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    <title>SB Nation - Abram Elam</title>
    <link>http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/3400/Abram_Elam</link>
    <description>Stories From Around SB Nation About Abram Elam</description>
    <item>
      <title>Browns Border on &quot;Respectability&quot; in 30-23 Loss to Chargers</title>
      <guid>http://www.dawgsbynature.com/2009/12/9/1193242/browns-border-on-respectability-in</guid>
      <author>Chris Pokorny</author>
      <link>http://www.dawgsbynature.com/2009/12/9/1193242/browns-border-on-respectability-in</link>
      <pubDate>Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:14:39 -0000</pubDate>
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    &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dawgsbynature.com/photos/browns-border-on-respectability-in&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;San Diego Chargers fullback Mike Tolbert (35) dives into the end zone in front of Cleveland Browns safety Abram Elam (26) on a 66-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 6, 2009, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)&quot; class=&quot;ap_photo&quot; src=&quot;http://cdn2.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/199734/57010_aptopix_chargers_browns_football.jpg&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
    
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      &lt;p class=&quot;by clearfix&quot;&gt;
        
          &lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dawgsbynature.com/photos/browns-border-on-respectability-in&quot;&gt;More photos &amp;raquo;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
        
        
          by Mark Duncan - AP
        
      &lt;/p&gt;
    
      
        &lt;p class=&quot;cap&quot;&gt;
          
            &lt;strong&gt;9 days ago:&lt;/strong&gt; 
          
          San Diego Chargers fullback Mike Tolbert (35) dives into the end zone in front of Cleveland Browns safety Abram Elam (26) on a 66-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 6, 2009, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)
        &lt;/p&gt;
      
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    &lt;p class=&quot;more-link&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dawgsbynature.com/photos/browns-border-on-respectability-in&quot;&gt;Browse more photos &amp;raquo;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

  &lt;/div&gt;


&lt;table bgcolor=&quot;#ffffff&quot; border=&quot;1&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; width=&quot;454&quot; style=&quot;margin-bottom: 0px;&quot;&gt;
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&lt;tr align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;
&lt;td bgcolor=&quot;#64390a&quot; width=&quot;192&quot; colspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #FFFFFF;&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #fff;&quot;&gt;SAN DIEGO CHARGERS (9-3)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td bgcolor=&quot;#df6208&quot; width=&quot;70&quot; colspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #FFFFFF;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;WEEK 13&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td bgcolor=&quot;#64390a&quot; width=&quot;192&quot; colspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #FFFFFF;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;CLEVELAND BROWNS (1-11)&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #fff;&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;td align=&quot;center&quot; width=&quot;192&quot; colspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.stampedeblue.com/images/admin/th_San_Diego_Chargers.jpg&quot; height=&quot;120&quot; width=&quot;160&quot; style=&quot;vertical-align: middle;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td bgcolor=&quot;#d4d4d4&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; width=&quot;70&quot; style=&quot;vertical-align: middle; font-size: 23px;&quot; colspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;VS.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td align=&quot;center&quot; width=&quot;192&quot; colspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.prideofdetroit.com/images/admin/Cleveland_Browns.jpg&quot; height=&quot;120&quot; width=&quot;160&quot; style=&quot;vertical-align: middle;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#df6208&quot;&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center; font-size: 32px;&quot; colspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;30&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center; font-size: 32px;&quot; colspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;23&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sure, I could lecture the defense on how pathetic it was to give up a 66-yard touchdown pass, mostly via the catch-and-run type. Or, I could complain that despite the amount of time our defenders had to adjust to the jump balls thrown by &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/3028/Philip_Rivers&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Philip Rivers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;, &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2992/Antonio_Gates&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Antonio Gates&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; always came down with them. It wouldn't be fair to complain about our defense though, as the unit is barely representative of the one that started the season. From the first week, I believe only &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/16702/Eric_Wright&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Eric Wright&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;, &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/3400/Abram_Elam&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Abram Elam&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;, and &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2693/Kamerion_Wimbley&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Kamerion Wimbley&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; are healthy enough to stay at their positions.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;What bordered on respectability was the play of the offense. Although we only scored seven points in the first three quarters, we had several &quot;threatening drives,&quot; which shows progress compared to the numerous three and outs we've been accustomed to.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Let's get to the full review of the game, starting with the goat of the game...&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;WEEK 13 - SAN DIEGO CHARGERS&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt; VS. &lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;CLEVELAND BROWNS&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt; &lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;(COMPLETE GAME REVIEW)&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;GOATS OF THE GAME:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1258/Hank_Poteat&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Hank Poteat&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/b&gt; While I am not 100% positive that he was in on the plays, I thought I recall him making poor efforts on several of the Chargers' big plays, including Tolbert's 66-yard dash. I always thought of Poteat as a scrub prior to his career in Cleveland, and he's done very little to change that reputation in my mind. &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/71101/Coye_Francies&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Coye Francies&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;, please?&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;AWARDING GAME BALLS&lt;/b&gt;&lt;b&gt;:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2653/Jerome_Harrison&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Jerome Harrison&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/b&gt; Two of our better games this season -- against the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/CIN&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Cincinnati Bengals&lt;/a&gt; the first time around, and now against the Chargers -- have come with &lt;b&gt;Jerome Harrison&lt;/b&gt; at tailback. I was thrilled to see Harrison get the start over &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/84357/Chris_Jennings&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Chris Jennings&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;, and although Harrison's YPC average doesn't appear desirable (3.5), he provides the burst to the outside on plays that can help move the chains.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Eric Mangini&lt;/b&gt; also praised his blocking, so he is back in the good graces of the coaching staff. I didn't pay specific attention to it, but I recall one play where I saw a blitz come and Harrison stepped up and firmly picked it up. Harrison's biggest contribution was as a receiver, which I will elaborate on below.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;GENERAL THOUGHTS&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ol&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 25px; width: 280px; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/224263/09week13harrison.jpg&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;photo&quot; src=&quot;http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/224263/09week13harrison_medium.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;09week13harrison_medium&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;i&gt;Jerome Harrison found his groove against the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/SDC&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;San Diego Chargers&lt;/a&gt;, scoring twice in the fourth quarter.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br id=&quot;1254714572576&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Harrison as the Checkdown:&lt;/b&gt; One of &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/16698/Brady_Quinn&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Brady Quinn&lt;/a&gt;'s&lt;/b&gt; problems this season is that he has been checking down to wide receivers on &lt;i&gt;very&lt;/i&gt; short passes. As much as we try, the wide receiver screens to &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1468/Mike_Furrey&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Mike Furrey&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; at the line of scrimmage won't cut it. Harrison was always in position to be relatively open &lt;i&gt;and&lt;/i&gt; the check-down receiver for Quinn, which seemed to make Quinn more comfortable when going through his progressions.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Production Proves It:&lt;/b&gt; Harrison came through when Quinn went to him, with 7 catches for 62 yards and 2 touchdowns. The touchdowns both came in the fourth quarter, one of them on a very nifty shuffle pass. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Some fans complained that Harrison had a few drops, but if he &lt;i&gt;had&lt;/i&gt; caught those plays, they would've been for short gains and would've kept the clock running. Nonetheless, I'm sure he didn't &lt;i&gt;try&lt;/i&gt; to drop them as a football savvy decision, which still means there is a slight underlying problem in catching the ball.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Tomlinson Passes Brown:&lt;/b&gt; Maybe I'm just a little cynical, but I couldn't stop laughing at what progressed on the television screen when &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/3033/LaDainian_Tomlinson&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;LaDainian Tomlinson&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; passed up &lt;b&gt;Jim Brown&lt;/b&gt; on the rushing list. The play by play announcers were so &quot;in&quot; to it, talking about Tomlinson's and Brown's accomplishments. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Then, when Tomlinson officially passed Brown, he pointed up towards a suite and the announcers commented, &quot;and he appears to be saluting the legendary Brown...,&quot; only to have the cameras flash to Brown drinking a bottle of water as if he could care less. Of course Brown congratulated Tomlinson following the game; just how it went down on television brought a chuckle from me.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Robo Shows His Worth:&lt;/b&gt; Ah, so &lt;i&gt;there's&lt;/i&gt; &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/71105/Brian_Robiskie&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Brian Robiskie&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;. Arguably, the playing time of Robiskie will be looked back on as one of the most controversial issues of the season because there might have been legitimate points to both sides of the argument.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robiskie was touted in the draft as &quot;the most NFL ready receiver.&quot; But, what if that wasn't the case? What if the coaches were right, and that in reality, Robiskie needed a lot of work?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Either way, what I saw Sunday against the Chargers was a receiver who looked the most polished out of what we have, particularly because when &lt;b&gt;Brady Quinn&lt;/b&gt; rolled out, Robiskie rolled with him and caught the ball without issue. In one instance, he even shielded a defender and then ran for yards after the catch, completing a 43-yard reception.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robiskie, in single coverage on a deep ball in the fourth quarter, also nearly came away with a touchdown. The defender knocked the ball away just as it arrived though. In what I consider to be Robiskie's first &quot;true chance,&quot; he delivered. An effort like this against the Steelers would be even sweeter.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Can We Please Have Some Moore?&lt;/b&gt; I promise &lt;strike&gt;not&lt;/strike&gt; to overuse that tagline for as long as &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/34994/Evan_Moore&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Evan Moore&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; is producing as a member of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/CLE&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Cleveland Browns&lt;/a&gt;. Promoted from the practice squad, I hardly expected Moore to even see the field Sunday. Instead, he was in the game early and often, showing extremely impressive hands and solid route running ability for a tight end. It's way too early to deem him any form of a savior at the tight end position, but he can suddenly be added to the mix of &quot;players to look forward to&quot; the rest of the way.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Close Enough Redemption:&lt;/b&gt; When &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2640/Phil_Dawson&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Phil Dawson&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; missed a 45-yard field goal early on in the first quarter, it ended up hurting. However, we have to remember that 45 yards is still not a chip shot. Dawson came back later and redeemed himself by drilling a 49-yard field goal to give us a chance at another onside kick. Both of Dawson's onside kicks were executed very well; Tomlinson just did a good job fielding the second one and the Chargers' blockers did their jobs on that play.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Quinn's Mistakes:&lt;/b&gt; While shined, he did have two big blunders. There was one pass where he went for a quick slant over the middle and failed to see the linebacker coming across. The defender only deflected the pass instead of having a possible pick six. Quinn then held onto the ball too long when we were threatening to score in the first half and was stripped of the football, taking more points off the board.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;An Entire Series:&lt;/b&gt; It was interesting the way &lt;b&gt;Brian Daboll&lt;/b&gt; used &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2638/Joshua_Cribbs&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Joshua Cribbs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; on offense Sunday. I've been an advocate before of using Cribbs in the Wildcat throughout the game at varying instances. Instead, during the fourth quarter, Daboll suddenly pulled out a &lt;i&gt;series&lt;/i&gt; which used Cribbs in the Wildcat. On first down, Cribbs took off for 30 yards. On the next first down, he was stopped for a 1 yard loss. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On second down, Cribbs ran the option play and pitched it back to &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1271/Chansi_Stuckey&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Chansi Stuckey&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; who ran it for 6 yards. On third down, Cribbs took off for 2 yards, setting up a 4th-and-3. Enter Quinn again, who fired a high pass past the first down marker to Cribbs. Cribbs, in a catch I usually don't expect from him, leaped up and caught it, hanging on for the first down. Several plays later, Harrison had one of his two touchdowns.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Rubin's Hit:&lt;/b&gt; I believe that &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/3032/Darren_Sproles&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Darren Sproles&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; was the victim. He caught the ball, made a few defenders miss by the sideline, and then turned right into a spearing &lt;b&gt;Ahtybin Rubin&lt;/b&gt;, who had quite the momentum coming from the spot he did.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Too Many Big Plays:&lt;/b&gt; If &lt;b&gt;Rob Ryan&lt;/b&gt; needs to focus on something the rest of the way with the players he has at his disposal, it has to involve limiting the number of big plays by the opposition through the air. The Chargers had passing plays of 56, 66, 31, and 41 yards, and some of those were catch-and-run.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Still Intrigued:&lt;/b&gt; On defense, the only player I really seem to be following now is &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2533/Matt_Roth&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Matt Roth&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;. He had half of a sack and continues to employ a bull-rush strategy.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;We Should Try That:&lt;/b&gt; I hope that Daboll took note of the play in which &lt;b&gt;Naanee&lt;/b&gt; received a pitch and then quickly threw the ball (as opposed to selling the reverse across the entire field and &lt;i&gt;then&lt;/i&gt; throwing it). Naanee hit a wide open Tomlinson, and we were lucky that one of our defenders was still in the vicinity to prevent the play from going the distance.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Still a Mixed Bag:&lt;/b&gt; Good footwork by &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/71104/Mohamed_Massaquoi&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Mohamed Massaquoi&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; on his touchdown in the first quarter, but he and Quinn just don't seem to be on the same page still. Throughout the game, Quinn seemed much more in sync with Moore, Harrison, Stuckey, and Robiskie.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Good Strategy:&lt;/b&gt; I don't know who &lt;i&gt;tried&lt;/i&gt; to push the Chargers player into the football on the punt, but whoever did that, props to them. Had &lt;b&gt;Abram Elam's&lt;/b&gt; foot not &lt;i&gt;barely&lt;/i&gt; touched the ball upon replay review, the Browns would've had a chance to tack on a field goal just before the half.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Brownies:&lt;/b&gt; It looked like &lt;b&gt;Mike Furrey&lt;/b&gt; was at safety quite a bit, but also on the targeted end of some of the Chargers' big pass plays...it's a good thing that after the Bye, I've felt better about this Browns team overall...for the first time in 35 games, the Browns scored an opening drive touchdown.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Thursday, the Browns take on the hated &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/PIT&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Pittsburgh Steelers&lt;/a&gt;. The Steelers are vulnerable right now, having lost four straight. It's been awhile since a Browns coach has been able to defeat the Steelers, and Mangini has the opportunity to officially put a dagger in Pittsburgh's playoff hopes.&lt;/p&gt;
  


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    <item>
      <title>Opponent History: Buffalo Bills vs New York Jets</title>
      <guid>http://www.buffalorumblings.com/2009/12/2/1181584/opponent-history-buffalo-bills-vs</guid>
      <author>sireric</author>
      <link>http://www.buffalorumblings.com/2009/12/2/1181584/opponent-history-buffalo-bills-vs</link>
      <pubDate>Wed, 02 Dec 2009 13:00:23 -0000</pubDate>
      <description type="html">


&lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://cdn3.sbnation.com/imported_assets/324656/thebestteameverred_medium.jpg&quot; /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;img src=&quot;http://cdn1.sbnation.com/imported_assets/324668/nyj.jpg&quot; /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/BUF&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Buffalo Bills&lt;/a&gt; (4-7) vs &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/NYJ&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;New York Jets&lt;/a&gt; (5-6)&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Thursday, December 3, 2009 at 8:20 PM EST&lt;br /&gt;Rogers Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;Woot! A Thursday night game! As this is a Thursday night game this week, I probably should have had this up sooner, but I didn't even think of that until just now, so that is why this gets posted now.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;These two teams have a long history against each other, dating all the way back to 1960 when they first met. Fast forward 50 years, and this will be meeting No. 99 between these two franchises. The Bills hold the edge 54-44 all time, including a stretch from 1987 to 1992 where the Bills won ten straight games. The last five meetings between these two teams in Buffalo are after the jump.&lt;/p&gt;


