The Cleveland Browns have extended 27-year old OLB Chris Gocong’s contract for three more years worth $16.8 million bucks.  Gocong has played in all 3 games for the Browns so far this year and he has 9 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and 1 pass defensed.  He has now played in 19 games in his first two years with the Browns and he has 84 tackles, 5 tackles for a loss, 2.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery and 4 passes defensed.  It was smart of the Browns to lock up Gocong as he has played well for them so far in his career.

The Cleveland Browns have not played too well on offense but the defense has really improved so far this year.  The Browns are going for a three game winning streak, but it won’t be easy this week against the Titans who have also won two games in a row.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Browns have the ball:  The Browns are going to have Peyton Hillis back this weekend and he is going to share the load with Montario Hardesty.  They are going to pound the ball at the middle of the Titans’ defense a lot in this game.  The Titans are only giving up 89.0 yards rushing per game and 3.1 yards per carry, so Hillis and Hardesty are going to have their work cut out for them this weekend.  Colt McCoy should have time to throw the ball this Sunday, but he will need to be careful with the football as the Titans have 4 interceptions this year while holding opposing QBs to a 66.8 QB Rating.  That being said, look for McCoy to continue to have his confidence swell as he wants to make big plays down the field to his WRs (Mohamed Massaquoi and Josh Cribbs).  Peyton Hillis, Ben Watson and Earl Little will get a lot of looks on the shorter stuff this Sunday.

When the Titans have the ball:  The Titans are going to try to get Chris Johnson going this weekend.  He is only averaging 2.1 yards per carry, but he is still a very dangerous back due to his wide array of moves and his speed.  The Browns need to get a good pass rush on Matt Hasselbeck, as he has only been sacked 4 times this year, while the Browns have 11 sacks.  The pass rush has helped the secondary as they have not had to hold coverage as long.  CB Joe Haden will likely be locked up with Nate Washington of the Titans, and that is a good thing.  It will force Hasselbeck to aim for guys he hasn’t used much in the passing game so far this year.

PREDICTION:  TITANS 20, BROWNS 17

23-year old rookie Phil Taylor and 25-year old Ahtyba Rubin are giving the Browns outstanding production in the middle of the field.  The DTs combine to weigh 665 pounds and they are very hard for an offensive line to get much push against, even if the double team them.  Taylor has played in 3 games so far for the Browns and he has 18 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 1 sack and 1 pass defensed.  Rubin has played in all three games for the Browns so far and he has 16 tackles and 2.5 sacks.  Opposing teams are having to run the ball wide because they aren’t going to get much up the middle.  Taylor and Rubin have been collapsing the pocket from the inside, which is causing QBs to panic.

The defense played outstanding football most of the game yesterday for the Browns, while the offense didn’t really wake up until their last drive of the game when Colt McCoy hit Mohamed Massaquoi with a beautiful 14-yard TD pass in the corner of the end zone to give the Browns a 17-16 lead with only 43 seconds left in the game.  The defense then made that lead stand up.  Colt McCoy completed 19 of 39 passes for 210 yards with 2 TD passes and 1 INT in this game.  Montario Hardesty got the start at RB as Peyton Hillis missed this game with strep throat.  He carried the ball 14 times for 67 yards (4.8 ypc) and he also caught 3 passes for 19 yards (6.3 avg).  TE Ben Watson led the way in the passing game for the Browns yesterday with 5 grabs for 64 yards (12.8 avg).  WRs Josh Cribbs (3 rec, 49 yards, TD), Mohamed Massquoi (2 rec, 26 yards, TD) and Greg Little (3 rec, 24 yards) also had solid games for the Fins yesterday.  The Browns rushed for 70 yards on 19 carries (3.7 ypc) and they also completed 19 of 39 passes (48.7%) for 210 yards as they had possession of the ball for 22:09.

