We actually played hard. We played to win. We had some (not enough) agressive play calling, the coaches showed some life, the guys actually looked a little pumped. There's a lot to be excited about, although we didn't get the win, we nearly did. It almost feels like a win to me, after suffering through so many terrible losses.

Our O-line played decent, although Joe thomas gave up a sack, which Anderson practically walked into. Harrison played nicely, although we do need Jamal back for goal line situations. Jennings looked good on his lone touch. Anderson played sorta streaky, but considering the circumstances with a QB switch and not much work with the receivers, I thought he played nicely. Edwards did not have a reception, which was his fault since he was targeted 3 times. Massaqoui (did I spell that right?) looked absolutely fabulous. It was good to see Hediden catching passes, not Royal.

There was actually a Corey Williams sighting, he got a sack! Rogers probably had his best game ever, denying the Bengals 4 points by himself. Wimbley got a sack, but need work in coverage, Barton and Bowens actually looked younger then 70 and D'Qwell actually got behind the line of scrimage a couple times. Wright shut down just about everyone, except for that one TD pass. I believe he'll develop into a top 5 CB in a year or two. McDonald and Poteat looked better, and Adams had a pretty good game at corner and on ST's. Furrey played pretty well in his limited action at safety and Pool was an absolute ball hawk, nearly grabbing a second pick and being around tipped balls all day.

Cribbs was a monster on ST's, probably one of his best days as a Pro. It was great to see Rob Ryan fired up. It was kinda funny because a guy I was atching the game with looks just like Ryan. There was even a Mangini smile sighting! Another personal sidenote was that I made the same mistake Gannon did about Cribbs getting a chance to return it haha. I mentioned to everyone, we'll still have enough time to do a music city miracle play, which got funny looks.

This was a very exciting game, and although we didn't win, we had a big moral victory. We were all wrong to jump on Mangini after just 3 games. I can't wait till next Sunday to see if today was a fluke, or if Anderson will keep playing god (at least better the Brady). Go Browns! Steelers suck!

Source

Not at all surprising considering he's from the Steelers. This is the 5th Steeler player that I've heard about in the past year having criminal charges against them. There were a couple other sexual assault cases and the Jeff Reed yelling at gas station owner for no toilet paper in the bathroom. I mean common, he probably doesn't use toilet paper at home.

Edit by Chris: Edited out unnecessary Steeler bashing. Not interested in that being the topic of discussion for Steeler fans who come over to visit.

Today, the season ended. We aren't going to make the playoffs. All of our wonderful hopes for this season are dashed. Were we wrong to believe that the Browns could make the playoffs with our brutal schedule? Or did the team and staff just let us down?

Unfortunately, the latter is true. Poor coaching, pathetic play calling, and poor execution has insured that we suffer through another heart-breaking season of Browns football. How many times must we say, "There's always next year...".

Several things need to be done to return the Browns to respectability. First off, Romeo and Mel Tucker must be fired. Romeo manages the clock terribly and can't get a team riled up to win and get them to execute. Heck, even Butch Davis could get the team excited enough to want to win; we just didn't have the talent then to win many.

Bill Cowher needs to be brought in as the new coach, at all costs. I know that would mean losing Savage, but GM/HC Bill Cowher > HC Romeo Crennel / GM Phil Savage. Cowher will then bring in a competent DC; one that runs creative blitzes and stunts. It's inexcusable to just rush 3 people in a 3-4 defense; 3 DL and 1 LB should always be rushing the QB. That's the point of a 3-4 right; to confuse the defense as to where the 4th rusher (the LB) is coming from.

Now that the coaching staff is taken care of, we can move onto the roster. Major changes should include trading Derek Anderson. We should get a 3rd round pick in return for him. Here's how our draft should look:

1st Round: LB

2nd Round: DE

3rd Round*: DB (Either as a Nickel Back or a backup S)

4th Round: HB

6th Round: WR/HB/OL/DE/LB (Would probably go to Practice Squad)

We should pick up these positional players in the FA market:

OT

QB

LB

Ideally, our roster should look like this for the 2009 season:

QB: Brady Quinn

FA Pickup

Ken Dorsey

HB: Jerome Harrison (If he displays the capability of an every down back)

Jamal Lewis

4th Round Draft Pick

FB: Lawrence Vickers

Charles Ali

TE: Kellen Winslow II

Steve Heiden

Martin Rucker

WR: Braylon Edwards

Donte Stallworth

Joe Jurevicius

Josh Cribbs

Syndric Steptoe

OT: Joe Thomas

Kevin Schaffer

FA Pickup

OG: Eric Steinbach

Ryan Tucker

Rex Hadnot

Lennie Freidman

C: Hank Fraley

Seth McKinney

NT: Shuan Rogers

Shuan Smith

Ahtyba Rubin

DE: Robaire Smith

Corey Williams

Shuan Smith

2nd Round Draft Pick

Louis Leonard

OLB: Alex Hall

Kamerion Wimbley

Antwan Peek

FA Pickup

ILB: D'Qwell Jackson

1st Round Draft Pick

Beau Bell

Leon Williams

Kris Griffin / 6th Round Draft Pick

CB: Eric Wright

Brandon McDonald

3rd Round Draft Pick

Daven Holly

Mike Adams

S: Sean Jones

Brodney Pool

Mike Adams

Nick Sorensen

K: Phil Dawson

P: Dave Zastudil

LS: Ryan Pontbriand

Total: 53

The above roster, while not perfect, sure is better then what we have this season.

