewis carried the ball 10 times for 36 yards (3.6 ypc) and he also caught 1 pass for 5 yards.  Joshua Cribbs pitched in with 34 yards rushing on 6 carries (5.7 ypc) and he also caught 1 pass for 10 yards last night.  He was injured on his catch which was on the last play of the game.  If Cribbs is seriously injured and misses a lot of playing time the Browns will really have a hard time winning another game this year.  Chris Jennings moved ahead of Jerome Harrison on the depth chart and he carried the ball 7 times for 18 yards (2.6 ypc) and he also caught 1 pass for 10 yards.  Mike Furrey was the leading receiver for the Browns with 6 catches for 30 yards (5.0 avg) last night.  Rookie Mohamed Massaquoi only caught 1 pass but it went for 30 yards last night.  The Browns finished up with 160 total yards on offense (86 rushing, 74 passing) last night.  The Browns are now 1-8 on the year.

The Browns have signed 27-year old punter Reggie Hodges.  Hodges played in 4 games earlier this season for the Titans in which he punted the ball 22 times for 868 yards (39.5 avg).  He placed the ball inside the opposing 20 yard line only 1 time (4.5%) so far this season and he has 2 touchbacks (9.1%).  Hodges has now played in 24 games in his 4-year NFL career and he has punted the ball 107 times for 4,287 yards (40.1 avg) with 9 touchbacks (8.4%) and he has pinned the opposition inside their 20-yard line 24 times (22.4%).  Hodges will be a huge dropoff for the Browns as Dave Zastudil will miss at least one game with a right knee injury.  He has played in 8 games for the Browns this season and he has punted the ball 49 times for 2,188 yards (44.7 avg).  Zastudil has only 5 touchbacks this season (10.2%) and he has pinned the opposition inside their 20-yard line 25 times this year (51%).  The Browns better hope this injury is not serious as Zastudil is one of the best players on the team.

UPDATE:  The Browns have placed Dave Zastudil on the Injured Reserve List with his knee injury which was way more severe than anyone led on.  That means that Reggie Hodges will be the punter for the Browns the rest of the year.  This injury really hurts the team as Zastudil was probably the second most productive player on the Browns outside of Joshua Cribbs.

The Browns have signed 32-year old linebacker Josh Stamer.  Stamer played in 16 games for the Titans last season and he made 10 tackles.  He has now played in 86 games in his six year NFL career and he has made 75 tackles, defensed 3 passes and he has 1 interception.  With a lot of the special teams players being forced to play defense Stamer will likely replace them on special teams for the most part.

The Ravens pounded the Browns 34-3 week #3 of the NFL season but they have been 1-4 since then.  The Ravens have a tough schedule the rest of the season so this game is a “must win” situation for them if they want to make a playoff run.  The good news here for the Ravens’ offense is that they should be able to do whatever they want against the Browns.  The Browns are allowing 170.5 yards rushing per game and 4.9 yards per carry.  Ray Rice will likely have a huge game against the Browns who have lost their top two inside linebackers to injury.  Willis McGahee will also likely get in on the fun late in this game for the Ravens.  Joe Flacco has slumped as of late but he will likely rebound against a Browns’ pass D that is allowing 238.6 yards per game through the air.

The Browns are turning back to Brady Quinn at QB in this game and that is a good thing.  If the Browns were smart they would come out throwing the ball on Monday Night against a Ravens’ D that is allowing 225.8 yards passing per game.  For that to work though the Browns’ receivers have to catch the football which they have not been doing to well this season to date.  Mohamed Massaquoi and Jerome Harrison will likely be the main weapons in the passing game for the Browns on Monday Night.  Also look for Josh Cribbs to run the Wildcat Formation a lot in this game for the Browns.  Jamal Lewis will be starting the last game of his career against his old team so he should be motivated to get into some high impact collisions with his old pal Ray Lewis of the Ravens.

PREDICTION:  RAVENS 35, BROWNS 13

The Browns received three veteran players from the Jets as part of the return for the 5th pick in the NFL Draft which the Jets used to pick Mark Sanchez.  Those players have not played very well for the Browns this season.  Safety Abram Elam has been the most productive player the Browns got in that trade.  He has played in all 8 games for the Browns this year and he has 52 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss and 1 sack.  The 28-year old does have a good shot to lead the Browns in tackles this season due to the injuries to D’Qwell Jackson and Eric Barton.  30-year old DE Kenyon Coleman has also played in all 8 games for the Browns this season and he has 25 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1.5 sacks and he has defensed two passes.  That is poor production for a starter in the NFL at DE.  QB Brett Ratilff has not got near the field of play for the Browns this season despite the struggles of Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn which shows what kind of faith the team has in him.