  
&lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;Sunday, November 7, 2004: Bills 22, Jets 17&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In what seems to be a common theme in Bills/Jets games, the Bills ground out 157 yards on the ground, spearheaded by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1884/Willis_McGahee&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Willis McGahee&lt;/a&gt;'s 132 yards on 37 attempts - one for a touchdown. When the Bills have big days running the football against the Jets, they normally win. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1866/Lee_Evans&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Lee Evans&lt;/a&gt; added a touchdown catch and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1880/Rian_Lindell&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Rian Lindell&lt;/a&gt; kicked two field goals; Big Pat Williams even tackled &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2278/Curtis_Martin&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Curtis Martin&lt;/a&gt; in the end-zone for a safety. For the Jets, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1256/Chad_Pennington&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Chad Pennington&lt;/a&gt; got knocked out of the game, and former Cowboy Quincy Carter had to finish up. Carter hit &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1553/Santana_Moss&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Santana Moss&lt;/a&gt; for a 51-yard touchdown to make it close late, but the Bills held on for the win.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;Sunday, October 16, 2005: Bills 27, Jets 17&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Another Bills win over the Jets, another 177 rushing yards from Buffalo. McGahee was once again the workhorse with 143 yards on 29 attempts and a touchdown. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1328/Kelly_Holcomb&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Kelly Holcomb&lt;/a&gt; added two touchdown passes, one each to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/16664/Jonathan_Smith&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Jonathan Smith&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2741/Eric_Moulds&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Eric Moulds&lt;/a&gt; to help pace the Bills' scoring. This time, the Bills had &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1706/Vinny_Testaverde&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Vinny Testaverde&lt;/a&gt; to go against, and the speed rushers of the Bills took advantage. (Please note use of sarcasm.) &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1863/Ryan_Denney&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Ryan Denney&lt;/a&gt; (2.0), &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1855/Tim_Anderson&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Tim Anderson&lt;/a&gt; (1.0), &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2555/Sam_Adams&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Sam Adams&lt;/a&gt; (1.0), and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1861/Angelo_Crowell&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Angelo Crowell&lt;/a&gt; (1.0) all recorded sacks for the Bills.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;Sunday, September 24, 2006: Jets 28, Bills 20&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Bills controlled time of possession and moved up and down the field with ease, but turnovers and costly penalties killed them. The Bills ran for 169 yards, once again led by Willis McGahee (who finished with 150 yards), and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1881/J_P_Losman&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;J.P. Losman&lt;/a&gt; even passed for 328 yards. A &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1238/Victor_Hobson&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Victor Hobson&lt;/a&gt; fumble return for a touchdown and a key Losman interception gave the Jets the win. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1878/Chris_Kelsay&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Chris Kelsay&lt;/a&gt; picked up the lone Bills sack.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;Sunday, September 30, 2007: Bills 17, Jets 14&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This was the starting debut of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/16652/Trent_Edwards&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Trent Edwards&lt;/a&gt;. With the Bills holding a slim 10-7 lead halfway through the fourth quarter, Dick Jauron shows lots of faith in his young QB by going for it on a fourth and one. Jauron's faith was rewarded when Edwards hit &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2153/Michael_Gaines&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Michael Gaines&lt;/a&gt; in the end zone for some much-needed insurance points. Less then four minutes later, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1284/Leon_Washington&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Leon Washington&lt;/a&gt; crossed the goal line for the Jets to pull the Jets to within three points, but the Bills' defense would hold on for the win.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;Sunday, November 2, 2008: Jets 26, Bills 17&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After Jay Feely hit a field goal for the Jets, the Bills came back with a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/34859/Derek_Fine&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Derek Fine&lt;/a&gt; touchdown pass from Edwards to make it 7-3. It was all downhill from there. Feely hit two more field goals and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/3400/Abram_Elam&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Abram Elam&lt;/a&gt;'s 92-yard pick six put the game away for the Jets. The Bills rushed for only 30 yards, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2166/Kris_Jenkins&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Kris Jenkins&lt;/a&gt; singlehandedly shut down the Bills' running game. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1871/Jabari_Greer&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Jabari Greer&lt;/a&gt; added a 42-yard pick six to make it look a little more respectable.&lt;/p&gt;
  


      </description>
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    <item>
      <title>Bengals are playing winning brand of football with powerful rushing offense and dominant defense</title>
      <guid>http://www.cincyjungle.com/2009/11/30/1179198/bengals-are-playing-winning-brand</guid>
      <author>Kirkendall</author>
      <link>http://www.cincyjungle.com/2009/11/30/1179198/bengals-are-playing-winning-brand</link>
      <pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:45:57 -0000</pubDate>
      <description type="html">

  &lt;div class=&quot;photo-tpl photo-tpl-right_portrait&quot;&gt;

    &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dawgsbynature.com/photos/bengals-are-playing-winning-brand&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Rey Maualuga holds up a sign to fans after his team defeated the Cleveland Browns 16-7 in their NFL football game in Cincinnati, Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009. (AP Photo/David Kohl)&quot; class=&quot;ap_photo&quot; src=&quot;http://cdn2.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/189353/56349_browns_bengals_football.jpg&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
    
    &lt;div class=&quot;photo-meta&quot;&gt;
      &lt;p class=&quot;by clearfix&quot;&gt;
        
          &lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dawgsbynature.com/photos/bengals-are-playing-winning-brand&quot;&gt;More photos &amp;raquo;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
        
        
          by David Kohl - AP
        
      &lt;/p&gt;
    
      
        &lt;p class=&quot;cap&quot;&gt;
          
            &lt;strong&gt;16 days ago:&lt;/strong&gt; 
          
          Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Rey Maualuga holds up a sign to fans after his team defeated the Cleveland Browns 16-7 in their NFL football game in Cincinnati, Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009. (AP Photo/David Kohl)
        &lt;/p&gt;
      
    &lt;/div&gt;  
    
    &lt;p class=&quot;more-link&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dawgsbynature.com/photos/bengals-are-playing-winning-brand&quot;&gt;Browse more photos &amp;raquo;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

  &lt;/div&gt;


&lt;p&gt;While watching Sunday's game between the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/CIN&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Cincinnati Bengals&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/CLE&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Cleveland Browns&lt;/a&gt;, I had this feeling I've never felt before. By the second half I felt so confident that the Bengals were going to win this football game, that I stopped moaning about failed pass protection schemes or the play-calling. Oh, we're going to punt it so our defense can play? The same defense that hasn't allowed any team to gain 100 yards rushing in seven straight games? The same defense that's allowed a third down conversion rate of 22% in the three games leading up to Sunday? The same defense that's only allowed two touchdowns once in a game since losing to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/HOU&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Houston Texans&lt;/a&gt;?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Please, bring it.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;There's no doubt that the offense is struggling to put up points. Since scoring 45 against the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/CHI&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Chicago Bears&lt;/a&gt;, the Bengals offense has scored an average of 16.8 points per game. The ten points  scored in the second quarter against the Browns is the first time the Bengals have scored double-digit points in any quarter since the 14 points in the first quarter against the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/BAL&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Ravens&lt;/a&gt; on November 8. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2600/Carson_Palmer&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Carson Palmer&lt;/a&gt; went 12 quarters without throwing a touchdown pass before completing a four-yard pass to tight end &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/34353/J_P_Foschi&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;J.P. Foschi&lt;/a&gt; in the second quarter against the Browns. Palmer's on pace to record 3,384 yards passing, which is only 500 yards more than his career low his first season as the team's starter (not including injury-filled 2008). Even then, he missed three games. His efficiency is down. His touchdowns are down. His yards-per-attempt is down (6.9).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;And yet, the belief has always been  that the Bengals have to rely on Palmer's arm to win. My cousin called me Sunday night and asked me, do we rely on Palmer anymore? If Palmer were to go down to injury for the season, how much would this team lose? We saw what happened last year. But as he observed, the team was built around Palmer and the passing game. It wasn't until late in the season that a Palmer-less offense started to become efficient by successfully rushing the football with a rising defense.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;What if Palmer would go down this year? It would hurt, because defenses still gameplan the Bengals passing game; always a threat, always able to score from anywhere on the field. The truth is, this Bengals team is built to succeed without Palmer. This team is built to run the football. You can see that with the talent they have at running back. You can see that with an offensive line that's built to rush block first. How many Jumbo formations have we seen with at least one extra lineman? Did you see &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1836/Dennis_Roland&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Dennis Roland&lt;/a&gt; going into motion against the Browns?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;My point, as some may irrationally conclude, isn't anticipating an injury to Palmer. My point is that this team can win any football game, no matter who's playing. Carson Palmer is off? Well, the Bengals only have three running backs with 100-yard rushing games under their belt  (how many teams can claim that?). The offense has no rhythm and can't pick up a first down? Oh, there's that defense again, who since allowing 28 points in the loss to the Houston Texans, have only allowed 11.2 points per game and, check this out, only 232.8 yards-per game.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;As of this posting, the Bengals have the best scoring defense in the NFL.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I just checked that again.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The Bengals have the best scoring defense in the NFL, allowing 15.8 points per game. There's a chance that New England takes that lead after Monday Night Football. However, the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/NEP&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Patriots&lt;/a&gt; will have to hold the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/NOS&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Saints&lt;/a&gt; to ten points or less. Fat chance.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;If this isn't the most complete team that the Bengals have fielded since the Sam Wyche era, then I'm afraid I'll never know what a complete team is. More people stand up on this team, contributing towards a winning brand of football than we've seen in ages. This team isn't built or about a single person. This isn't about how well Palmer does, or how he's supposed to put up 30 points a game. Sure, it would be nice if the offense exploded every week. What fan in this world in any sport wouldn't love that? But that's not the reality right now. They're not an explosive offense. They are an efficient offense that consumes the clock, converts third downs and wins field position.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;And then there's the defense, whose scoring defense still ranks first in the NFL. I just checked again.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;What do most people say about championship football? You win by running the football and stopping the run. Again, this defense hasn't allowed any team to gain 100 yards or more in seven straight games. The Bengals offense has rushed for 100 yards or more in eight of the season's 11 games. Furthermore, the Bengals rushing offense has recorded 150 yards or more five times and 200 yards or more twice.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Powerful rushing offense. Dominant defense. Isn't that championship football? If you're still not convinced, or have a Christmas list of concerns, let's go quickly gloss over some reminders. The Bengals are 8-3. The Bengals are 6-0 in the division. The Bengals have won 11 of the past 14 games. The Bengals have a three-game lead with five games left. The Bengals, as of now, would have the second seed in the playoffs, which means a bye during wild card weekend and hosting at least one home game. Furthermore, the Bengals are a fluke pass and a fumble away from being 10-1. It's that close.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Now, that is what we've been begging for for 20 years. Soak it in. Enjoy it.&lt;/p&gt;


