2008: Interesting time to be a Browns fan

By Os Davis  |   Sunday, March 09, 2008  |  Comments( 0 )

Cleveland Browns
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Now that the Cleveland Browns’ off-season is essentially over – Who needs high-round draft picks, anyway? – the Dawg Pound is surely panting happily in anticipation for the 2008 season. After all, with some more excellent additions by soon-to-be acknowledged genius Phil Savage, Browns backers surely haven’t been this optimistic about the team’s prospects for 20 years.

What are they fantasizing about in Cleveland? Perhaps stuff like this...

Imagine a happy Sean Rogers in the nose tackle position; skills aside, the Big Baby is so huge he constantly demands double-teaming. Cleveland linebackers will be given lots of opportunity to stuff to run, perhaps exactly the kind of game plan that Romeo Crennel has been trying to develop all along (more on this later). If Rogers plays up to his pre-Rod Marinelli levels – in 2004, he recorded 68 tackles, 53 solo – the sky’s the limit for this Pro Bowler.

No slouch, either, is Corey Williams, the former Green Bay DT who was named franchise player for the Pack after turning in his heretofore peak season in 2007; by snagging Williams in a trade for a high draft pick, the Browns essentially signed the two most coveted defensive linemen out there – and, thanks to the collapsed Cincinnati deal for Rogers, Williams must be the single best second-string NT in the league.

On the offense, imagine the skilled quartet of hands on passing downs: start with top dog Braylon Edwards and his 16 TDs, four 100-plus yard games, and nearly 1300 yards in 2007; Kellen Winslow, probably the single deadliest TE in the game after the catch; Joe Jurevicius, still a force out of the slot; and a valuable new addition in multi-talented QB rating helper (see “Garcia, Jeff”) Donte’ Stallworth along with his buddy Nicco, the first sentient being to achieve a 99 insanity rating in Madden.

Imagine the awesome quintet on the OL: last year’s no. 3 overall Joe Thomas, certainly the AFC Rookie of the Year; Thomas’ multi-million dollar, worth-every-penny partner Eric Steinbach, a guy who’s missed one game as a starter in his five-year career with Cincinnati and Cleveland; big Hank Fraley, who in his sixth full season may have had his best year yet; Isaac Sowells, an awesome specimen turning just 26 in May; and Kevin Shaffer, now the toast of Cleveland thanks to his run-blocking skills. In short, this is a lineup that can be compared to those of the Colts and Patriots.

Oh yeah, and running the ball is some guy named Jamal Lewis, who signed new three-year deal on 21 February. Lewis silenced critics who opined him on the decline by responding with his best season since the freakish 2003. He shouldn’t have to take 298 carries’ worth of punishment, but he still can. (Remember folks, he’s only 28 and he’s running behind this line. Perhaps the only guy more pumped about the Lewis re-signing than OC Rob Chudzinski is that inevitable bastard in your fantasy league who manages to draft him at exactly one spot higher than your second-round pick.

Just two questions – and they’re biggies – remain for the skeptical (this writer’s one of ‘em, believe me): Head coach and quarterback.

Consider this writer down with the Crennel disbelievers alongside colleague Chris Cluff. On one hand, you figure that a head coach may deserve an extension after doubling his total career wins with the team (Heck, if the Lions win nine games this year, the folks in Detroit’ll surely attempt to canonize Rod Marinelli), but Crennel’s decision-making process has been shaky at best.

Seriously, what’s up with a defensive guru bringing up a team to finish 30th in the NFL in terms of yardage? While enthusiasts celebrate the newly-discovered high-flying offense, didn’t anyone notice that the Browns gave up 45 points to Cincinnati? That hapless Miami rang up 31 (the most points the Dolphins scored in a game in 2007, incidentally) on ‘em? That the Baltimore Ravens went for 30, their best effort of the season as well? That the Arizona Cardinals went for 27 ... you get the idea.

Lest y’all forget, too, the 10-6 Browns played exactly four games against playoff teams (and went 1-3 with a single OT win at home against Seattle) and the final seven weeks looks like a cherry-picked dance card: Baltimore, Houston, Arizona, the Jets, Buffalo, Cincinnati and San Francisco.

And while Crennel garnered praise for seemingly implementing some of that knowledge gained while understudying with Bill Belichick, everyone conveniently forgot that ol’ Romeo was the mastermind that flipped a coin in training camp to determine his starter at QB, traded said starter after week one, and has seemingly preemptively named Brady Quinn his no. 2 for 2008.

(Hilariously, on the subject of Quinn’s recent bold remarks regarding his plans to swipe the starting job away from Derek Anderson, Crennel said that “Both of those guys are going to compete and then we'll see who gives us the best chance. We've always done it that way and that's what we're going to do...” Wait a minute: I thought coin-flipping was the Browns’ method of selection.)

Speaking of that QB spot, as one of Western Civilization’s two remaining holdouts on the Derek Anderson phenomenon (Woody Paige is the other, and he’s probably being pushed to maintain his party line by the “Around the Horn” producers), this writer suggests it may be time for some “Emperor’s New Clothes”-type thinking. While Cleveland fans have absolutely got to love Quinn’s most excellent determined attitude (not the mention the brief glimpses of play which indicate this boy may in fact be as good as advertised and possibly better) and the possibility of holding the league’s top backup, a harder look at Anderson’s success in 2007 is required.

Anderson’s play steadily declined through the second half, surely due to some extent to cold weather, but because opposition defenses wised up as they inevitably do to Cleveland’s field-stretching attack. In two games against the Steelers, Pittsburgh’s smothering coverage saw Anderson throw 13-of-28 for 184 yards and 16-of-35 for 123 yards – hardly the numbers required from a starter against playoff-level competition.

While Anderson’s stingy interception rate (just 19 in 527 attempts) is to be commended, his TD passing is not: Subtracting the laughers against Cincinnati in week two and Miami, Anderson threw for 21 TDs in 14 games. And in the second half of the season, Anderson’s TD-to-pick ratio was a Testaverde-like 12:11.

My forecast has Anderson holding the starting job over Quinn, but coming out fooling no one. Cleveland fans will then find themselves holding their breath into October as Crennel dithers over replacing the man who “brought them” to an almost-playoff bid in 2007.

Good times for the Cleveland Browns in 2008? Wellllllll, let’s say “interesting times” to be sure.

Waiting to see how it all pans out throughout the year at RealFootball365.com.
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About Os Davis

Os Davis has taken a twisted route to get to RealFootball365.com in his nearly 17 years in professional writing, working in any number of capacities in the sportswriting, news reporting and film criticism worlds. In print media, Os has served as editor at a few publications, including Albuquerque's ...
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