Now, about running a 3-4 vs. a 4-3. Hopefully Cowher will be the new HC. He'll bring in a 3-4 guru as DC that will take advantage of the 3-4 scheme and our upgraded LB core. I think it'll take too much rebuilding to switch to a 4-3 and run it effectively. We don't have enough quality D-Linemen to run a 3-4, nonetheless a 4-3. It'd take more then one off-season to get the personnel for a 4-3. So for the 2009 season, I'd stick with the 3-4.

The above steps are what I believe must be taken in order to turn the Browns inot contenders. What do you think?

The Browns Official site announced yesterday (http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/article.php?id=8699) that the Browns will be wearing plain brown pants with the brown socks for tonight preseason game. The Browns official site will have a feedback poll asking the fans what they thought of the new jerseys.

This annoucement shocked me, because during the Browns offseason, during one of my many "Browns daydreaming spells", I thought about how brown jersey pants would look. Personally, I think it might look kinda cool, but I think it might look a little weird with brown socks as well. However, it'd probably look even weirderr with striped socks! I think a new alternate uniform will look cool, as long as they only wear it once or twice a year, including the preseason.

Visit the link in the first paragraph for more information.

Punter Paul "Shankster" Ernster has signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers, reported the Plain Dealer in Sunday's paper. Regular starting punter, Daniel Sepulveda, tore his ACl in training camp and will be out for the season. When asked about his new team, Ernster replied, "I've always been a fan of this team. I'm really excited to be on it."

No wonder he shanked his first Punt against the Steelers; he probably wanted them to score a touchdown!

For more information, go here, http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl and scroll to about the middle of the page to "Video Spotlight". Click the second video "NFL: New Punter Talks About Being On Steelers" for more information. 

Let's hope that he shanks a punt against us this year!

Go Dawgs!

Can't wait for fantasy fotball to start? Start early at

http://goallineblitz.com/game/signup.pl?ref=7249193

This is a Role playing game. You can create players, own and General Manage teams, and win championships.Simmed games are played every other day. You can train to boost levels buy and make coustum equipment. Have fun!

I don't own the site. I just want to share this fun game with fellow football fans.

Can't wait for fantasy fotball to start? Start early at

http://goallineblitz.com/game/signup.pl?ref=7249193

This is a Role playing game. You can create players, own and General Manage teams, and win championships.Simmed games are played every other day. You can train to boost levels buy and make coustum equipment. Have fun!

I don't own the site. I just want to share this fun game with fellow football fans.

On Friday, April 11, Kosar's Cleveland Gladiators will battle Elway's Colorado Crush at the Q. The game will start at 7:00 and be broadcasted on the Radio on 850 AM. Elway is not expected to come to the game. If he did, the Q would fill with boos and he might get attacked! Hopefully Bernie will have some revenge. Go Gladiators!

It'd be really cool if Kosar and Elway played QB for a series with their team during the game but that's not gonna happen.

It just might be me but I think the reason that people like the Gladiators is because their owned by Bernie. If he wasn't apart of teh team, I don't think nearly as many people would like the Gladiators.

Here's more information on the Browns free agents.
LB Keith Adams UFA    

FB Charles Ali ERFA March 13 Browns 1 year

QB Derek Anderson RFA February 29 Browns 3 years

DB Gary Baxter UFA March 13 Browns 1 year

WR Tim Carter UFA    

DB Ricardo Colclough UFA March 1 Panthers 2 years

OL Nat Dorsey UFA    

DL Simon Fraser RFA March 7 Falcons  

OL Lennie Friedman UFA March 12 Browns 1 year

LB Kris Griffin RFA    

DL Bobby Hamilton UFA    

DB Daven Holly RFA February 28 Browns Second-round tender[9]

DL Ethan Kelley UFA    

RB Jamal Lewis UFA February 21 Browns 3 years[10]

OL Seth McKinney UFA    

DL Alvin Smith ERFA    

LB Matt Stewart UFA    

LB Chaun Thompson UFA March 14 Texans 2 years

DL Ted Washington UFA    

UFA: Unrestricted free agent; RFA: Restricted free agent; ERFA: Exclusive rights free agent

I'm sure the Browns will not resign Ted Washington, Bobby Hamilton, Tim Carter, and Keith Adams.

I hope they resign Ethan Kelly whcih would give us some cheap depth on the D-line.

With Chaun Thompson gone Savage needs to draft or pick up some linebackers. With the resigning of Gary Baxter, I don't think we need a cornerback as badly now.