Stillers @ Browns Pregame Look (Game #9, @ Clev)
The red hot 7-1 Stillers travel up the interstate to
face� bitter divisional rival Cleveland
in their 2nd meeting of the season.� The
Stillers beat Clev, 34-23, a month ago, and the Browns limp into this game at
3-5 after last week's tough loss to the Ravens.�
* When the Browns have the ball, Jeff
"Cherry" Garcia will be at the helm at QB.� After the last meeting between these 2 rivals, Garcia was scolded
by Coach Butchie Davis as being "skittish in the pocket", but truth
be told, the sieve like O-line of the Browns had a lot to do with the
skittishness.� Garcia has had a so-so
season.� He's completing 58% of his
passes, which is far better than what Mommy Maddox was doing before his
injury.� Garcia has thrown 8 INTs,
however, and runs an offense that is near the conference cellar.� When hot, and when he's able to improvise,
Garcia can be a somewhat dangerous QB.��
The running game has been placed into the hands, and feet,
of Lee Suggs.� The former Hokie started
the season injured, but regained his health and has supplanted Will Green as
the starting back.� Suggs' average is
only 3.4, and he's fumbled 3 times, but overall I believe Suggs is the better
of the two backs.� Green gives Suggs a
spell now and then, and these two form a capable two-pronged attack.� Terrelle Smith is a very tough blocker at
FB.
Kellen Winslow's season-ending injury pushed Aaron Shea into
the starting role, with trusty vet Steve Heiden serving in the H-back
role.�
I've harped on it at least a dozen times, but I may as well
stress it again -- Cleveland has dug its own offensive grave by refusing to
invest much at all in the draft, nor in free agency, in its offensive
line.� Only center Jeff Faine was a
first-day pick; all other O-linemen have been 2nd day leftovers or scrap-heap
signees.� This is why Garcia, and before
him Couch, has been roughed up like a battered wife, and why the Clev running
game has never been worth a tinker's damn.�
Ross Verba is an acceptable tackle, and Faine has shown he's a solid
center.� RT Ryan Tucker is
adequate.� But the guard play has stunk
like Lake Erie just outside of Cleveland.�
The Browns have shuffled a few various combinations into their guard
spots, but little has worked.� Joaquin
Gonzo and Enoch Demar, who figure to start, simply aren't qualified to serve as
NFL starters, and this ineptitude causes the whole line to get blow up on far
too many plays.�
The WR corps is dangerous, although WR Andre Davis is listed
as doubtful.� This really will hurt the
Clev offense, as Davis is averaging an incredible 26 yards/catch.�� Denny Northcutt and former Pitt Panther
Antonio Bryant figure to perform the bulk of the receiving chores.� Bryant, acquired last month from Dallas,
popped off in the press about the Stillers' weak secondary, which might evoke
some heavy hitting from the likes of Hope and Polamalu.� Andre King, if he can play thru injury, will
also be worked into the mix.�
The key matchup will be the Stillers' D-line
versus the Clev. O-line.� This matchup
favors the Stillers, and it will be critical to shut down the Clev running game
and putting pressure on the skittish Garcia.�
* When the Stillers have the ball, Ben Roth,
the NFL's newest darling, runs perhaps the most balanced offense in the league.� The plethora of injuries at RB is of some
concern, with Staley and Kreider hobbled, along with Verron Haynes.� This leave Bettis and rookie Willie Parker,
with Matt Cushing likely doing the FB chores.��
The Browns O-line is lowly regarded, but their D-line is a
bit more respected.� Kennard Lang is a
tough, hard-nosed veteran DE whom I've grudgingly nodded some admiration
towards.� DT Gerard Warren has drawn
national headlines with his recent threatening comments toward Ben Roth, and
during the first series, he needs to be delivered a crackback to the earhole by
Cushing or a pulling guard.� Former
Stiller Orpheus Roye has found a nice niche with the Brownies.� Michael Meyers mans the other DT spot
opposite Roye.� Ebenezer Geezer Ekuban
starts at LDE and can be a force in the pass rush.�
The LB trio of Holdman, Davis, and Thompson is above
average.� Not overpowering, but
adequate.� To their credit, this Clev
front 7 had done a very sound job in both meetings against Balt and stifled
Jamaal Lewis.�
The Clev secondary has been riddled and abused most of the
season.� There is some adequacy with
Henry, Griffith, and even McCutheon, but vanilla adequacy doesn't often cut it
in today's NFL.� Henry probably still
has nightmares from the two TDs by Burress in the first meeting of these 2
teams.��
The key matchup will be the Stiller O-line against
the Clev front 7.� The Stillers have
ground down the past couple front 7s, but you can bet that Clev has seen the film
and read the hype, and that front 7 will show up at the Dawg Pound full of fire
and brimstone.� Playing in front of a
loud, hostile crowd, which really hasn't happened since the Baltimore loss, the
Stillers O-line will have a challenge in hearing snap counts, audibles,
blocking assignments, and so forth.��
* Special Teams: �The Clev spec teams aided the loss to Balt last week, when punter
Derrick Frost boomed a punt all of 7 yards, which gave the Ravens golden
FP.� Denny Northcutt handles the PR chores,
although, with Davis doubtful, Northcutt may be too overworked to field
punts.� PK Phil Dawson is quietly having
a marvelous season, with a perfect 16-16 on FGs and perfect on PATs.�� Sunday would be a nice time for his steak
to stop.�
* Synopsis: Cleveland is ready to roll over
and play dead, sitting at 3-5 and losing a heartbreaking game last week when
Ray Lewis mugged the intended receiver and Ed Reed took the INT 106 yards for
the clinching TD.� Nonetheless, expect
the Browns to show up in a foul mood, looking to take out their frustrations on
the media darling Steelers.� Cleveland
fans, who despise the Stillers anyway, will be seething with hate and bitter
frustration at another season gone awry, and they, too, will look to take out
their frustrations on the Stillers.�
Playing for the first time in ages in a loud, hostile venue, and playing
for the first time in weeks as a heavy favorite, the Stillers are ripe for an
off, letdown day full of small mistakes and less than optimal intensity.� Plus, the Stillers are due for a few bad
bounces, a couple killer penalties, and a killer turnover.� It all adds up to a Cleveland win,
23-19.��