The defense played excellent football for the Browns yesterday, especially up front.  LB D’Qwell Jackson led the way for the Browns’ D once again with 11 tackles, 1/2 a sack, 1 QB hit and a fumble recovery.  DTs Ahtyba Rubin (9 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1.5 sacks and 2 QB hits) and Phil Taylor (7 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack and 1 QB hit) really helped the Browns control the middle of the field.  DE Jayme Mitchell also had a big game for the Browns yesterday with 4 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 pass defensed and 2 QB hits.  Safety Michael Adams intercepted the last pass that Dolphins’ QB Chad Henne threw yesteday, which sealed the Browns’ victory.  The Dolphins rushed for 138 yards on 38 carries (3.6 ypc) and they also completed 19 of 29 passes (65.5%) for 231 yards.  The Browns are now a surprising 2-1 to start the 2011 season.

The Cleveland Browns return home with the idea of keeping  things going in the right direction.  They beat the Colts in all three facets of the game last weekend in beating the Colts 27-19 on the road.  The Dolphins are a 0-2 team that has played two of the better teams in the AFC in the first two weeks.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Browns have the ball:  The Dolphins are giving up 483.5 yards per game (122 rushing, 361.5 passing) so far this year, so the Browns will probably try to mix things up this Sunday offensively.  The will probably come out trying to establish the running game with Peyton Hillis against the front seven of the Fins.  TEs have been very effective against the safeties of the Dolphins, so look for Ben Watson, Evan Moore and Alex Smith to be heavily involved in the passing game.  Colt McCoy’s confidence in Mohamed Massaquoi, Greg Little and Josh Cribbs is growing, so look for him to have them more involved in the passing game this weekend.  The offensive line is going to have to keep OLBs Jason Taylor and Cameron Wake out of the backfield to give McCoy time to throw the ball.

When the Dolphins have the ball:  The Dolphins are going to try to stay balanced offensively against the Browns.  The front seven will have to stop Daniel Thomas, who is a pretty physical running back.  RB Reggie Bush will probably get some looks on sweeps and out of the backfield on passes, so OLBs Chris Gocong and Scott Fujita to try to corral him.  CBs Joe Haden, Sheldon Brown and Dimitri Patterson are going to have their hands full with WRs Brandon Marshall, Brian Hartline and Davone Bess.  The Browns’ safeties will also have to be wary of TE Anthony Fasano who played really well for the Fins in the season opener against the Patriots.  The Browns hope to get a good pass rush against the Dolphins this Sunday as Chad Henne can be forced into big mistakes when he has to hurry.

PREDICTION:  BROWNS 21, DOLPHINS 20

27-year old middle linebacker D’Qwell Jackson has been a tackling machine for the Browns so far this year.  In his first two games for he Browns in 2011, Jackson has 19 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble and 1 pass defensed.  He has now played in 51 games in his first six years with the Browns and he has 426 tackles, 8 tackles for a loss, 5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery, 12 passes defensed and 4 interceptions.  Jackson has benefitted big time from having big DTs Ahtyba Rubin and Phil Taylor taking up blockers in front of him which allows him to chase down RBs and QBs, making plays from sideline to sideline.

28-year old KR/PR/WR Josh Cribbs was very outspoken against the new rule in the NFL having teams kickoff from the 35-yard line.  He then vowed to return every kick that wasn’t kicked out of the end zone, as he’s lived up to that so far.  Cribbs has played in both games for the Browns this year and he has returned 5 kickoffs for 171 yards (34.2 avg) and 8 punts for 110 yards (13.8 avg) .  Cribbs has also caught 4 passes for 54 yards (13.5 avg) this year as he is starting to get more action in the passing game.  The Browns need to Cribbs to keep up the good work as he continues to give the offense good starting field position.

