The Browns have released 32-year old long snapper Ryan Pontbriand.  Pontbriand played in 11 games (0 starts) for the Browns this year.  He has played in 134 games (0 starts) for the Browns in his nine years with the team.  He was waived for costing the Browns good shots to win against the Rams and Bengals with terrible snaps that caused kicker Phil Dawson to miss some field goals.  The Browns have signed 23-year old long snapper Christian Yount to replace Pontbriand.  Yount is a rookie out of UCLA.  He has played in 7 games (0 starts) already this year for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

25-year old WR Jordan Norwood is a little guy who works in the slot when the Browns play him.  All this guy does is make plays for the Browns as he has caught 5 passes for 120 yards (24.0 avg) with 1 TD grab in the last two games.  He has now caught 15 passes for 197 yards (13.1 avg) with 1 TD grab so far this year.  QB Colt McCoy has a lot of confidence when he’s throwing the ball to Norwood as he has completed 15 of 19 passes (78.9%) aimed at him.

The Browns have lost DE Emmanuel Stephens for a while due to a strained pectoral muscle.  This is a bad break for Stephens who was just recently inserted into the starting lineup for the Browns.  He has played in 11 games and he has 17 tackles for the Browns.  The Browns will turn back to 27-year old DE Jayme Mitchell in the starting lineup.  Mitchell has played in 9 games for the Browns so far this year and he has 24 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble and 2 passes defensed.  The Browns need Mitchell to step up.

UPDATE:  The Browns have placed Emmanuel Stephens on the Injured Reserve List, ending his season.

The Browns will likely be without starting OLB Scott Fujita for a little while as he has a hand that’s broke in two places.  He has played in 10 games for the Browns so far this year and he has 51 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 3 passes defensed and 1 interception.  Fujita has now played in 19 games in his first two years with the Browns and he has 102 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 3 tackles for a loss, 2 interceptions, 2 forced fumbles and 4 passes defensed.  The Browns are going to miss Fujita.

UPDATE:  (11/29/2011) – The Browns have placed Scott Fujita on the Injured Reserve List, ending his season.

The Browns looked great in the first half today as they led 17-7 heading into the locker-room.  Then long snapper Ryan Pontbriand screwed up again as he rolled the snap to the holder, causing Phil Dawson to miss a field goal with less than two minutes left.  The Bengals then drove down the field and Mike Nugent nailed a 26-yard field goal with only 38 seconds left in the game and that was essentially the ball game.

The offense was outstanding in the first half and pretty terrible in the second half.  Colt McCoy completed 16 of 34 passes for 151 yards with 2 TD passes and 1 INT.  He also carried the ball 6 times for 38 yards (6.3 ypc) in this game.  Peyton Hillis led the way on the ground for the Browns in this game with 65 yards rushing on 19 carries (3.4 ypc).  WRs Jordan Norwood (4 rec, 69 yards, TD) and Earl Little (5 rec, 57 yards, TD) led the way for the Browns in the passing game today.  The Browns finished up with 134 yards rushing on 30 carries (4.5 ypc) and they also completed 16 of 34 passes (47.1%) as they had possession of the ball for 28:26.

The defense was downright awful in the second half today for the Browns.  LB D’Qwell Jackson (9 tackles), DT Ahtyba Rubin (6 tackles and 2 QB hits) and safety Michael Adams (6 tackles) led the way for the Browns on D in this game.  DE Jabaal Sheard (4 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack and 1 forced fumble) and DT Scott Paxson (3 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and 1 fumble recovery) also made some big plays for the Browns today.  The Bengals finished up with 132 yards rushing on 32 carries (4.1 ypc) and they also completed 21 of 31 passes (67.7%) for 257 yards in this game.  The Browns are now 4-7 on the year.

The Browns have waived 27-year old RB Thomas Clayton.  Clayton played in 3 games for the Browns this year and he carried the ball 8 times for 12 yards (1.5 ypc).  He also caught 1 pass for 3 yards.  Clayton played in 5 games in 2 years with the Browns and he carried the ball 9 times for 12 yards (1.3 ypc) and he also caught 1 pass for 3 yards.  The Browns won’t miss Clayton at all as Peyton Hillis and Montario Hardesty are ready to return this weekend against the Bengals.