  
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Wait. You want Carson Palmer to throw more?&lt;/b&gt; With five games remaining, Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer is on pace to record 489 passing attempts. As disbelieving as this may sound, that's only 20 less pass attempts than he had during the  2005 season where the Bengals made the playoffs.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; cellpadding=&quot;3&quot; width=&quot;70%&quot;&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td width=&quot;48%&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td width=&quot;24%&quot;&gt;2005&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td width=&quot;28%&quot;&gt;2009 *&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Attempts&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;509&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;489&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Completions&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;345&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;298&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Completion %&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;67.8&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;61.0&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Yards&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;3,836&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;3,384&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Yards/Att&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;7.5&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;6.9&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Touchdowns&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;32&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;22&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Interceptions&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;12&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;11&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td colspan=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&lt;i&gt;* Projected &lt;/i&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Admittedly, the issue isn't just Palmer, if one can even make that assessment. No. It's all the parts. It's the offensive line struggling on stunts and blitzes on the outside. It's receivers not catching passes, or penalties that negate 15-20 yard passing plays because someone was flagged for offensive holding.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Take Sunday's game. On the Bengals first play of the game, the situation is first-and-ten at their own 20-yard line. The offense lines up off-set I with &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/19015/Daniel_Coats&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Daniel Coats&lt;/a&gt; motioning right. Cleveland brings their front three with eight sitting in coverage. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2621/Andrew_Whitworth&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Andrew Whitworth&lt;/a&gt; latched onto &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2885/Robaire_Smith&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Robaire Smith&lt;/a&gt;, who  took an outside step   while the left tackle was clipped by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/71202/Bernard_Scott&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Bernard Scott&lt;/a&gt; going into his route, knocking Smith free. Palmer, barely completing a five-yard pass to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1221/Laveranues_Coles&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Laveranues Coles&lt;/a&gt;, was knocked down by Smith. A few Bernard Scott runs and a first down later, the offense lines up off-set I, strong side left. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2693/Kamerion_Wimbley&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Kamerion Wimbley&lt;/a&gt; lines up at left outside linebacker over Dennis Roland. Wimbley took an inside slant on Roland who clearly lost the battle within the first two steps. Bernard Scott tried to help, but in his mind, he had his own blitzer to worry about in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2067/Mike_Adams&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Mike Adams&lt;/a&gt;. Wimbley tackled Palmer as the quarterback released the pass to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2582/Jeremi_Johnson&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Jeremi Johnson&lt;/a&gt; for a for a five-yard gain. Furthermore, Browns cornerback &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/16702/Eric_Wright&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Eric Wright&lt;/a&gt; was called for defensive holding. First down.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Two drop backs. Twice Carson Palmer is on the ground. It wasn't that Palmer was on the ground all game -- NFL's Game Center shows he was knocked down six times. However, it shows that Palmer was pressured all game long, most of the time making throws he didn't want to make.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;After &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2377/Larry_Johnson&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Larry Johnson&lt;/a&gt;'s consecutive first down runs (more on that later), Palmer takes the snap under center. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2533/Matt_Roth&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Matt Roth&lt;/a&gt; sprinted from the outside linebacker spot and sacked Palmer for a four-yard loss. The problem here is miscommunication by the offensive line. Defensive end &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1218/Kenyon_Coleman&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Kenyon Coleman&lt;/a&gt; slanted in, which caused Dennis Roland to move inward with the end. Typically, Roland should have handed Coleman off to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2623/Bobbie_Williams&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Bobbie Williams&lt;/a&gt; and picked up Roth, the blitzing linebacker on the outside. Williams saw the problem and pulled out as quickly as he could from his guard position take out Roth on the edge. It was a split-second too late, as Roth sped rushed far enough that there was nothing Williams could do.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Sometimes the issue was miscommunication between Palmer and the receivers. On first-and-15 at Cleveland's 29 yard line, Palmer dropped back threw it to the right with no Bengals receiver in the picture frame. Coles' route went in while Palmer looked for Coles to go out.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;But mostly, it was pressure -- whether it was really there or not.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;On third-and-17 at the Browns 31-yard line, Palmer takes the shotgun snap, feels pressured on the edges and scrambles up the middle. The Browns only rushed three guys. Wimbley took a wide angle around Roland, who locked up with the defensive end six yards behind the line of scrimmage. Wimbley used his upper body strength to make continued progress -- it was like Roland really wasn't there -- showing up in Palmer's peripheral vision. That was enough for Palmer, who ran for 12 yards, finished with a terribly uncomfortable dive into the turf, setting up the game's first score of the day.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;And sometimes you can only say, it was a bad throw.On third-and-five at Cleveland's 47-yard line with 14:02 left in the second quarter, Palmer takes the shotgun snap. With a great pocket, Palmer overthrows Coles,  nearly picked by Brodney Poole. Bengals punt. On first-and-ten at the Bengals 34-yard line, Palmer drops back and feels pressure that wasn't there. He rushed the throw to Coles running a crossing pattern, which also fell incomplete.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;And sometimes you just take the hit. With 9:12 left in the first half, the Bengals lined up first-and-ten at Cleveland's 42-yard line. Palmer faked the handoff to Larry Johnson. Dennis Roland locked up with Matt Roth, who bull-rushed Roland into the pocket. Palmer saw the pressure, moved up and sidestepped behind Roland. Kamerion Wimbley lined up at the right outside linebacker spot, latched onto Daniel Coats. Once he saw the play-action, Wimbley shrugged off Coats, readjusted to Palmer stepping up and leveled him. Palmer tried to make a throw to the left in an area  without any Bengals receivers -- except for &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2580/Chad_Ochocinco&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Chad Ochocinco&lt;/a&gt; about eight yards away. Intentional grounding. On the next play, Palmer watched defensive back Mike Adams come off the edge, unblocked. Palmer let go of the football well before he was ready, forcing a terribly underthrown football to skip to a waiting Laveranues Coles. On third-and-20, Palmer drops back. Protection was very good. He had time. However, being knocked around that much that early in the game causes one to have alarm bells violently ringing in ones head well before they should. Palmer takes off, reaching the line of scrimmage and throwing across the field to Coles in the middle of the field. Incomplete. Drive comes to a merciful end. Thank the lord. Bengals punt.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;And sometimes there's nothing left to do. With 11:43 left in the third quarter, Palmer completed a third-and-six pass to Chad Ochocinco for a 15-yard gain. Wimbley came off the right side, using his speed to put Whitworth in a predicament. Either hold the hell out of the defensive end, or let him crush Carson Palmer. Whitworth held, negating a 15-yard pass and a first down. Cincinnati would punt after a six-yard screen pass to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/4276/Brian_Leonard&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Brian Leonard&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;As mostly everyone else, I would love for this offense to explode. However, sometimes you have to take what you're given. And the Bengals have been given a powerful rushing offense that's working nearly every week, whereas the passing offense is struggling mightily. So the question shouldn't be why aren't the Bengals throwing the football more. We already know why. It's because it's just not working right now and forcing it to work would be -- in the great words of Mr. Mackey -- &quot;bad, mmmkay?&quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Carson Palmer &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/Browns-Bengals-Postgame-Quotes/7e64039c-3cbd-48c3-aa4d-6b52d4ec8e0b&quot;&gt;said it best after the game&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;ldquo;We came in with the game plan that we wanted to take some shots, but  they were going to play a certain way and against two shells and have  two high safeties. We had a couple plays where we were going to take  some shots, but on one of them I scrambled on for seven or eight yards,  and the other we took a check-down. They weren&amp;rsquo;t going to come out of  what they were doing defensively. They weren&amp;rsquo;t going to give us single  high looks and let us throw the ball over their heads. They let us run  for 200 yards. We stuck with the game plan once we figured out what  their game plan was and kept pushing the ball.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Where the passing offense struggles, the rushing offense flourishes&lt;/b&gt;. Let's realize a few things. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/3067/Cedric_Benson&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Cedric Benson&lt;/a&gt; has missed back-to-back games and the last 10 quarters. He's still in the top ten with 859 yards rushing. Benson's getting healthy again and when he returns, he's going to run with very, very fresh legs. If that's not scary exciting, then I don't know what scary exciting means. Actually, I don't know what scary exciting means anyway.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Benson has missed the previous two games. What have the Bengals done in Benson's absence? They've averaged 193.5 yards rushing -- which is the best two-game stretch all season. Let me put that further perspective. Before Oakland, the Bengals had the league's 11th best rushing offense, averaging 122.3 yards-per-game. With a Monday Night Football game left, the Bengals are now ranked seventh, averaging 135.3 yards-per-game. They've jumped four points in the rankings, and added 13 yards to their average.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;All without Cedric Benson. In the great words of Cleveland, &quot;that's nasty.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;But as impressive as Bernard Scott was last week, Larry Johnson's performance against the Cleveland Browns was great. And guess what? It wouldn't have happened with the great effort by the Bengals offensive line.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;On third-and-one at the Bengals 44-yard line with 8:34 left in the first quarter, Cincinnati lines up double tight end single back formation. Palmer does his funky right-handed exchange to Larry Johnson. Within the first frame after the ball is snapped, the Bengals offensive line had opened a hole at the point of attack. Daniel Coats and Andrew Whitworth sealed the right side. Bobbie Williams turned &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1498/Shaun_Rogers&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Shaun Rogers&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/21939/Kyle_Cook&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Kyle Cook&lt;/a&gt; neutralized Cleveland's inside linebacker and the left side of the offensive line eliminated any trailing defenders protecting cutback lanes. Johnson squeezed through the hole between Williams and Whitworth on the right, dodged a tackle by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/3400/Abram_Elam&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Abram Elam&lt;/a&gt; and fell forward for a ten-yard gain and the first down.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;On the next play, Johnson gets the handoff. Andrew Whitworth sealed the inside linebacker. Bobbie Williams and Kyle Cook slowed the defensive end and tackle respectively while Jeremi Johnson punishes the outside linebacker for the gull of trying to make a play in the backfield. Johnson sidestepped behind Jeremi, cut back to the right behind Williams' block and ran  down the right hashmark for another 12 yard gain.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;On second-and-ten at the Bengals 34-yard line with 10:59 left in the second quarter, Palmer hands the football off to Johnson. Cincinnati lined up big-formation with Andrew Whitworth outside of Dennis Roland at right tackle and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/34368/Anthony_Collins&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Anthony Collins&lt;/a&gt; at left tackle. Every offensive lineman had a hat on a defensive player. The secondary made first contact on Johnson about eight yards past the line of scrimmage. On the next play, Johnson picked up another seven yards thanks to a kick out block on Wimbley by fullback Jeremi Johnson.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Even Bernard Scott had his moments. After Nate Livings was called for offensive holding, the Bengals were pushed back to their own 27-yard line with first-and-twenty. Every offensive linemen had a hat on a Browns defender. Not just that, the line was pushing back the Browns defense and not allowing the defender to shrug off the block. And it was Jeremi Johnson, once again, who made the initial block that kicked out an outside linebacker looking for glory on a stop in the backfield. Scott fought off a Mike Adams attempted tackle for ten yards, picking up 21 yards and a first down in the process.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;When stargazing, you finally find the star named &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/71203/Andre_Smith&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Andre Smith&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;. The problem with watching the offensive line during a live game, is that you don't always know who is in the game before the snap. More than any team, the Bengals employ a rotation with their offensive tackles that no two plays will have the same personnel on the line. On the first play of the second quarter, the Bengals lined up at Cincinnati's 48 yard-line on first down. Andre Smith made his first appearance (that we could tell) at right tackle with Andrew Whitworth on Smith's outside shoulder. Kenyon Coleman was Smith's guy. At the snap, Smith rose and sat in pass protection, ready to receive Coleman, who was very slow off the ball. Smith allowed Coleman an outside move, keeping pace with the defensive end, who even resorted to a spin move. Good job, ol' rook. The play, however, did break down after outside linebacker &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1213/David_Bowens&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;David Bowens&lt;/a&gt; blitzed up the middle. Bobbie Williams did pick him up, but Bowens had already won the battle simply with a quicker step to the outside. Palmer sprinted down the right sidelines for a five-yard gain.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Smith would make sporadic appearances throughout the game. While not noticeable, he made quality blocks.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;On first-and-ten at Cleveland's 32 yard-line, Smith lined up at right tackle with Whitworth on his outside shoulder. Smith attacked Robaire Smith with Bernard Scott coming from behind. While Andre didn't move Robaire, the Browns defender wasn't able to make a move on the runner either. Scott picked up 11 yards on the play. On the next play, the Bengals called a sweep to the left away from Andre Smith, who slowed Robaire's progress down the line of scrimmage, looking at the second level for any unsuspecting linebacker to break in half. Good day, ol' rook.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It's my firm belief that this is the most complete Bengals squad that Marvin Lewis has ever put together. It might be the best squad in 20 years of Bengals football. They are winning with a strong rushing offense and a powerful defense. There's things to fix. There always is. But I believe that this Bengals squad can beat any team in the NFL this year because their strengths always dictates championship football. Perhaps I'm banging the homer drum. I've done that before and I'm not afraid to show how proud I am of this squad. So I'm enjoying it. It hasn't happened a lot in my lifetime.&lt;/p&gt;
  


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      <title>Browns vs. Bears Primer - Joshua Cribbs and Devin Hester</title>
      <guid>http://www.dawgsbynature.com/2009/11/1/1109513/browns-vs-bears-primer-joshua</guid>
      <author>Chris Pokorny</author>
      <link>http://www.dawgsbynature.com/2009/11/1/1109513/browns-vs-bears-primer-joshua</link>
      <pubDate>Sun, 01 Nov 2009 04:29:40 -0000</pubDate>
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  &lt;div class=&quot;photo-tpl photo-tpl-right_landscape&quot;&gt;

    &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dawgsbynature.com/photos/browns-vs-bears-primer-joshua&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;Chicago Bears cornerback Zackary Bowman (35) celebrates an interception during the first quarter of an NFL preseason football game against the Cleveland Browns in Chicago on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2009. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)&quot; class=&quot;ap_photo&quot; src=&quot;http://cdn1.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/156087/50625_browns_bears_football.jpg&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
    
    &lt;div class=&quot;photo-meta&quot;&gt;
      &lt;p class=&quot;by clearfix&quot;&gt;
        
          &lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dawgsbynature.com/photos/browns-vs-bears-primer-joshua&quot;&gt;More photos &amp;raquo;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
        
        
          by M. Spencer Green - AP
        
      &lt;/p&gt;
    
      
        &lt;p class=&quot;cap&quot;&gt;
          
            &lt;strong&gt;3 months ago:&lt;/strong&gt; 
          
          Chicago Bears cornerback Zackary Bowman (35) celebrates an interception during the first quarter of an NFL preseason football game against the Cleveland Browns in Chicago on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2009. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)
        &lt;/p&gt;
      
    &lt;/div&gt;  
    
    &lt;p class=&quot;more-link&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dawgsbynature.com/photos/browns-vs-bears-primer-joshua&quot;&gt;Browse more photos &amp;raquo;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

  &lt;/div&gt;


&lt;p&gt;Here are some  news, notes and nuggets as the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/CLE&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Browns&lt;/a&gt; get set to take on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/CHI&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Bears&lt;/a&gt; on November 1st, 2009:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;This will be the battle of the best kick returners, with &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2638/Joshua_Cribbs&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Joshua Cribbs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; on one side and &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/3092/Devin_Hester&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Devin Hester&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; on the other side. Hester doesn't touch the ball on kickoffs anymore though after absorbing the duties of being the Bears' top wide receiver. Cribbs tried to make a similar adjustment to the receiver position, but his output (10 catches for 38 yards) has been far less impressive. Based on Cribbs' style, it makes sense why he's been more productive in the Wildcat formation on run plays.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Just which player &lt;i&gt;is&lt;/i&gt; better at returning kicks? Quite honestly, I think it's unfair to compare the players' contrasting styles. Between the two, personally, I couldn't trade Cribbs for Hester.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;The Bears do have a suitable replacement this season at returning kickoffs. Rookie &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/71530/Johnny_Knox&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Johnny Knox&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;, who has also emerged as a decent wide receiver, is averaging 29.0 yards a pop in 18 attempts. Cribbs is averaging 28.9 yards a pop in 25 attempts, but also returns punts.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Almost all of Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and Minnesota will see the Browns vs. Bears game on CBS at 1:00 PM EST, according to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.the506.com/nflmaps/2009/08-CBS.html&quot;&gt;TV Distribution Maps&lt;/a&gt;. If you hated the announcing crew from the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/PIT&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Steelers&lt;/a&gt; game two weeks ago (Kevin Harlan and Solomon Wilcots), then I suggest you mute your television screen in advance this week.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;People in the Cleveland area will also get to see the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/SFX&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;49ers&lt;/a&gt; take on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/IND&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Indianapolis Colts&lt;/a&gt; at 1:00 PM on FOX. I love watching &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2807/Peyton_Manning&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Peyton Manning&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; quarterback, and I rarely get to see him in non-prime time games, so I'm sure I'll be flipping channels throughout our game. Pretty much the whole country will get to see &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1941/Brett_Favre&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Brett Favre&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; return to Lambeau to face the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/MIN&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Vikings&lt;/a&gt; at 4:00 PM on FOX. That game is begging for a ratings grabber, and I can't wait to see it.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Kicker &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2640/Phil_Dawson&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Phil Dawson&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; looks ready to return as the Browns' field goal kicker this week. The team didn't release &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1127/Billy_Cundiff&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Billy Cundiff&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/b&gt;though, and there's a chance he might be active as well to continue handling kickoff duties this week. The Browns have not attempted a field goal longer than 31 yards since Dawson's injury.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;With tight ends &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2655/Steve_Heiden&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Steve Heiden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;, &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1901/Robert_Royal&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Robert Royal&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;, AND &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2428/Greg_Estandia&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Greg Estandia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; all on the injury report, expect &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2153/Michael_Gaines&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Michael Gaines&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; to continue seeing action this week.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Offensive coordinator &lt;b&gt;Brian Daboll&lt;/b&gt; indicated that &lt;b&gt;Joshua Cribbs&lt;/b&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2009/10/cleveland_browns_insider_offen.html&quot;&gt;might be used more at running back&lt;/a&gt; moving forward. If that happens this week, I'll be both happy and upset. Happy that we went through with it, but upset that Daboll blew the potential surprise facing the Bears' defense.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Browns RB &lt;b&gt;Jamal Lewis&lt;/b&gt; as struggled with a 3.4 yards per carry average this season, but Bears RB &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/34543/Matt_Forte&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Matt Forte&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; hasn't had much more luck with a 3.5 yards per carry average.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Chicago is set to have backup running back &lt;b&gt;&quot;The Other Adrian Peterson&quot;&lt;/b&gt; return to action this week. He has been out since Week 4 with a knee injury.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;A Browns wide receiver has still yet to catch a touchdown this season. After &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2600/Carson_Palmer&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Carson Palmer&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; torched the Bears for five touchdowns last week, will that change this week for Cleveland? You have to imagine that &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2628/Derek_Anderson&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Derek Anderson&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; will have his &quot;beasting&quot; game at &lt;i&gt;some&lt;/i&gt; point...or not.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;With &lt;b&gt;D'Qwell Jackson&lt;/b&gt; out, the Browns' two leading tacklers this season are &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1210/Eric_Barton&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Eric Barton&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; and &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/3400/Abram_Elam&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Abram Elam&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;, both former &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/NYJ&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Jets&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2919/Jay_Cutler&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Jay Cutler&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; was picked 3 times last week; the Browns' defense has 3 picks all season.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;The Browns will be facing their former teammate, RT &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2680/Kevin_Shaffer&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Kevin Shaffer&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;, who now starts for the Bears. Likewise, the Bears will be facing RT &lt;b&gt;John St. Clair&lt;/b&gt;, their former starter.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Last week, Bears CB &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/3123/Charles_Tillman&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Charles Tillman&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; struggled all day against &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2580/Chad_Ochocinco&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Chad Ochocinco&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;, yielding two touchdowns and over 100 yards receiving to the loud-mouthed receiver. CB &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/34539/Zackary_Bowman&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Zackary Bowman&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; also struggled, giving up an early touchdown to WR &lt;b&gt;Chris Henry&lt;/b&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;This is the second time the Browns are headed to Chicago this season. They played their on September 3, 2009 for their final preseason game.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween! Also, don't forget to change your clocks, otherwise you'll mis-time the start of the Browns game!&lt;/p&gt;
  


