Both teams whipped,but Tom Brady is done!

The Cleveland Browns and Seattle Seahawks both were routed yesterday,but the day was saved when former michigan QB Tom Brady of the Patriots went down for the season with a knee injury.
Nothing like a bit of surprise good news to make the day go a whole lot better.

The Cleveland Browns were not expected to win,but I did expect them to play better than they did.
The defense played about as well as I expected (not very well),but the offense was far from the high octane attack that has been bragged about all summer in the 28-10 Dallas win.
The Browns only TD came in the second quarter on a two yard pass from Derek Anderson to Kellen Winslow.

Five thoughts on the game

1) I thought the pass rush was supposed to be so improved?
Corey Williams,Shaun Rogers and company put no pressure on Tony Romo all day long and when your secondary is as weak as the Browns-Kiss of death-Baby!!

2) Brandon McDonald has potential,but he is no more ready to be a starter at a corner than Teddy is.
McDonald was completely overmatched by Terrell Owens and it showed.
Eric Wright is supposed to be the top corner,why wasn't he on Owens?
Not sure that it would have made a difference,but Wright was covering Owens when he made a pick in the end zone off Romo.

3) The linebackers always seemed to be a yard late and a hit short.
No pressure from Kamerion Wimbley and Alex Hall,while Andra Davis was always a step behind the play and did D'Qwell Jackson play in the game?
I sure as hell didn't see him do anything in it!

4)As much as it pains me to say this-give Jamal Lewis some credit.
His game wasn't great because the Browns fell behind (13 for 62),but he was not at top speed and he played with grit and toughness.

5) Wish I could say the same for Braylon Edwards,who dropped a certain TD pass when he heard Ken Hamlin charging at him.
Edwards was not 100 % either,but he does this routine when healthy!

Bonus Round: Romeo Crennel kicks a field goal down 21 with ten minutes to go?
Crennel must have grabbed a white hankerchief instead of the red flag for replay appeals!!!

Meanwhile,in Buffalo,Seattle was kicked around by the Bills 34-10 in a game that showed weakness in the Seattle special teams.
Buffalo returned a punt for a touchdown and the punter tossed a TD on a fake field goal attempt.
In addition,the weak Seattle WR situation became worsened when Nate Burleson injured a knee and will be done for the season.
For those of you scoring at home,that makes the Seahawks top FOUR receivers are currently out of action!
Burleson grabbed the only Seattle TD of the game on a 20 yard pass from Hasselbeck in the second period.
Olindo Mare kicked a 45 yard field goal early in the third for the other Seahawk score.

Five Thoughts

One) If you play fantasy football and want a Seattle catcher because they will play a lot right now,you didn't watch this game.
Courtney Taylor and Jordan Kent dropped two passes apiece and they are the best Seattle has.

Two) I see no immediate improvements for them on the horizon until Deion Branch and Bobby Engram can return.

Three)The West Coast offense is a timing offense and with inexperienced catchers in the lineup,look for tight end Jeb Putzier (Who was dropping passes as well) and rookie John Carlson to be even more involved in the offense.

Four) Special teams coach Bruce Dehaven really needs to either quit or realize that his job will be gone with one more breakdown.
All of training camp to prepare and you allow two touchdowns on your watch in Game one????

Five) Nothing of this loss can be blamed on the defenders.
They played hard all day and reasonably well.
This game would have been far uglier if they had not showed up.

The Pirates allowed the San Francisco Giants 10 runs in the 4th inning,washing away a 5-0 lead and losing 11-6.
This enabled the Bucs to claim their 16th losing season in a row.
Yea team.
Jeff Karstens was the loser and fell to 2-5.
More on this accomplishment tomorrow.

The Pirates are in Houston tonight for four games against the Astros.

Pitching Matchup
Pittsburgh:Ian Snell (6-10 5.59 ERA) at Houston:Albertoi Arias (0-0 2.63 ERA) 8:05

And in case you havent heard-Tom Brady is done!!!

Until tomorrow with more on things and plenty of bullpen notes

Photo Credits
Wright:Mark Duncan-AP Photo
Sack:Don Heupel-AP Photo
Teddy-Ryan Heimberger