The Browns broke a three game losing streak last weekend by beating the Jaguars 14-10 at home.  The Bengals on the other hand, lost their second game in a row last weekend.  The Bengals won the season opener between these two teams 27-17 in Cleveland.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Browns have the ball:  This might be the week that the Browns open up the offense a little bit.  The Bengals are giving up 222.5 yards passing per game and their top CB Leon Hall is out for the season.  With that in mind, the Browns should attack the Bengals down the field in this game.  If the Browns give Colt McCoy time to throw the ball, he should have success.  He should be looking down the field to get the ball to Greg Little, Mohamed Massaquoi, Josh Cribbs and little Jordan Norwood.  On the shorter stuff, TEs Ben Watson and Evan Moore will get the call.  The Bengals are only giving up 88.6 yards rushing per game and 3.4 yards per carry, so the Browns should keep the running game at a minimum this weekend.  Montario Hardesty is likely to start at RB over Chris Ogbonnaya this weekend and that’s probably not a good move.

When the Bengals have the ball:  The Bengals probably are going to tighten the chinstraps and try to run the ball down the Browns’ throat this Sunday.  The Browns are giving up 139.3 yards rushing per game and 4.3 yards per carry so far this year, so they are going to have to step up if they are going to step Bengals’ RB Cedric Benson.  The Bengals will be getting A.J. Green back and he caught the big pass that really hurt the Browns when he caught them sleeping in the first week of the season.  Joe Haden really shut him down except for that catch and he will be on him again in this game.  The Browns need to mount a pass rush on Dalton, because he has been making a lot of mistakes lately.

PREDICTION:  BENGALS 23, BROWNS 13

25-year old QB Colt McCoy has been consistently average this year for the Browns.  Out of his 10 starts this year, Colt McCoy has had a QB rating of under 70.0 only 1 time this year….which is good.  But, he also hasn’t had a game with a rating of 100.0 or over so far this year.  McCoy has played in 10 games for the Browns so far this year and he has completed 214 of 359 passes (59.6%) for 2,181 yards with 11 TD passes and 7 INTs (79.2 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 45 times for 147 yards (3.3 ypc) as he isn’t shy about taking off out of the pocket when things break down.  The Browns hope that McCoy steps up the rest of the way as they have to deal with the Bengals, Cardinals, Steelers twice and Ravens twice to finish up the regular season.

The Cleveland Browns can never kick a team’s butt.  It always seems to come down to the last play and it did again.  The Browns stopped the Jaguars at the Browns’ 2-yard line as the clock ran out today!  Colt McCoy was solid in this game for the most part as he completed 17 of 24 passes for 199 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 INT.  He also carried the ball 5 times for 27 yards (5.4 ypc) today.  RB Chris Ogbonnaya had by far the best game of his NFL career so far.  He carried the ball 21 times for 115 yards (5.5 ypc) with 1 TD run and he also caught 2 passes for 19 yards.  WRs Earl Little (5 rec, 59 yards), Jordan Norwood (1 rec, 51 yards) and Josh Cribbs (3 rec, 20 yards, TD) led the way in the passing game for the Browns today.  The Browns finished up with 148 yards rushing on 28 carries (5.3 ypc) and they also completed 17 of 24 passes (70.8%) for 186 yards as they had possession of the ball for 29:07.

The defense made big plays when they had to in this game.  Safety Usama Young (10 tackles), LB D’Qwell Jackson (9 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and 1 pass defensed) and DT Phil Taylor (9 tackles) led the way for the Browns’ D in this game.  CB Joe Haden was also solid with 4 tackles and 3 passes defensed.  The Jaguars finished up with 108 yards rushing on 29 carries (3.7 ypc) and they also completed 22 of 41 passes (53.7%) for 195 yards in this game.  The Browns are now 4-6 on the year.

The Cleveland Browns’ season is going right down the commode as they have lost five of their last six games.  The Browns are only averaging 14.6 points per game so far this year.  The Jaguars got their first round win last weekend against the Colts (17-3).  They have won two of their last three games.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Browns have the ball:  The Browns need to start throwing more on first down and quit being so damn predictable on offense.  They will probably not listen to me and feed the ball to Chris Ogbonnaya and Montario Hardesty (if he plays) on early downs.  The Jaguars are giving up 107.1 yards rushing and 4.4 yards per carry so far this year, so maybe the Browns will have some success running the ball.  If the offensive line gives Colt McCoy time to throw the ball this Sunday, the Browns could have success throwing the ball.  WRs Earl Little, Josh Cribbs and TEs Ben Watson and Evan Moore should be able to get open against the Jags’ secondary….so the Browns should throw the ball down the field more this weekend.

When the Jaguars have the ball:  The Jaguars are going to run the ball with Maurice Jones-Drew at least 30 times this Sunday, so the Browns need to tighten up the chinstraps and step up.  If the Browns can slow the Jags’ running game down a bit and force rookie QB Blaine Gabbert to beat them through the air, the Browns will be in good shape.  Not one of the Jags’ WRs or TEs should scare the Browns’ secondary one bit as none of them are gamebreakers.

PREDICTION:  JAGUARS 17, BROWNS 13