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      <title>Browns Can Only Muster a Lucky-Bounce Field Goal in 31-3 Loss to Packers</title>
      <guid>http://www.dawgsbynature.com/2009/10/28/1104540/browns-can-only-muster-a-lucky</guid>
      <author>Chris Pokorny</author>
      <link>http://www.dawgsbynature.com/2009/10/28/1104540/browns-can-only-muster-a-lucky</link>
      <pubDate>Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:18:45 -0000</pubDate>
      <description type="html">

  &lt;div class=&quot;photo-tpl photo-tpl-big_time&quot;&gt;

    &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dawgsbynature.com/photos/browns-can-only-muster-a-lucky&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;The Browns weren't even close to competing.&quot; class=&quot;ap_photo&quot; src=&quot;http://cdn2.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/152208/53942_packers_browns_football.jpg&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
    
    &lt;div class=&quot;photo-meta&quot;&gt;
      &lt;p class=&quot;by clearfix&quot;&gt;
        
          &lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dawgsbynature.com/photos/browns-can-only-muster-a-lucky&quot;&gt;More photos &amp;raquo;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
        
        
          by Mark Duncan - AP
        
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        &lt;p class=&quot;cap&quot;&gt;
          
          The Browns weren't even close to competing.
        &lt;/p&gt;
      
    &lt;/div&gt;  
    
    &lt;p class=&quot;more-link&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dawgsbynature.com/photos/browns-can-only-muster-a-lucky&quot;&gt;Browse more photos &amp;raquo;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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&lt;table bgcolor=&quot;#ffffff&quot; border=&quot;1&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; width=&quot;454&quot; style=&quot;margin-bottom: 0px;&quot;&gt;
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&lt;td bgcolor=&quot;#323f36&quot; width=&quot;192&quot; colspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #fff;&quot;&gt;GREEN BAY PACKERS (4-2)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td bgcolor=&quot;#df6208&quot; width=&quot;70&quot; colspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #FFFFFF;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;WEEK 7&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td bgcolor=&quot;#64390a&quot; width=&quot;192&quot; colspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #FFFFFF;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;CLEVELAND BROWNS (1-6)&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
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&lt;td align=&quot;center&quot; width=&quot;192&quot; colspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.prideofdetroit.com/images/admin/Green_Bay_Packers.jpg&quot; height=&quot;120&quot; style=&quot;vertical-align: middle;&quot; width=&quot;160&quot; /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td bgcolor=&quot;#d4d4d4&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; width=&quot;70&quot; style=&quot;vertical-align: middle; font-size: 23px;&quot; colspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;VS.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td align=&quot;center&quot; width=&quot;192&quot; colspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.prideofdetroit.com/images/admin/Cleveland_Browns.jpg&quot; height=&quot;120&quot; style=&quot;vertical-align: middle;&quot; width=&quot;160&quot; /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#df6208&quot;&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center; font-size: 32px;&quot; colspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;31&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center; font-size: 32px;&quot; colspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;3&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Embarrassed in our own home stadium. Before the season started, I was hoping that we could make it to the end of the season without seeing fans with bags over their heads. We didn't meet that goal; heck, we couldn't even make it to the half-way point of the season to reach that point.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;As goofy as Mangini sounded in his post-game press conference, he was right about the things the team needs to work on:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;(On the style of play he is hoping to get from his players every week)-&lt;/b&gt; &quot;Aggressive, intense, tough, physical, finishing, being able to respond to a successful play that our opponent has and come out and create a successful play ourselves, consistency, execution, communication.&amp;nbsp; Good, solid, sound, fundamental, tough football.&amp;nbsp; Physical football.&amp;nbsp; Intense football. That&amp;rsquo;s what I want every week.&amp;nbsp; That&amp;rsquo;s what I want every single week.&amp;nbsp; We&amp;rsquo;ll make mistakes and there will be plays that aren&amp;rsquo;t executed as well as they should [be] or things that we can do better, but if you play at that level every single week, you give yourself the best chance to succeed.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In summary, we need to work on &lt;i&gt;everything&lt;/i&gt;. For a &quot;veteran&quot; head coach, shouldn't we be much further along at this point?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;Let's get to the review of the game...&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;WEEK 7 - &lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;GREEN BAY PACKERS VS. &lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;CLEVELAND BROWNS&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt; &lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;(COMPLETE GAME REVIEW)&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;GOAT OF THE GAME:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2628/Derek_Anderson&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Derek Anderson&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/b&gt; On the Browns' second series of the game, I was really impressed with &lt;b&gt;Derek Anderson&lt;/b&gt;. He made quick decisions to the right players, and his passes were thrown at chest-level with a little bit of speed taken off of them. And then...the timeout came. After that, it was a complete meltdown at the quarterback position. Fumbled snap. Forcing the ball to a triple-covered receiver at the goal line. Horrible accuracy. Anderson should have lost his job with this effort, but Mangini said that's not happening.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;I could list a lot more goats, but then I'd have nothing left to talk about in the &quot;general notes&quot; section.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;AWARDING GAME BALLS&lt;/b&gt;&lt;b&gt;:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2153/Michael_Gaines&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Michael Gaines&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/b&gt; That's right. A tight end we just signed as a backup while &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1901/Robert_Royal&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Robert Royal&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; and &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2655/Steve_Heiden&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Steve Heiden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; are out gets the game ball. All he had to do was catch 2 passes for 30 yards too. Both times he caught the ball, it helped us move closer to the end zone. Both catches were ones that Royal probably would've dropped too. Gaines' second catch was pretty spectacular, as the big man reached underneath and through his defender to haul in the pass while falling to the ground.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;GENERAL THOUGHTS&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ol&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 25px; width: 190px; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/197648/09week7packers.jpg&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;photo&quot; src=&quot;http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/197648/09week7packers_medium.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;09week7packers_medium&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br id=&quot;1256746520872&quot; /&gt; &lt;i&gt;The Packers fans had a lot to celebrate about in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/CLE&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Cleveland Browns&lt;/a&gt; Stadium.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br id=&quot;1254714572576&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;One Wildcat Play:&lt;/b&gt; Two years ago, the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/MIA&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Miami Dolphins&lt;/a&gt; were the worst team in football. Last year, they improved upon that because they had the coaching staff that was creative enough on offense to implement and stick with the Wildcat formation. They didn't have the pieces to the puzzle at receiver to be a traditional offense, so they utilized whatever assets they had. It paid off, and it didn't even matter &lt;i&gt;who&lt;/i&gt; was in the Wildcat either! It worked!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mangini should've known that first hand from playing the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/NYJ&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Jets&lt;/a&gt; twice. We saw some more promise against the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/PIT&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Steelers&lt;/a&gt; last week in using the formation more, but this week we only saw it once. Mangini claimed it was because we fell behind to quickly. I can understand that if you're down 21-0 in the first quarter, but half-way through the second quarter, it was still a 7-3 game. Our offense is clearly struggling, and for whatever reason we're failing to use our next best weapon after the departures of &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2695/Kellen_Winslow&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Kellen Winslow&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; and &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2646/Braylon_Edwards&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Braylon Edwards&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Stop Rolling to the Left! &lt;/b&gt;The only reason &lt;b&gt;Derek Anderson&lt;/b&gt; should be rolling to the left is if it's a designed play, or if he steps ahead of the protection because the pass rusher was angled into the backfield. Instead, we again got to see Anderson roll to his left when &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/16701/Joe_Thomas&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Joe Thomas&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; had his defender dominated.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Cundiff Still Perfect:&lt;/b&gt; Kicker &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1127/Billy_Cundiff&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Billy Cundiff&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; still hasn't missed a kick since joining the Browns, which is pretty remarkable given his lack of accuracy historically. He shanked his 22-yard field goal attempt in the second quarter, but it got a lucky bounce off the upright and still went through. Can you believe that? We were up 3-0 in the second quarter.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Smart Football:&lt;/b&gt; The Packers played smart football against the Browns (although it was pretty easy to begin with). Case in point: as soon as the Browns brought S &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/3400/Abram_Elam&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Abram Elam&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; on a safety blitz, Rodgers immediately fired the ball to slot receiver &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1940/Donald_Driver&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Donald Driver&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; for a 70+ yard touchdown. Compare that to Anderson, who always points at the defense as if he recognizes something, only to see him throw it into double coverage or see a running back run the ball right into a stack of defenders.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Missing Edwards:&lt;/b&gt; Considering the lack of production we're seeing from the receiver position, I'm certainly missing the threat that &lt;b&gt;Braylon Edwards&lt;/b&gt; offered. &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/71105/Brian_Robiskie&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Brian Robiskie&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; was targeted minimally and was held without a catch, and I don't even remember seeing &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1271/Chansi_Stuckey&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Chansi Stuckey&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; take the field. &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/71104/Mohamed_Massaquoi&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Mohamed Massaquoi&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; was targeted several times, but the passes were usually way off.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Lack of a Pass Rush:&lt;/b&gt; The lack of a pass rush was more embarrassing against the Packers than any other game this season. What has changed that in Week 1, we were pressuring &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1941/Brett_Favre&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Brett Favre&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; early and often, but that in Week 7, we can't even lay a finger on &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1977/Aaron_Rodgers&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Aaron Rodgers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;, one of the most-sacked quarterbacks in the league? We're too &quot;average&quot; on the defensive line with no youth to speak of. I don't think &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1498/Shaun_Rogers&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Shaun Rogers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; is &quot;quitting&quot; on the team, but I can't imagine he's giving it his all when everyone else around him is playing like crap. I don't blame him, because all of his work usually goes for nothing when other guys are getting dominated.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Patience With Maiava:&lt;/b&gt; I can't jump too much on &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/71103/Kaluka_Maiava&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Kaluka Maiava&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; because the only way to see if he can be a starter in the future is to let him get some reps &lt;i&gt;now&lt;/i&gt;. There was a noticeable dropoff from &lt;b&gt;D'Qwell Jackson&lt;/b&gt; though, and it showed when &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/16772/Ryan_Grant&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Ryan Grant&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; gashed the Browns' on the ground all game long. Although it was nearly impossible to do, I believe the announcers also commented that Maiava was the man who came over late when Elam blitzed on Driver's big touchdown catch and run. Maiava was also flagged for a personal foul.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Rogers' Tripping Penalty:&lt;/b&gt; Can someone offer clarification on how &lt;b&gt;Shaun Rogers&lt;/b&gt; was called for a tripping penalty? I'm not saying he didn't do it, but it seems unusual for a defensive player to do that, and I couldn't find the foul when they showed a replay of it.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Cribbs Fumbles Again:&lt;/b&gt; I said this earlier in the season: the Browns need to stop putting &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2638/Joshua_Cribbs&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Joshua Cribbs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; into situations where he's going to catch the ball and get hit right afterward. He's a &lt;i&gt;catch and run&lt;/i&gt; receiver. He's still to blame for fumbling the ball on his short catch, but the play doesn't utilize his strengths to begin with.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;float: right; margin-left: 10px; width: 204px; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/189450/09week5wright.jpg&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt; &lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/197652/09week7grant.jpg&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;photo&quot; src=&quot;http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/197652/09week7grant_medium.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;09week7grant_medium&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;i&gt;RB Ryan Grant tore through the Browns' defense for his first 100+ yard performance of the season.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br id=&quot;1254714572576&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Kicked Ball Out of Bounds:&lt;/b&gt; The Packers kicked the ball out of bounds twice. That removes the chance for some excitement from Cribbs, but it does give us great field position, something that the contending teams in the NFL would take full advantage of. Instead, we punt the ball and watch the opposition drive 90 yards in a play or two.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Too Much Regression:&lt;/b&gt; As bad as &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/16698/Brady_Quinn&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Brady Quinn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; and &lt;b&gt;Derek Anderson&lt;/b&gt; have been this season, I don't believe this is the best that either of them have to offer. Both quarterbacks showed a lot more under the previous regime -- why have they regressed instead of improved? Sure, they've lost &quot;weapons&quot; on offense, but that's not what the problem is. The accuracy, decision-making, and overall confidence are just down the drain.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Case in Point:&lt;/b&gt; In the third quarter, &lt;b&gt;Derek Anderson&lt;/b&gt; fired the ball...right to &lt;b&gt;Charles Woodsen&lt;/b&gt;. Even Woodsen looked surprised, because the ball was thrown to his outside shoulder and the receiver he was covering had already broken on the inside, pretty well ahead of him.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Losing Streak at Home:&lt;/b&gt; The last time the Browns won a game at home was last season's &quot;WTF&quot; performance against the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/NYG&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;New York Giants&lt;/a&gt;. That was the last Browns game that I personally attended. I might be attending the Monday Night Football game against the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/BAL&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Baltimore Ravens&lt;/a&gt;. If we win, something fishy will be going on...&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Poor Officiating Decision:&lt;/b&gt; The officiating wasn't really a problem this week, but it didn't make sense for the officials upstairs to not call for a booth review when &lt;b&gt;Ryan Grant &lt;/b&gt;lost the ball heading into the end zone just after the two-minute warning in the first half. The replay might not have been conclusive enough to overturn the call, but it seemed like enough to warrant a review. Boo.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;St. Clair's Scuffle: &lt;/b&gt;When &lt;b&gt;John St. Clair&lt;/b&gt; was mentioned on the Browns' first offensive series for getting into a &quot;scuffle&quot;, it was the first time I've heard his name mentioned since Week 2 or Week 3 (which is a good thing, I suppose). Since St. Clair used to play for the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/CHI&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Chicago Bears&lt;/a&gt;, I wonder if his past rivalry with the Packers had anything to do with the early push-fest.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Put in the Rookies:&lt;/b&gt; If we're going to lose in a blowout, then I at least want to have the rookies gain some experience. That includes playing &lt;b&gt;Jerome Harrison&lt;/b&gt;, &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/71106/David_Veikune&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;David Veikune&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;, and &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/71101/Coye_Francies&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Coye Francies&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; more. Francies was inactive again, and Veikune was only seeing reps on special teams it appeared. It's smelling like Crennel all over again.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Brownies:&lt;/b&gt; I couldn't find anything positive about this game except Gaines' performance, although TE &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2428/Greg_Estandia&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Greg Estandia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; also had two short catches...I'm worried about blackouts occurring later in the season...the Browns gave up another big run to a quarterback, this time to &lt;b&gt;Aaron Rodgers&lt;/b&gt; for 19 yards...I can't believe I picked the Browns to score 28 points in this game, although I still correctly picked us to lose...I didn't mention the running backs for a reason -- they were a non-factor.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Up next, the Browns will head to Chicago to face the Bears. The Bears were atrocious against the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/CIN&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Cincinnati Bengals&lt;/a&gt; this past Sunday, but they know they are a better team than that. If &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2919/Jay_Cutler&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Jay Cutler&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; gets time, he will rip a defense apart. Considering the lack of pressure we're generating, it looks like it'll be another long day for our defense.&lt;/p&gt;
  


