FanNation - The Republic of Sport

Shake_N_Bake said 02/20, 11:49 AM
Cleveland showed huge signs of upgrade last year in finishing 10-6, tied for first with the Steelers, but lost the tiebreaker. They are an extremely young team with a ton of talent. On offense, they have one of the best lines in the NFL, anchored by Joe Thomas and Eric Steinbach. They have an explosive weapon on the outside in Braylon Edwards, and 2 always reliable pass-catchers in the middle of the field in Joe Jurevicious and Kellen Winslow. Jamal Lewis showed he still has a lot left in the tank after rushing for over 1,300 yards last year. Derek Anderson or Brady Quinn will benefit from these weapons, and both have the ability to use them to put a lot of points up for the Browns. The Browns showed a lot of improvement as the year went on on Defense. Young Corners Brandon McDonald (24 Tackles, 10 Pass Deflections, 2 INT's, only starting 2 games) and Eric Wright (76 Tackles, 11 Pass Deflections, 1 INT, 1 Sack) and safeties Sean Jones (96 Tackles, 5 INT's, 1 FF) and Brodney Pool (58 Tackles, 2 INT's.) They also have a very good young LB core. Look for the Browns, who always make a splash in FA to acquire a big name DL. the Browns will continue to improve and win the AFC North.

Shake_N_Bake said 02/20, 09:21 PM
Yes, the total D stats look bad. But, if you look further into it, in the first 8 games of the year, the Browns gave up 20 pass TD's and and 29.8 points a game. In the final 8 games the Browns gave up only 9 pass TD's and 18.6 points a game. The Defense improved a lot last season, and will continue next season. Some reasons for this are their youth at DB and LB. Their weakness was D Line last year, and you can bet Phil Savage will address this in FA. He makes at least one big signing every year (LeCharles Bentley, Eric Steinbach, Jamal Lewis) and look for his big signing this year to be a D-Lineman. On offense, they have weapons everywhere, and just about any decent QB could run it successfully, like DA. ( I don't consider Frye a decent QB.) Quinn or Anderson will use Edwards, Lewis, Winslow, and Jurevicious to lead the O to at least the 27 ppg they had last year, if not more. Lewis is in negotiations with the Browns right now and has said he wants to come back. The offense will continue to be potent, the defense will continue to improve, and the Browns will improve on their 10-6 record a year ago and beat out the Steelers for the AFC North.

Shake_N_Bake said 02/20, 10:16 PM
They could go back to that, but I don't think they're going to improve, then all of a sudden go back to where they were. If they were an old team, maybe, but they aren't. In their secondary, they started 2 rookies, and no one had more than 4 years of NFL exp. At LB, they started Kamerion Wimbley and D'Qwell Jackson (2nd year for both). McGinest was hurt most of the year, and Peak filled in (first year w/Browns, 5th in the league). Davis was the only vet who played the entire year. They started to gel as the year went on, and imprvoed, and I don't see that improvement stopping, and see no reason why it would. The Browns D's turnaround started around the time Shaun Smith began starting instead of Ted Washington at DT. Shaun and Robaire Smith both became comfortable in their roles as 3-4 Linemen as the year went on, and started getting penetration and stopping the run. The D's stats look bad because of the terrible start, but they turned it on as the season went on. The Browns went 0-2 last year against pit, but Frye started one of those games, and the other was a 3 point game that could've gone either way. The Browns are a young, hungry team that will dethrone the Steelers next year