The Cleveland Browns played a solid game in all three phases (offense, defense and special teams) which led them to a nice road win in Indianapolis yesterday.  Colt McCoy was pretty efficient yesterday as he completed 22 of 32 passes for 211 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs.  He also carried the ball 3 times for 10 yards (3.3 ypc) in this game.  Peyton Hillis was a workhorse in this game as he carried the ball 27 times for 94 yards (3.5 ypc) with 2 TD runs and he also caught 4 passes for 23 yards (5.8 avg).  McCoy spread the ball around and that was part of the reason he was so effective.  Mohamed Massaquoi led the way in the passing game for the Browns with 3 grabs for 45 yards.  Josh Cribbs had an outstanding all-around game for the Browns yesterday as he caught 3 passes for 41 yards (13.7 avg).  Cribbs also returned 2 kickoffs for 80 yards (40.0 avg) and 2 punts for 52 yards (26.0 avg) as he helped get the offense a lot of good starting position.  WR Greg Little (4 rec, 38 yards) and TE Evan Moore (1 rec, 16 yards, TD) also had solid game for the Browns.  The Browns finished up with 106 yards rushing on 34 carries (3.1 ypc) and they also completed 22 of 32 passes (68.8%) for 197 yards as they had possession of the ball for 34:34.

The defense played a great game as they held the Colts to field goals until a late game garbage TD.  LB D’Qwell Jackson led the way for the Browns’ D again yesterday with 8 tackles and 1 pass defensed.  DE Jabal Sheard (5 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack, 1 QB hit, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery), DT Phil Taylor (5 tackles, 1 pass defensed) and DT Ahtyba Rubin (4 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack and 2 passes defensed)  helped the Browns control the line of scrimmage against the Colts in this game.  CB Joe Haden (5 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss),  LB Scott Fujita (5 tackles) and safety Usama Young (3 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 interception which he returned 28 yards) also had solid games for the Browns on D.  The Colts finished up with 109 yards rushing on 26 carries (4.2 ypc) and they also completed 19 of 38 passes (50%) for 176 yards.  The Browns are now 1-1 on the year.

The Cleveland Browns just plain sucked in the 4th quarter both offensively and defensively last week and it cost them the game.  The Browns will need to jump on the Colts quickly this Sunday to break their confidence.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Browns have the ball:  The Colts got bullied by the Texans’ running game last weekend and they will be without two starting linebackers this Sunday (Gary Brackett and Ernie Sims).  With that in mind, look for the Browns to feed the ball to Peyton Hillis a lot this Sunday.  When he needs a break Montario Hardesty will take some shots against a Colts’ D that allowed 167 yards rushing and 4.1 yards per carry against the Texans last weekend.  With DEs Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis likely to get after Colt McCoy, the Browns will likely have to throw shorter passes to Hillis, TE Ben Watson, Evan Moore and WR Mohamed Massaquoi with the hope that they can get yards after the catch.

When the Colts have the ball:  The Colts are likely going to try to run the ball a lot more than they did last weekend against the Texans.  So D’Qwell Jackson, Chris Gocong and Scott Fujita are going to have to slow down Joseph Addai and Delone Carter.  The Colts only rushed for 64 yards on 16 carries (4.0 ypc) last weekend.  CBs Joe Haden and Sheldon Brown both played well last weekend but they will have tougher matchups this weekend against Pierre Garcon and Reggie Wayne.  Safeties Mike Adams, Usama Young and T.J. Ward were getting big hits last weekend and they will need to do it again this Sunday in dealing with Dallas Clark of the Colts.  The Browns really need the DEs (Jayme Mitchell, Jabaal Sheard and Marcus Benard) to get a lot of pressure on Kerry Collins as he will make mistakes with the ball when pressured.

PREDICTION:  BROWNS 20, COLTS 10

25-year old QB Colt McCoy deserves a lot of the blame for last weekend’s loss to the hapless Bengals.  He completed 19 of 40 passes (47.5%) for 213 yards with 2 TD passes and 1 INT (70.1 QB Rating).  McCoy also carried the ball 3 times for 11 yards (3.7 ypc) and he caught 1 pass for -5 yards.  McCoy needs to quit dumping the ball off so much and throw the ball to his WRs.  He completed only 6 of 14 passes for 108 yards to his WRs, with a lot of those yards coming on 1 play….a bomb that he completed to Mohamed Massaquoi.  While it’s true that McCoy doesn’t have much talent in the WRing corps, he still has to throw the ball down the field or opposing defenses will start taking away the TEs and Peyton Hillis.