      </description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>A Most Delicious Matchup</title>
      <guid>http://www.acmepackingcompany.com/2009/10/23/1098167/a-most-delicious-matchup</guid>
      <author>Mitchell_M</author>
      <link>http://www.acmepackingcompany.com/2009/10/23/1098167/a-most-delicious-matchup</link>
      <pubDate>Fri, 23 Oct 2009 23:58:37 -0000</pubDate>
      <description type="html">


&lt;p&gt;Mmm...&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/CLE&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Browns&lt;/a&gt;...&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://cdn0.sbnation.com/imported_assets/278292/homerdrool.png&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;photo&quot; src=&quot;http://cdn1.sbnation.com/imported_assets/278292/homerdrool_medium.png&quot; height=&quot;162&quot; alt=&quot;Homerdrool_medium&quot; width=&quot;154&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now, I know what you're thinking.&amp;nbsp; Historically this season, I've been more negative than some of you would care for.&amp;nbsp; I look at it as being more realistic, but at the same time it comes off as having a serious lack of faith in the team.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Allow me to attempt to salvage my reputation by coming out and saying that this is easily the best matchup of the year for the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/GBP&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Packers&lt;/a&gt; and that they should absolutely roll on the Browns.&amp;nbsp; Why do I say that?&amp;nbsp; The answer is after the jump.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;


  
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;CLE rushing vs. GB defense: &lt;/strong&gt;Jamal Lewis used to be the workhorsiest running back in the NFL.&amp;nbsp; He's fallen off, to say the least (67 carries, 233 yards, 0 TDs).&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2653/Jerome_Harrison&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Jerome Harrison&lt;/a&gt; was supposed to be change-of-pace back in the vein of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1284/Leon_Washington&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Leon Washington&lt;/a&gt;, Chris Johnson, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/3032/Darren_Sproles&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Darren Sproles&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp; Needless to say, he has not realized that potential yet (61 carries, 228 yards, 0 TDs).&amp;nbsp; Rookie James Davis looked promising, but was lost for the season.&amp;nbsp; The Cleveland stable of running backs, ranked 18th in yardage, is mediocre at best.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The offensive line isn't much better.&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/16701/Joe_Thomas&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Joe Thomas&lt;/a&gt; (6'6&quot;, 312) is a stud at LT, but he specializes more in pass protection.&amp;nbsp; The rest of the line is not nearly as studly.&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2613/Eric_Steinbach&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Eric Steinbach&lt;/a&gt; (6'6&quot;, 295) is an athletic LG who can move in space, but has historically had problems with sustaining blocks and keeping his base.&amp;nbsp; Rookie center &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/71102/Alex_Mack&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Alex Mack&lt;/a&gt; (6'4&quot;, 311), backup center/starting RG Hank Fraley (6'3&quot;, 310), and RT John St. Clair (6'6&quot;, 320) are merely average.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Green Bay has surprisingly turned into a surprisingly stout run defense over the course of the season.&amp;nbsp; They're ranked 16th against the run, but the difference between 10th ranked Tennessee and 20th ranked New England is less than 20 yards. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1921/Nick_Barnett&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Nick Barnett&lt;/a&gt; seems to have recovered fully from his ACL injury, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/3212/Brandon_Chillar&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Brandon Chillar&lt;/a&gt; has continued to excel as a rotation linebacker, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/71461/Clay_Matthews&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Clay Matthews&lt;/a&gt; had a small coming-out party last week, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1948/A_J_Hawk&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;A.J. Hawk&lt;/a&gt; has been relegated to the bench for over 75% of the defensive snaps.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Advantage: &lt;/strong&gt;Green Bay.&amp;nbsp; Having finally settled on a rotation for the front seven, the defense is starting to hit its stride.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;CLE passing vs. GB defense: &lt;/strong&gt;The only bright spot in the passing offense is rookie WR Mohamed Massaquoi.&amp;nbsp; The Georgia product may not be able to recreate &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2646/Braylon_Edwards&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Braylon Edwards&lt;/a&gt;' production (or drops), but he has already established himself as a productive member of the NFL.&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1468/Mike_Furrey&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Mike Furrey&lt;/a&gt;, former St. Louis safety turned receiver, is a homeless man's &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2545/Wes_Welker&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Wes Welker&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp; From there, it's all downhill in Cleveland.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2628/Derek_Anderson&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Derek Anderson&lt;/a&gt; once submitted a stat line of 2/17 for 23 yards and &lt;em&gt;kept his job&lt;/em&gt;.&amp;nbsp; That's how bad the quarterback situation is in Cleveland.&amp;nbsp; Between him and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/16698/Brady_Quinn&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Brady Quinn&lt;/a&gt;, it's hard to declare a winner.&amp;nbsp; Quinn is easily more accurate than Anderson, but Anderson has the arm that can make all the necessary throws.&amp;nbsp; If you somehow combined them into a super-conglomerate-quarterback, they might be servicable.&amp;nbsp; But until then, Eric Mangini will have to continue choosing between dukey and doo-doo.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;And by the way, how in the world does Eric Mangini still have a job?&amp;nbsp; The Brady Quinn Era lasted all of 2.5 games.&amp;nbsp; The second-best player on offense (and second-leading receiver) was Braylon Edwards, who's now a member of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/NYJ&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Jets&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp; They were reportedly shopping &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2638/Joshua_Cribbs&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Joshua Cribbs&lt;/a&gt; before the deadline, presumably because they don't want to have any success on special teams.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Green Bay &lt;em&gt;finally &lt;/em&gt;is starting to figure out a rotation of linebackers that work well with blitz packages, especially on passing downs.&amp;nbsp; The group of Matthews-Barnett-Chillar-Kampman has produced well, especially when Kampman moves onto the line.&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1946/Al_Harris&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Al Harris&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1991/Charles_Woodson&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Charles Woodson&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1935/Nick_Collins&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Nick Collins&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1990/Tramon_Williams&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Tramon Williams&lt;/a&gt;, and finally healthy (for now) &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1924/Atari_Bigby&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Atari Bigby&lt;/a&gt; are licking their chops this week.&amp;nbsp; It might get ugly.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Advantage: &lt;/strong&gt;Definitely Green Bay.&amp;nbsp; The only thing preventing this defense from dominating this week is injuries.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;GB rushing vs. CLE defense: &lt;/strong&gt;Cleveland has a defense which has been exploited like a British colony.&amp;nbsp; Their 30th-ranked run defense is anchored by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1498/Shaun_Rogers&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Shaun Rogers&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp; Is it any coincidence that all the teams that the 6'4&quot; 350 lb.&amp;nbsp;mammoth tackle has played for have been awful against the run?&amp;nbsp; Probably, especially now that Cleveland defensive star D'Qwell Jackson is out for the year.&amp;nbsp; But the rest of Cleveland's front seven are non-descript.&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2885/Robaire_Smith&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Robaire Smith&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1218/Kenyon_Coleman&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Kenyon Coleman&lt;/a&gt; are the main ends, with former Packer Corey Williams rotating in.&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1210/Eric_Barton&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Eric Barton&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2693/Kamerion_Wimbley&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Kamerion Wimbley&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1213/David_Bowens&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;David Bowens&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/71106/David_Veikune&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;David Veikune&lt;/a&gt; will have to step up to replace Jackson's leadership.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Meanwhile, &lt;a href=&quot;http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/features/rumors#2779&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;rumors abound of Ryan Grant's imminent departure &lt;/a&gt;from Green Bay.&amp;nbsp; Well, perhaps &quot;imminent&quot; isn't the right word, but those in charge at 1265 are not pleased and have been looking for ways to improve the position.&amp;nbsp; Whether or not &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1945/Ahman_Green&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Ahman Green&lt;/a&gt; can be considered an improvement is yet to be seen.&amp;nbsp; In any case, Grant is still producing at a slightly-above-average clip (3.8 ypc).&amp;nbsp; Perhaps his numbers are lower because of the offensive line?&amp;nbsp; After all, Grant did finish&amp;nbsp;last year&amp;nbsp;on a relatively strong note, so maybe he is getting primed for a second-half explosion, a la &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/3067/Cedric_Benson&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Cedric Benson&lt;/a&gt; in 2008.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Advantage: &lt;/strong&gt;Green Bay, because Cleveland sucks more at stopping the run than Green Bay does at establishing it.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;GB passing vs. CLE defense: &lt;/strong&gt;I played defensive back in high school, and I was good enough to not get burned on a regular basis.&amp;nbsp; One week, I caught the flu, and tried playing in that week's game after starting to get over it.&amp;nbsp; Two long pass plays later, I was riding the pine for the rest of the game and didn't start the next week.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The point is, if any of the Browns' defensive backs were among the players who caught the flu, they will be in for a long day.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The Browns' pass defense is ranked 23rd, a number that would likely be worse if Cleveland weren't constantly losing and having opponents run the clock out against them.&amp;nbsp; The corners (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/16702/Eric_Wright&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Eric Wright&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/16694/Brandon_McDonald&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Brandon McDonald&lt;/a&gt;) are actually not horrible players, but they're constantly left alone by the putrid safety tandem of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2677/Brodney_Pool&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Brodney Pool&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/3400/Abram_Elam&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Abram Elam&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp; If you thought &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1408/Derrick_Martin&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Derrick Martin&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1930/Jarrett_Bush&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Jarrett Bush&lt;/a&gt; were bad, wait until you see Wright matched up against &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1940/Donald_Driver&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Donald Driver&lt;/a&gt; and pass him off to the safety who isn't there.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Speaking of Green Bay's receivers, they have certainly stepped up in the last few weeks.&amp;nbsp; Seven Packers have over 100 yards receiving on the season, and Driver, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1956/Greg_Jennings&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Greg Jennings&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/4402/James_Jones&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;James Jones&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/34568/Jordy_Nelson&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Jordy Nelson&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/34559/Jermichael_Finley&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Jermichael Finley&lt;/a&gt; are all &lt;em&gt;averaging &lt;/em&gt;over 15.0 yards per catch.&amp;nbsp; As long as the drops don't come back, these guys will get open and get yards.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Oh, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1977/Aaron_Rodgers&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Aaron Rodgers&lt;/a&gt; is awesome.&amp;nbsp; Let's hope he stays healthy despite his dangerous work conditions.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Advantage: &lt;/strong&gt;Green Bay by a long shot.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;No-longer-so-preliminary verdict: &lt;/strong&gt;The biggest thing that worries me about this game is the potential for the team to fall into a trap, given the looming November 1st visit from a certain NFC North team.&amp;nbsp; But before we start repeating the Admiral Ackbar message from Week 3, recognize exactly how different this team is in Week 7.&amp;nbsp; With Atari Bigby healthy, a more suitable replacement for &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1982/Mark_Tauscher&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Mark Tauscher&lt;/a&gt;, and the reunion of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1958/Aaron_Kampman&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Aaron Kampman&lt;/a&gt; and the 3-point stance, this Packers team is far more capable than they were in the first quarter of the season.&lt;/p&gt;
  


 	&lt;fieldset class=&quot;poll-box&quot;&gt;
  &lt;legend&gt;Poll&lt;/legend&gt; 
  &lt;h5 class=&quot;poll-title&quot;&gt;What outcome do you see for Week 7 against Cleveland?&lt;/h5&gt;
  
    
&lt;div id=&quot;poll_container_53625_766993415&quot; class=&quot;poll_container&quot;&gt;
  
    &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option clearfix&quot;&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_percentage&quot; style=&quot;display:none&quot;&gt;82%&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_result&quot;&gt;
      &lt;h5&gt;Big GB win.&lt;/h5&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_bar&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;vote_count&quot;&gt;505&lt;/span&gt; votes&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;/div&gt;
    &lt;/div&gt;
  
    &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option clearfix&quot;&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_percentage&quot; style=&quot;display:none&quot;&gt;9%&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_result&quot;&gt;
      &lt;h5&gt;Slim GB win.&lt;/h5&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_bar&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;vote_count&quot;&gt;61&lt;/span&gt; votes&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;/div&gt;
    &lt;/div&gt;
  
    &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option clearfix&quot;&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_percentage&quot; style=&quot;display:none&quot;&gt;0%&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_result&quot;&gt;
      &lt;h5&gt;Too close to call.&lt;/h5&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_bar&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;vote_count&quot;&gt;6&lt;/span&gt; votes&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;/div&gt;
    &lt;/div&gt;
  
    &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option clearfix&quot;&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_percentage&quot; style=&quot;display:none&quot;&gt;3%&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_result&quot;&gt;
      &lt;h5&gt;Slim CLE win.&lt;/h5&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_bar&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;vote_count&quot;&gt;24&lt;/span&gt; votes&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;/div&gt;
    &lt;/div&gt;
  
    &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option clearfix&quot;&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_percentage&quot; style=&quot;display:none&quot;&gt;2%&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_result&quot;&gt;
      &lt;h5&gt;Big CLE win.&lt;/h5&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_bar&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;vote_count&quot;&gt;16&lt;/span&gt; votes&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;/div&gt;
    &lt;/div&gt;
  
  &lt;p class=&quot;poll-total-votes&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;612&lt;/strong&gt; votes
      
    | &lt;span class=&quot;poll-has-closed&quot;&gt;Poll has closed&lt;/span&gt;
  
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      </description>
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    <item>
      <title>2010 NFL mock draft</title>
      <guid>http://www.mockingthedraft.com/2009/10/9/1077824/2010-nfl-mock-draft-picks-1-16</guid>
      <author>Mocking Dan</author>
      <link>http://www.mockingthedraft.com/2009/10/9/1077824/2010-nfl-mock-draft-picks-1-16</link>
      <pubDate>Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:15:55 -0000</pubDate>
      <description type="html">

  &lt;div class=&quot;photo-tpl photo-tpl-banner&quot;&gt;

    &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dawgsbynature.com/photos/2010-nfl-mock-draft-picks-1-16&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;Photo&quot; class=&quot;ap_photo&quot; src=&quot;http://cdn1.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/131917/33991_utep_texas_football.jpg&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
    
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      &lt;p class=&quot;by clearfix&quot;&gt;
        
          &lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dawgsbynature.com/photos/2010-nfl-mock-draft-picks-1-16&quot;&gt;More photos &amp;raquo;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
        
        
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    &lt;p class=&quot;more-link&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dawgsbynature.com/photos/2010-nfl-mock-draft-picks-1-16&quot;&gt;Browse more photos &amp;raquo;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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&lt;p&gt;Here is the first half of my mock draft. The other half will go up tonight after I get home from work.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Quick note:&lt;/b&gt; I swapped Sam Bradford in the draft for Washington quarterback Jake Locker. The reason was mainly following an email exchange with 3k from &lt;a href=&quot;http://turfshowtimes.com&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Turf Show Times&lt;/a&gt;. And listening to Bradford's recent press conference, it sounds like he's ready to go pro.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;For the draft order, I used the one put together by ejrulz in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mockingthedraft.com/2009/10/7/1074420/really-rough-mock-week-4&quot;&gt;his mock draft&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;1. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/STL&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;St. Louis Rams&lt;/a&gt; - Sam Bradford, QB, Oklahoma&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Rams have no direction on offense. Taking a quarterback first overall would provide as much. Bradford has only played a half this season, but listening to a recent press conference, he sounds like a man ready to go pro. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;2. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/CLE&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Cleveland Browns&lt;/a&gt; - Eric Berry, SS, Tennessee&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Browns might have &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/3400/Abram_Elam&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Abram Elam&lt;/a&gt; currently at strong safety, but Berry looks like a player who comes along once a decade. The Browns need help on the right side of their line, but Berry is hard to pass up.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;3. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/TAM&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Tampa Bay Buccaneers&lt;/a&gt; - Ndamukong Suh, DT, Nebraska&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Whether it's Suh or Oklahoma defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, the Buccaneers need help along the defensive line. Suh has been arguably the best player in college football this season and will be a difference maker immediately.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;4. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/KAN&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Kansas City Chiefs&lt;/a&gt; - Bryan Bulaga, OT, Iowa&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/34459/Branden_Albert&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Branden Albert&lt;/a&gt; has been only average, and that's not good enough for a left tackle. Bulaga has the ability to be an elite player. If his health checks out fine, there's no reason to think he won't be a top five selection.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;5. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/TEN&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Tennessee Titans&lt;/a&gt; - Gerald McCoy, DT, Oklahoma&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Clearly the Tennessee has skipped a beat this season without &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2855/Albert_Haynesworth&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Albert Haynesworth&lt;/a&gt;. Many considered McCoy an early first rounder had he come out following his redshirt sophomore season. He's a quick, penetrating defensive end with great character.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;6. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/SFX&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;San Francisco 49ers&lt;/a&gt; (via Carolina) - Taylor Mays, FS, USC&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is just a great fit for San Francisco. He's the physical presence the team doesn't have in its secondary. Mays might conjure thoughts of Ronnie Lott for Niners fans.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;7. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/DET&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Detroit Lions&lt;/a&gt; - Russell Okung, OT, Oklahoma State&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This would be a tough spot for Detroit with the top two defensive tackles off the board. If that's the case, the team could reach a little bit to take the left tackle many expected them to this season.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;8. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/OAK&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Oakland Raiders&lt;/a&gt; - Carlos Dunlap, DE, Florida&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Lame Al Davis jokes aside, Dunlap is a great fit for the Raiders. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1702/Richard_Seymour&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Richard Seymour&lt;/a&gt;'s contract is up at the end of the year and he's not expected to re-sign. Even with Seymour, a better pass rush is needed.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;9. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/BUF&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Buffalo Bills&lt;/a&gt; - Jimmy Clausen, QB, Notre Dame&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Really, is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/16652/Trent_Edwards&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Trent Edwards&lt;/a&gt; the future of quarterbacking for Buffalo? The team seems to have settled on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/34851/Demetrius_Bell&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Demetrius Bell&lt;/a&gt; at left tackle and no outside linebackers are really worth a top 10 pick. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;10. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/SEA&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Seattle Seahawks&lt;/a&gt; - Jonathan Dwyer, RB, Georgia Tech&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It can be hard to justify taking a running back this early in the draft, but Dwyer has immense talent. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/3418/Julius_Jones&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Julius Jones&lt;/a&gt; is better as a second option and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1749/Edgerrin_James&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Edgerrin James&lt;/a&gt; has shown it's time for him to retire.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;11. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/MIA&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Miami Dolphins&lt;/a&gt; - Dez Bryant, WR, Oklahoma State&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;While Miami could use a nose tackle or future pass rushing linebacker, Bryant could be the best receiver in the draft since &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/19053/Calvin_Johnson&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Calvin Johnson&lt;/a&gt;. Being ruled ineligible shouldn't affect Bryant's draft stock.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;12. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/ARI&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Arizona Cardinals&lt;/a&gt; - Trent Williams, OT, Oklahoma&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Williams is still a project at left tackle, but &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1870/Mike_Gandy&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Mike Gandy&lt;/a&gt; has struggled for the Cardinals. At the least, Williams is an NFL-ready run blocker.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;13. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/WAS&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Washington Redskins&lt;/a&gt; - Colt McCoy, QB, Texas&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Clearly Redskins owner Dan Snyder is done with current starter &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1522/Jason_Campbell&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Jason Campbell&lt;/a&gt;. The team tried to get &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2919/Jay_Cutler&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Jay Cutler&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/71108/Mark_Sanchez&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Mark Sanchez&lt;/a&gt;. McCoy is a dependable passer who has better arm strength than people think.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;14. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/SDC&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;San Diego Chargers&lt;/a&gt; - Damian Williams, WR, Southern California&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Chargers could be forced to replace receivers &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/3003/Vincent_Jackson&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Vincent Jackson&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2500/Chris_Chambers&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Chris Chambers&lt;/a&gt; after this season. Williams has emerged as a legit No. 1 receiver for the Trojans.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;15. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/HOU&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Houston Texans&lt;/a&gt; - Joe Haden, CB, Florida&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Everyone expected the Texans to take a difference maker in the secondary this year, and they didn't. Haden can get out position in pass coverage, but he's a great all-around corner.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;16. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/PIT&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Pittsburgh Steelers&lt;/a&gt; - Brandon Spikes, MLB, Florida&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Steelers fans might be convinced &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/16797/Lawrence_Timmons&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Lawrence Timmons&lt;/a&gt; is the future inside, but I am not. Good middle linebackers average more than three tackles a game. Spikes would be a steal here. And even if Timmons sticks at middle linebacker, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1595/James_Farrior&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;James Farrior&lt;/a&gt; is 34.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;17. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/GBP&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Green Bay Packers&lt;/a&gt; - Ciron Black, OT, LSU&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Black might not be the best left tackle, but he's the best one available in this scenario. The Packers clearly need help along the offensive line.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;18. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/JAC&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Jacksonville Jaguars&lt;/a&gt; - Morgan Burnett, SS, Georgia Tech&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Everyone seems to think Tim Tebow should be the choice here, but the team has a better chance of winning immediately by filling other holes. Wide receiver is a possibility as well, but Mike Sims-Walker is having a breakout season.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;19. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/DAL&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Dallas Cowboys&lt;/a&gt; - Brandon LaFell, WR, LSU&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Since getting rid of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/3425/Terrell_Owens&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Terrell Owens&lt;/a&gt;, justifiably, the Cowboys have lacked a dependable wide receiver. That's what LaFell would provide. He's not the fastest or the flashiest, but he gets the job done. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;20. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/ATL&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Atlanta Falcons&lt;/a&gt; - Greg Hardy, DE, Mississippi&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Thirty-four games into his career, it's official: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1110/Jamaal_Anderson&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Jamaal Anderson&lt;/a&gt; is a bust. He has two sacks, which won't cut it for a 4-3 end. Hardy, when motivated, is as good of a pass rusher as there is in the nation.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;21. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/PHI&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Philadelphia Eagles&lt;/a&gt; - Sergio Kindle, OLB, Texas&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Philadelphia's current group of outside linebackers feature a bunch of players who are only average. Kindle could be a sensation in the team's blitz-heavy scheme. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;22. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/CIN&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Cincinnati Bengals&lt;/a&gt; - Jermaine Gresham, TE, Oklahoma&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Gresham's season-ending knee injury shouldn't stop a team from taking him in the first round. That's especially true if you consider that the Bengals' starting tight end is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/19015/Daniel_Coats&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Daniel Coats&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;23. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/NEP&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;New England Patriots&lt;/a&gt; - Rolando McClain, LB, Alabama&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Whether they used him inside or outside, McClain could make a big impact for the Patriots. Other than &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/4191/Jerod_Mayo&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Jerod Mayo&lt;/a&gt; and an aging &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1437/Adalius_Thomas&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Adalius Thomas&lt;/a&gt;, New England is somewhat light on linebacker talent.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;24. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/DEN&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Denver Broncos&lt;/a&gt; (via Chicago) - Terrence Cody, DT, Alabama&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cody would be the last piece the Broncos need to finish off the conversion to a 3-4. While I'm not the biggest fan of Cody's, the Broncos need someone in the middle to regularly take up multiple blockers.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;25. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/NYJ&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;New York Jets&lt;/a&gt; - Arthur Jones, DT, Syracuse&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In the Jets' 3-4, Jones would get moved over to end, a position the team needs to address. Jones has the quickness and size to play end and would give coach Rex Ryan another good pressure guy.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;26. San Francisco 49ers - Eric Norwood, OLB, South Carolina&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Many expect San Francisco to take a quarterback, but &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2092/Shaun_Hill&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Shaun Hill&lt;/a&gt; might be the kind of game manager coach Mike Singletary wants. Norwood would help a pass rush that's below-average from the linebacker spot.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;27. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/BAL&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Baltimore Ravens&lt;/a&gt; - Golden Tate, WR, Notre Dame&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Tate is the kind of playmaking wide receiver the Ravens have never had. He can make big plays out of short passes and will be able to help on special teams.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;28. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/MIN&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Minnesota Vikings&lt;/a&gt; - Derrick Morgan, DE, Georgia Tech&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/3139/Ray_Edwards&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Ray Edwards&lt;/a&gt; is a free agent after the season and is average at best. Morgan has shown flashes of dominance this season. He can get after the passer or stay at home and handle the run.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;29. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/NYG&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;New York Giants&lt;/a&gt; - Marvin Austin, DT, North Carolina&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2212/Barry_Cofield&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Barry Cofield&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2247/Fred_Robbins&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Fred Robbins&lt;/a&gt; are facing free agency following this season and if both don't come back, tackle could be a big need. Austin has been inconsistent thus far, but has great talent. A coach like Tom Coughlin could harness it nicely.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;30. Seattle Seahawks (via Denver) - Charles Brown, OT, Southern California&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The career of left tackle &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2312/Walter_Jones&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Walter Jones&lt;/a&gt; is winding down. Brown is a similar kind of offensive lineman who has good athleticism and drive. While safety and quarterback can be considered needs, no players seem worth this slot.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;31. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/IND&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Indianapolis Colts&lt;/a&gt; - Selvish Capers, OT, West Virginia&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Some project Capers to play left tackle, but he's been on the right side for the Mountaineers this season. Either spot he plays, the Colts could use him. Middle linebacker could be a need, but that is a position that traditionally be addressed later in the draft.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;32. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/NOS&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;New Orleans Saints&lt;/a&gt; - Sean Weatherspoon, OLB, Missouri&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Outside linebacker and defensive tackle are the top needs for an overachieving Saints defense. Weatherspoon would be a perfect fit outside. He's a good tackler and can make up for the mistakes of teammates.&lt;/p&gt;
  


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      <title>If I Were the San Diego Chargers' GM: Q1 Review</title>
      <guid>http://www.boltsfromtheblue.com/2009/10/7/1074453/if-i-were-the-san-diego-chargers</guid>
      <author>John (obviousman)</author>
      <link>http://www.boltsfromtheblue.com/2009/10/7/1074453/if-i-were-the-san-diego-chargers</link>
      <pubDate>Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:08:32 -0000</pubDate>
      <description type="html">

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    &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dawgsbynature.com/photos/if-i-were-the-san-diego-chargers&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;Being the Chargers GM must be awesome. (AP Photo/Jack Smith)&quot; class=&quot;ap_photo&quot; src=&quot;http://cdn1.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/129737/45192_nfl_draft_chargers_football.jpg&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
    
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      &lt;p class=&quot;by clearfix&quot;&gt;
        
          &lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dawgsbynature.com/photos/if-i-were-the-san-diego-chargers&quot;&gt;More photos &amp;raquo;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
        
        
          by Jack Smith - AP
        
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          Being the Chargers GM must be awesome. (AP Photo/Jack Smith)
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    &lt;p class=&quot;more-link&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dawgsbynature.com/photos/if-i-were-the-san-diego-chargers&quot;&gt;Browse more photos &amp;raquo;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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&lt;p&gt;My greatest love, as it pertains to football, is personnel.&amp;nbsp; Even during an entertaining, late season game my brain can't help from scouting the players on my screen and thinking about improvements that need to be made to the roster.&amp;nbsp; Even in the very early stages of an unpredictable season, I love nothing more than to throw my GM hat on and pretend I'm A.J. Smith.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I have two dream jobs.&amp;nbsp; Well, three I guess.&amp;nbsp; Number one would be playing Quarterback in the NFL.&amp;nbsp; However, I'm about 4 inches shorter than &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1998/Drew_Brees&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Drew Brees&lt;/a&gt; and 9 inches shorter than &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/3028/Philip_Rivers&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Philip Rivers&lt;/a&gt;, so that might be hard.&amp;nbsp; I will admit that I've always been an accurate passer in my backyard and even won my wife a stuffed duck on one of those boardwalk games where you have to hit the target inside of the swinging tire.&amp;nbsp; Still, that one ain't happening.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;My second dream job would be as GM in the NFL.&amp;nbsp; This is the reason I look through stats endlessly and the reason I've read Ernie Accorsi's book twice already.&amp;nbsp; If I could one day be the GM of any NFL team, I think I'd skip everywhere instead of walking.&amp;nbsp; Also, I'd do it for free.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;My third dream job I'm practically doing.&amp;nbsp; It would be to write about the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/SDC&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;San Diego Chargers&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp; To share my passion and contribute words to the world that are appreciated, even if it's by a small group of people.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So while writing about it, I'm going to be doing quarterly looks ahead to see the potential holes in the roster in 2010 and to tel you what I would do if I were Mr. Smith.&amp;nbsp; My first attempt at this is after the jump.&lt;/p&gt;


  
&lt;h3&gt;Free Agents&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Team FAs&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Since I don't want to write this post two different ways every time I do it, let's go off the assumption that there will be a new CBA in place by time free agency rolls around.&amp;nbsp; Here's who the Chargers are at risk of losing:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/3036/Charlie_Whitehurst&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Charlie Whitehurst&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/3032/Darren_Sproles&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Darren Sproles&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2500/Chris_Chambers&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Chris Chambers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/3003/Vincent_Jackson&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Vincent Jackson&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/3021/Kassim_Osgood&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Kassim Osgood&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/3010/Brandon_Manumaleuna&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Brandon Manumaleuna&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/3014/Marcus_McNeill&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Marcus McNeill&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2986/Tim_Dobbins&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Tim Dobbins&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/3015/Shawne_Merriman&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Shawne Merriman&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Who to Keep&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Vincent Jackson&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Brandon Manumaleuna&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Marcus McNeill&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Tim Dobbins&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Look, the WR situation is not as bad as it might seem.&amp;nbsp; Where will we find the money to pay VJ?&amp;nbsp; Simple.&amp;nbsp; We'll give him Chambers' money.&amp;nbsp; Chris is one of the top 20 WRs in the league in terms of base salary.&amp;nbsp; Moving that money over to Jackson, plus VJ's current salary and a little extra, should be enough to keep this dynamic WR in San Diego for another 5 years as least.&amp;nbsp; That's a move that I would do as GM.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Manumaleuna can be kept because he'd probably be cheap.&amp;nbsp; He's an effective blocking TE who can fill in at OT or FB in a pinch.&amp;nbsp; Unless somebody else falls in love with Dobbins, I'd keep him around for run support, depth and his special teams prowess.&amp;nbsp; McNeill is kept because he's an adequate LT that has tremendous potential.&amp;nbsp; It's really hard to find a good LT these days and even harder to try to play without one.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Merriman can go because his price tag is too high.&amp;nbsp; The team cannot afford to be paying starter's money to 3 OLBs.&amp;nbsp; Also, the Chargers could do worse than having &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/16800/Antwan_Applewhite&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Antwan Applewhite&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/16817/Jyles_Tucker&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Jyles Tucker&lt;/a&gt; as the backups.&amp;nbsp; I'd like to keep Osgood, but don't see him staying.&amp;nbsp; Somebody that likes tall receivers (&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/CIN&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Bengals&lt;/a&gt;?) will give him a chance to catch balls and he'll be gone.&amp;nbsp; Chambers, Sproles and Whitehurst will all cost much more than they're worth on the free agent market.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It would probably cause too many issues to slap the franchise tag onto Merriman.&amp;nbsp; He wouldn't want to play on the one-year deal, he'll feel he's getting underpaid, etc. etc.&amp;nbsp; I'd personally go without a franchised player in 2010.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Roster Holes&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The 2009 offseason was the first in a few years where there was legitimate holes on the roster.&amp;nbsp; As of right now, I don't know that the team did a very good job of filling all of those holes.&amp;nbsp; In 2010, those same weaknesses exist along with new ones.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Running Back - &lt;/b&gt;The bad news is that LT can't take the beating of a starting RB in the NFL anymore.&amp;nbsp; The good news is that his restructured contract makes him cheap enough that he could be the second option in the ground game without killing the cap.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Trying to buy a running back as a free agent is absurd, unless you find a diamond in the rough (like &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2374/Priest_Holmes&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Priest Holmes&lt;/a&gt;).&amp;nbsp; It's even harder when there's only a couple of decent free agents RBs.&amp;nbsp; After this season, the only RBs that might become free agents (they could still sign a contract with their current team) that have any starting experience are &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2899/LenDale_White&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;LenDale White&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/19011/Pierre_Thomas&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Pierre Thomas&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/3185/Chester_Taylor&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Chester Taylor&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1624/Willie_Parker&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Willie Parker&lt;/a&gt; and Le'Ron McClain.&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1170/Jerious_Norwood&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Jerious Norwood&lt;/a&gt; is an intriguing name, although he hasn't started much at all since being drafted.&amp;nbsp; I don't think any of these guys are worth the money that they're going to get, so I point my eyes towards the draft.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I think it is absolutely, 100% necessary to use the Chargers 2010 first round draft pick on a running back that can start immediately.&amp;nbsp; Unfortunately, this draft class currently looks thin at RB.&amp;nbsp; Perhaps it's just too early.&amp;nbsp; Even so, I have my eye on Clemson's C.J. Spiller and from the looks of it he might want the chance to apprentice under Tomlinson.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://cdn0.sbnation.com/imported_assets/267629/309827.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;photo&quot; src=&quot;http://cdn1.sbnation.com/imported_assets/267629/309827_medium.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;309827_medium&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Strong Safety - &lt;/b&gt;From what I've seen, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/71275/Kevin_Ellison&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Kevin Ellison&lt;/a&gt; is not the answer at Strong Safety.&amp;nbsp; He's the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/16815/Brandon_Siler&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Brandon Siler&lt;/a&gt; of that position.&amp;nbsp; He's a strong, big hitter than is good against the run but will get burned if he has to cover anybody downfield.&amp;nbsp; I don't think &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/3002/Clinton_Hart&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Clinton Hart&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2996/Steve_Gregory&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Steve Gregory&lt;/a&gt; are good enough that I feel secure in having either of them as my starting SS in 2010.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I'm very intrigued with &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/78040/C_J_Spillman&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;C.J. Spillman&lt;/a&gt; as an option here.&amp;nbsp; He was very fast and hit really hard during the preseason.&amp;nbsp; He reminded me of &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/19059/Melvin_Bullitt&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Melvin Bullitt&lt;/a&gt;, who I am a big fan of.&amp;nbsp; I'm hopeful that the only reason he's listed as a FS and saw time their in the preseason is because the team liked what they saw from both him and Ellison and did not want them competing for the third SS job.&amp;nbsp; If I was A.J. Smith, I have a meeting with Norv Turner and Ron Rivera and ask them point blank of Spillman is a viable option to start at SS before I make any other moves.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Let's assume they say no.&amp;nbsp; &quot;There's nobody on the roster we're excited about starting at SS.&quot;&amp;nbsp; Well, let's see what else is out there.&amp;nbsp; The aforementioned Melvin Bullitt (RFA) is part of a strong class of free agent Strong Safeties that also includes &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1924/Atari_Bigby&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Atari Bigby&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/3400/Abram_Elam&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Abram Elam&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1405/Dawan_Landry&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Dawan Landry&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2677/Brodney_Pool&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Brodney Pool&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp; These guys may cost more than trying to find a decent SS through the draft, but with more important needs to fill with rookies I think the Free Agent route would be the one to take.&amp;nbsp; Any of those 5 guys mentioned, with the possible exception of Brodney Pool, would be a great improvement over Hart and Gregory.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Defensive Tackle - &lt;/b&gt;I originally thought this position was a HUGE need, but it may not be by the end of this season.&amp;nbsp; If Ogemdi Nwagbuo and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/71280/Vaughn_Martin&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Vaughn Martin&lt;/a&gt; both show improvement during the season, to the point where they could both be competent starters on the defensive line, then the Chargers have incredible depth in 2010.&amp;nbsp; That would leave them with 5 legitimate starters (Nwagbuo, Martin, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2980/Luis_Castillo&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Luis Castillo&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/3038/Jamal_Williams&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Jamal Williams&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2981/Jacques_Cesaire&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Jacques Cesaire&lt;/a&gt;) and no need for anyone beyond that besides maybe &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2976/Ryon_Bingham&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Ryon Bingham&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;If neither of them pan-out, the Chargers will continue to look for a young replacement for Jamal Williams.&amp;nbsp; There are plenty of good DTs in the 2009 draft class, including 365 lb. Terrence Cody, so that would be the way to go there.&amp;nbsp; As for right now, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1498/Shaun_Rogers&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Shaun Rogers&lt;/a&gt; would be someone that I would inquire about but it would cause problems for the future of the defensive line.&amp;nbsp; Rogers is signed for 5 seasons after 2009, and considering the Chargers would have to give up at least a first round draft pick to get him they would not be eager to dump him once Jamal Williams came back or one of the young kids started to show promise.&amp;nbsp; That means they would have to give up on J-Will, OG and/or Martin and I don't think they're ready to do any of that.&amp;nbsp; If I'm A.J. Smith, I'd like to stand pat and see how the young kids play for the rest of the season.&amp;nbsp; However, the idea of Rogers pushing the line around with Nwagbuo subbing in and Martin playing backup DE seems like one I'd have to jump on if the price was right.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Center - &lt;/b&gt;This one kindof kills me.&amp;nbsp; After talking with him at training camp, I can say that &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/3000/Nick_Hardwick&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Nick Hardwick&lt;/a&gt; is one of the nicest people I've ever met.&amp;nbsp; Not one of the nicest Chargers or nicest football players, nicest &lt;i&gt;people&lt;/i&gt;.&amp;nbsp; I also think he's a fantastic Center when he's able to stay healthy.&amp;nbsp; I just think the Chargers need a better backup plan for when he gets injured.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/71277/Tyronne_Green&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Tyronne Green&lt;/a&gt; brought some hope.&amp;nbsp; He was a very good OG at Auburn, and they hoped to turn him into the backup Center.&amp;nbsp; Considering he's the 3rd Center and probably the 5th Guard, it's safe to say this pick has yet to pan out.&amp;nbsp; If he shows something before next season, great.&amp;nbsp; He can be a solid Center and nobody else is needed.&amp;nbsp; If he shows nothing, he needs to be cut and a legitimate Center needs to be drafted.&amp;nbsp; It's damn near impossible to find a decent Center as a free agent because of how valuable they are to each team's offensive line.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Summary&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It's obviously not a full plan, but there's direction there.&amp;nbsp; Sign Vincent Jackson to the contract he's worth.&amp;nbsp; Scout every college RB in the country.&amp;nbsp; Aggressively pursue the free agent Strong Safeties.&amp;nbsp; Make a decision to trade for a NT or put your confidence in Nwagbuo and Martin for the future.&amp;nbsp; Find a real Center to backup Hardwick.&amp;nbsp; The rest will fall into place as the season goes along, and I hope some of these weaknesses turn into strengths.&amp;nbsp; Right now, that's what I would focus on if I were the General Manager of the San Diego Chargers.&lt;/p&gt;
  


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      <title>Harrison's Opportunity, Hazing Francies, and Ryan's Confession</title>
      <guid>http://www.dawgsbynature.com/2009/9/25/1055559/harrisons-opportunity-hazing</guid>
      <author>Chris Pokorny</author>
      <link>http://www.dawgsbynature.com/2009/9/25/1055559/harrisons-opportunity-hazing</link>
      <pubDate>Sat, 26 Sep 2009 03:30:28 -0000</pubDate>
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    &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dawgsbynature.com/photos/harrisons-opportunity-hazing&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;With Jamal Lewis doubtful this Sunday, RB Jerome Harrison might get the start.&quot; class=&quot;ap_photo&quot; src=&quot;http://cdn3.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/117566/51849_browns_lewis_football.jpg&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
    
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          &lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dawgsbynature.com/photos/harrisons-opportunity-hazing&quot;&gt;More photos &amp;raquo;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
        
        
          by Amy Sancetta - AP
        
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          With Jamal Lewis doubtful this Sunday, RB Jerome Harrison might get the start.
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    &lt;p class=&quot;more-link&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dawgsbynature.com/photos/harrisons-opportunity-hazing&quot;&gt;Browse more photos &amp;raquo;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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&lt;p&gt;Spirits among &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/CLE&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Browns&lt;/a&gt; fans aren't very high heading into &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/BAL&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Ravens&lt;/a&gt; week, &lt;i&gt;and it's only Week 3&lt;/i&gt;. Until our offense begins to show &lt;i&gt;any&lt;/i&gt; signs of life, the expectations are going to be pretty darn low heading into any of our games.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;There is something to get excited about this week (cue the laughs), and that is the possibility of RB &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2653/Jerome_Harrison&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Jerome Harrison&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; getting the start against the Ravens. RB &lt;b&gt;James Davis&lt;/b&gt; might be available but is still a little banged up. Starter &lt;b&gt;Jamal Lewis&lt;/b&gt; is pretty much doubtful after sitting out his third straight day of practice. If there's anything worse than a slow &lt;b&gt;Jamal Lewis&lt;/b&gt;, it's an injured &lt;b&gt;Jamal Lewis&lt;/b&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Harrison himself cannot cure the Browns' offensive woes. However, if Brian Daboll manages to put his first respectable gameplan together, seeing Harrison as the starter will be something that has been several years in the making.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h3&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/71101/Coye_Francies&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Coye Francies&lt;/a&gt; Gets Hazed&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I guess the Browns' veteran secondary found it funny to haze rookie &lt;b&gt;Coye Francies&lt;/b&gt;, as he entered the locker room dropping wet Friday. He didn't go down quietly though. He stormed in and threw a bucket of ice at &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/16694/Brandon_McDonald&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Brandon McDonald&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;, before firing some punches at S &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/3400/Abram_Elam&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Abram Elam&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;. After DL &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1498/Shaun_Rogers&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Shaun Rogers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; grabbed Francies though, it sounds like Francies decided (wisely) not to resist. Afterward, everyone seemed to be fine and just put the incident off as &quot;&lt;span class=&quot;storybody&quot;&gt;just boys having some fun.&quot;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Francies is an aggressive player on the field too -- perhaps he's trying to do anything he can to show the coaching staff why he should get a shot at more playing time over &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1258/Hank_Poteat&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Hank Poteat&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h3&gt;Rob Ryan's Confession&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Defensive coordinator &lt;b&gt;Rob Ryan&lt;/b&gt; had an interesting take on the game-changer against the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/DEN&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Denver Broncos&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://cle.scout.com/2/902916.html&quot;&gt;according to the OBR&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;storybody&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;TAKING THE RAP&lt;/b&gt;: Browns defensive coordinator Rob Ryan took full blame for the club&amp;rsquo;s 27-6 loss to the Denver Broncos last Sunday. With the Browns trailing just 13-6 in the opening moments of the fourth quarter and the Broncos facing a second-and-eight at their 49, Ryan said he got frustrated and tried to force a big play by calling for a maximum blitz. Denver picked it up and &lt;a href=&quot;http://cle.scout.com/a.z?s=149&amp;p=8&amp;c=1&amp;nid=4379666&quot;&gt;Kyle Orton&lt;/a&gt; threw a 49-yard pass to wide receiver Jabbar Gaffney, who had just single coverage. The Broncos scored on a two-yard run on the next play to go up 20-6, and the Browns never really recovered. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;storybody&quot;&gt;&quot;I screwed up,&quot; he said. &quot;Everybody saw it. I&amp;rsquo;m not going to hide. I&amp;rsquo;ve never been one to hide. It&amp;rsquo;s a call a junior high coach would know better than to make.&quot; Said offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, who followed Ryan to the podium, &quot;Rob&amp;rsquo;s an accountable guy, but when you don&amp;rsquo;t win, we&amp;rsquo;re all accountable.&quot; It&amp;rsquo;s also a good bet that Mangini really chewed out Ryan for the call, just as Belichick used to chew him out when he made the wrong call at New England. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;
&lt;h3&gt;New Kicker?&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;p&gt;All of a sudden, K&lt;b&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2640/Phil_Dawson&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Phil Dawson&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; is listed as questionable with a right calf injury. I guess that explains why the team brought in veteran kickers &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/33704/Shane_Andrus&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Shane Andrus&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;, &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1796/Matt_Bryant&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Matt Bryant&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;, &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/34642/Brandon_Coutu&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Brandon Coutu&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; and &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/1127/Billy_Cundiff&quot; class=&quot;sbn-auto-link&quot;&gt;Billy Cundiff&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; on Friday for work outs.&lt;/p&gt;
  


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      <title>Broncos Get a &quot;Gimme&quot; as Browns' Lackluster Gameplan Leads to 27-6 Loss</title>
      <guid>http://www.dawgsbynature.com/2009/9/23/1051836/broncos-get-a-gimme-as-browns</guid>
      <author>Chris Pokorny</author>
      <link>http://www.dawgsbynature.com/2009/9/23/1051836/broncos-get-a-gimme-as-browns</link>
      <pubDate>Wed, 23 Sep 2009 19:03:07 -0000</pubDate>
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    &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dawgsbynature.com/photos/broncos-get-a-gimme-as-browns&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;Cleveland Browns' quarterback Brady Quinn (10) fumbles the football in the first quarter against the Denver Broncos.&quot; class=&quot;ap_photo&quot; src=&quot;http://cdn3.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/115048/51575_browns_broncos_football.jpg&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
    
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          &lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dawgsbynature.com/photos/broncos-get-a-gimme-as-browns&quot;&gt;More photos &amp;raquo;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
        
        
          by David Zalubowski - AP
        
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          Cleveland Browns' quarterback Brady Quinn (10) fumbles the football in the first quarter against the Denver Broncos.
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    &lt;p class=&quot;more-link&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dawgsbynature.com/photos/broncos-get-a-gimme-as-browns&quot;&gt;Browse more photos &amp;raquo;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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&lt;table bgcolor=&quot;#ffffff&quot; border=&quot;1&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; width=&quot;454&quot; style=&quot;margin-bottom: 0px;&quot;&gt;
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&lt;tr align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;
&lt;td bgcolor=&quot;#64390a&quot; width=&quot;192&quot; colspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #FFFFFF;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;CLEVELAND BROWNS (0-2)&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td bgcolor=&quot;#df6208&quot; width=&quot;70&quot; colspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #FFFFFF;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;WEEK 2&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td bgcolor=&quot;#0f274b&quot; width=&quot;192&quot; colspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #fff;&quot;&gt;DENVER BRONCOS (2-0)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
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&lt;td align=&quot;center&quot; width=&quot;192&quot; colspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.prideofdetroit.com/images/admin/Cleveland_Browns.jpg&quot; height=&quot;120&quot; style=&quot;vertical-align: middle;&quot; width=&quot;160&quot; /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td bgcolor=&quot;#d4d4d4&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; width=&quot;70&quot; style=&quot;vertical-align: middle; font-size: 23px;&quot; colspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;VS.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td align=&quot;center&quot; width=&quot;192&quot; colspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.prideofdetroit.com/images/admin/Denver_Broncos.jpg&quot; height=&quot;120&quot; style=&quot;vertical-align: middle;&quot; width=&quot;160&quot; /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center; font-size: 32px;&quot; colspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;6&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td colspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td style=&quot;text-align: center; font-size: 32px;&quot; colspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;27&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
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&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;p&gt;After the Browns' effort against the Broncos this past Sunday, one thought popped into my mind: What the hell was that?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;There are teams who simply don't have the talent to win regularly, but then there are teams who have some of the right pieces to the puzzle and are lacking a good gameplan on offense. That's where the Browns are stuck right now, which is quite discouraging considering the change I expected from the new regime. Sure, growing pains are to be expected, but I'd rather see the offense take some shots than...than...well, quite frankly, I don't know how to describe the non-existent gameplan that &lt;b&gt;Brian Daboll &lt;/b&gt;seems to be using.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;WEEK 2 - CLEVELAND BROWNS VS. DENVER BRONCOS&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt; (GENERAL THOUGHTS)&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ol&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Goat of the Game - Brian Daboll:&lt;/b&gt; I thought about giving it to &lt;b&gt;Brady Quinn&lt;/b&gt; again, but I'll take a rarity for me and give it to a coach. I liked the formations that Daboll was using in the preseason to keep defenses off balanced, along with how we were keeping defenses on their toes with the number of screen plays we were running. Now, the talent utilization isn't there, and neither is the gameplan. Examples to follow below.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Using Joshua Cribbs:&lt;/b&gt; What was Cribbs' strength as a receiver supposed to be? Catching the ball quickly in stride and using his momentum, like he does on a kick return, to burst through the defense. Instead, we saw Cribbs get the ball over and over again on comeback routes short of a first-down marker. That's what &lt;b&gt;Mike Furrey&lt;/b&gt; is for (*assuming he goes &lt;i&gt;beyond&lt;/i&gt; the marker). Also, what happened to the Wildcat formation? What are we doing, reverting to the stubbornness of the &lt;b&gt;Romeo Crennel&lt;/b&gt; days already?&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Involving Mohamed Massaquoi:&lt;/b&gt; Isn't there a reason we drafted two receivers in the second round of this year's draft? I was under the impression that it was because we needed receivers desperately. And yet, we see that Massaquoi doesn't get a catch, and &lt;b&gt;Brian Robiskie&lt;/b&gt; isn't even active. The reviews on both men weren't outstanding during training camp, but surely they should be receiving more reps. We need better route runners, and at least Massaquoi can provide that.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Harrison as a Receiver:&lt;/b&gt; So far, I would've never guessed that &lt;b&gt;Eric Mangini&lt;/b&gt; ever managed &lt;b&gt;Leon Washington&lt;/b&gt; in New York, because the past two weeks, neither &lt;b&gt;James Davis&lt;/b&gt; nor &lt;b&gt;Jerome Harrison&lt;/b&gt; have been used enough as a receiver out of the backfield.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;What HAVE We Seen?&lt;/b&gt; We've seen a lot of runs up the middle to &lt;b&gt;Jamal Lewis&lt;/b&gt;, resulting in longer third downs. We've seen a lot of third-down and long throws go short of the first-down marker. We've seen &lt;b&gt;Brady Quinn&lt;/b&gt; hold onto the ball too long in certain situations, resulting in a sack. We've also seen Quinn move away from the pocket too quickly, resulting in a negative play more times than not. In other words, what we've seen is a complete mess. In the next few weeks, we'll see how good of a coach we have to do anything he can to clean that mess up.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Right Tackle Isn't Cutting It:&lt;/b&gt; For the first half of a game, RT &lt;b&gt;John St. Clair&lt;/b&gt; is doing a decent job. But when we fall behind and are forced to pass, teams are having a field day against him. St. Clair allowed &lt;b&gt;Elvis Dumervil &lt;/b&gt;to have four sacks against Quinn in the second half, with three of them coming in the fourth quarter. That came after I had been laughing at the Packers for giving up five sacks to Bengals DE &lt;b&gt;Antwan Odom&lt;/b&gt;. St. Clair wasn't wanted by the Bears for a reason, and we're seeing it. Get well, &lt;b&gt;Ryan Tucker&lt;/b&gt;.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Special Teams Fumble:&lt;/b&gt; Our special teams unit did a much better job this week in coverage. On the first kickoff, &lt;b&gt;Blake Costanzo&lt;/b&gt; forced and recovered a fumble that set our offense up with its only viable threat of the game. &lt;b&gt;Phil Dawson&lt;/b&gt; and &lt;b&gt;Dave Zastudil&lt;/b&gt; each had a solid day performing their respective duties.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Defensive Effort:&lt;/b&gt; Our defensive effort was much less impressive against the Broncos than it was against the Vikings. Nonetheless, in the first half, thanks to two missed field goals, Denver only had 13 points heading into the third quarter. We were just one score away from tying the game, but the final result appears in the books as a three-touchdown blowout. That's what makes the lack of a gameplan on offense ever-the-more frustrating -- simple execution, and who knows how things could've changed in our favor.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Mack's Shotgun Snaps:&lt;/b&gt; We've seen too many snaps from rookie center &lt;b&gt;Alex Mack&lt;/b&gt; be errant, and it cost us against the Broncos, setting Denver up for their only first-half touchdown.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;The Nickel Backs:&lt;/b&gt; Right now, it appears that &lt;b&gt;Hank Poteat&lt;/b&gt; is our nickel back. I supported the release of &lt;b&gt;Roderick Hood&lt;/b&gt; only if that meant we were committed to giving &lt;b&gt;Coye Francies&lt;/b&gt; more playing time. Poteat was burned several times by &lt;b&gt;Brandon Stokley&lt;/b&gt;, often on third-and-long situations.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Quiet Play from Pool:&lt;/b&gt; Doesn't it seem like &lt;b&gt;Brodney Pool's&lt;/b&gt; name hasn't even been mentioned the past two weeks? I'm not sure if that's a bad thing or a good thing. I remain pleased with &lt;b&gt;Abram Elam&lt;/b&gt;, but again, I'd like to see how these guys play when our offense actually gives them a lead to work with.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Edwards' Success:&lt;/b&gt; Another reason to be discouraged by our lack of success on offense? &lt;b&gt;Braylon Edwards&lt;/b&gt; has not had issues hauling in the football the past two weeks and seems to be focused. That was supposed to be our problem last year; what's our excuse now?&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Won't Say It:&lt;/b&gt; I won't say it. I'm wondering about it, but I won't say it. That something has to do with our quarterback situation. It's only fair to give a player some live game-action to grow.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Converting Third Downs:&lt;/b&gt; The Browns only converted 3/14 of their third downs. That's a very good way to get our defense back on the field, especially in the second half of a game. We're not like the Colts, who can have the ball for 14 minutes and still have their offensive playmakers put up Pro Bowl stats.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Usally Don't Diss Them...:&lt;/b&gt; ...but the CBS announcers were pretty bad for our contest on Sunday. At the start of the game, Steve called Bill by the name &quot;Bob&quot;, only to say shortly after that, &quot;opps, sorry about that, I meant Bill!&quot; That's a sure sign of chemistry right from the get-go. &lt;b&gt;Eric Wright&lt;/b&gt; is widely known as one of the top 5 cornerbacks in football too, if you didn't notice.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Gum Chewing:&lt;/b&gt; Was that the same piece of gum that Mangini was chewing the whole game?&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Getting Pressure:&lt;/b&gt; How discouraging is it to see &lt;b&gt;Rex Ryan&lt;/b&gt; go to the Jets and light up &lt;b&gt;Tom Brady&lt;/b&gt; with unbelievable pressure the entire game? The Browns still brought more pressure against Denver than they would have last year, but the plays did not result in any sacks. There were a few ducks that could've been picked with more luck being on our side.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;McDonald's Redemption:&lt;/b&gt; There was a play late in the game that &lt;b&gt;Brandon McDonald&lt;/b&gt; took the wrong approach on, but overall he didn't seem at all fazed by last year's collapse. His interception that was out of bounds in the end zone was a great play, even if it didn't stand.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;Brownies:&lt;/b&gt; I guess &lt;b&gt;Steve Heiden&lt;/b&gt; isn't a part of our gameplan either...&lt;b&gt;Jamal Lewis&lt;/b&gt; looked good early on, and I blame his lack of success on the gameplan...had the Ravens lost Sunday, we might have been playing for the division lead this Sunday.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;
&lt;p&gt;My optimism is down heading into the Ravens game this week. With my expectations tamed, perhaps I won't feel so surprised if we get blown out again.&lt;/p&gt;


  
&lt;p&gt;Here is the roll call of who participated in the game thread, with emily522 having the most to say...&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Roll Call:&lt;/b&gt; ChrisPokorny, Brownsyup, theW0LF, cleveland teamer, emily522, L Train, doggrad87, ejruiz, kwoog, Rocland, BradyQuinnisBeast, woodsmeister, Simmsinns, Buckeye Brad, JustBob, RelapsingDawgCatcher, SpecialBrownie, elsandito, Monsters of the Midway, kentuckybronco, kjc, BringBackKosar, DisplacedBuckeye, Dawgs Bite Back, Bumblyjack, irish1083, themadlibs, mrich, Mocking Dan, Chief WaDrew, rockybrown, DaytonDogg, Jamals6082, BLAZER_FAN_199, JulioBernazard, fwembt, Dawgger, portland, oregon, Brownie's Year, Dawg Nuts, Riverboat Sam, dmbshn41, Overlord1976, skipkirk, Rod Grimes, ericwright11, ukcatfan29, Michael Jay, The Brown Note, VABrownsFan, ELGee, Les Fleurs Du Mal, Pruitt, gahnki, Roger Dorn, athensdawg2, Juannieboy, Denarchy, dragon43078, math_geek, Elway4Prez, realmccoy, Bernie19Kosar, McGeorge&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Total Users:&lt;/b&gt; 64&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Total Posts:&lt;/b&gt; 889&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Total Threads:&lt;/b&gt; 1&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table cellspacing=&quot;3&quot; border=&quot;1&quot; cellpadding=&quot;2&quot;&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;th&gt;Name&lt;/th&gt;&lt;th&gt;# of Posts&lt;/th&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#f8f8f7&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;emily522&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;132&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#efefee&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Jamals6082&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;83&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#f8f8f7&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;DaytonDogg&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;62&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#efefee&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;ChrisPokorny&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;48&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#f8f8f7&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;DisplacedBuckeye&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;41&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#efefee&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;dmbshn41&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;40&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#f8f8f7&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;BringBackKosar&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;40&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#efefee&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Simmsinns&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;39&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#f8f8f7&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Dawgger&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;39&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#efefee&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Brownie's Year&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;32&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#f8f8f7&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Michael Jay&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;27&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#efefee&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;woodsmeister&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;26&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#f8f8f7&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;irish1083&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;26&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#efefee&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Bumblyjack&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;24&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#f8f8f7&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Dawg Nuts&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;20&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#efefee&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;BLAZER_FAN_199&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;17&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#f8f8f7&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;RelapsingDawgCatcher&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;14&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#efefee&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Roger Dorn&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;11&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#f8f8f7&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;kwoog&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;11&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#efefee&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;JulioBernazard&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;10&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#f8f8f7&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Rod Grimes&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;8&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#efefee&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;ejruiz&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;8&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#f8f8f7&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;BradyQuinnisBeast&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;8&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#efefee&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;skipkirk&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;7&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#f8f8f7&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;ukcatfan29&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;7&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#efefee&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;athensdawg2&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;7&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#f8f8f7&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;fwembt&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;6&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#efefee&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Pruitt&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;6&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#f8f8f7&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Overlord1976&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;6&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#efefee&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;kentuckybronco&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;5&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#f8f8f7&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;kjc&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;5&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#efefee&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;SpecialBrownie&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;5&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#f8f8f7&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Brownsyup&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;5&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#efefee&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;ELGee&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;5&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#f8f8f7&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Juannieboy&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;5&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#efefee&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;portland, oregon&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;4&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#f8f8f7&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;theW0LF&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;4&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#efefee&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;elsandito&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;4&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#f8f8f7&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;themadlibs&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;4&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#efefee&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Les Fleurs Du Mal&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;3&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#f8f8f7&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;JustBob&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;3&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#efefee&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;VABrownsFan&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;2&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#f8f8f7&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;McGeorge&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;2&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#efefee&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;realmccoy&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;2&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#f8f8f7&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Dawgs Bite Back&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;2&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#efefee&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;ericwright11&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;2&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#f8f8f7&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;cleveland teamer&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;2&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#efefee&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Monsters of the Midway&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;2&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#f8f8f7&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Elway4Prez&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;2&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#efefee&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Chief WaDrew&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;2&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#f8f8f7&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Bernie19Kosar&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;1&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#efefee&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;dragon43078&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;1&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#f8f8f7&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Denarchy&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;1&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#efefee&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;math_geek&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;1&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#f8f8f7&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;doggrad87&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;1&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#efefee&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Mocking Dan&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;1&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#f8f8f7&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;mrich&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;1&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#efefee&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Buckeye Brad&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;1&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#f8f8f7&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;rockybrown&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;1&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#efefee&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Rocland&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;1&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#f8f8f7&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;The Brown Note&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;1&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#efefee&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;L Train&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;1&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#f8f8f7&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Riverboat Sam&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;1&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr bgcolor=&quot;#efefee&quot;&gt;
&lt;td&gt;gahnki&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;1&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;

  


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