It took a day.............

It took a full day for me to get over the Browns 34-30 loss on Thursday to the Denver Broncos......
I am so disgusted with this team right now.
Not for losing,I have gotten used to rooting for losers,but for these back to back rollovers.
3-6 and with ANY kind of fourth quarter effort at all from the defense,the Cleveland Browns are 5-4 and in the playoff picture.

Brownie Bits

1) One person that cannot be blamed for the loss is Brady Quinn.
I have taken my shots at Quinn,but he performed well with 2 TD's and 239 yards.
One minor quibble is that he did not throw many deep passes,but that could have been more of Offensive Coordinator Rob Chudzinski wanting to break Quinn in little by little.
However, the argument behind Quinn watching for a while was to better prepare him for actual action and watching 24 games was not enough waiting for him to learn the offense???

2) Again,I am amazed at the lack of action that Jerome Harrison sees.
Harrison carried 5 times for 48 yards,while Jamal Lewis took 19 rushes to see 60 yards.
Harrison played on one first half drive and delivered gains of 13,2 16 and 13 yards on a drive that resulted in Phil Dawson's 24 yard field goal.
Harrison would carry the ball once in the rest of the game.
I realize that some look at Harrison's size and think that he cannot handle heavy duty and perhaps he cannot,but when you rush the way he has-Give him the ball until he shows that he cannot take the pounding!
Not difficult to figure out!

3) Brandon McDonald spent another game getting torched.most notably on Eddie Royal's 91 yard TD catch and run.
You can see on the replay,McDonald screaming at Sean Jones that the coverage that was called left him in trouble and nothing happened.
No timeout,no help-just a long TD.
Nah,The Browns didn't need DeAngelo Hall at corner.
Hall cleared waivers and signed with Washington......

4) We do like Eric Wright's potential,but he wasnt much better on this evening.
The Denver receivers pretty much did what they pleased against both Wright and McDonald..

5) It must have been a special night in Cleveland as Kamerion Wimbley actually got his name called on a few plays.
Five tackles and a sack for Wimbley is a big night for the usually under-achieving backer....

6) Kellen Winslow had a Jekyll and Hyde night.
Two TD's for the positive,a fumble and an inability to grab the final Quinn pass of the game.
A note to you fantasy players out there-Winslow is going to be Quinn's main target not Braylon Edwards....

7) Wimbley's sack was about the only bit of pressure that Cleveland was able to get on Jay Cutler.Shaun Rogers came into the game dinged up and left the game on occasion and that really eliminated the only real pass rush that Cleveland could muster.....

8) Donte' Stallworth actually appeared in a game for a change with four catches for 48 yards.
I was never sold on Stallworth's signing to begin with,but the Browns add different qualities when Stallworth plays instead of the practice squad gang.

9) The most underrated loss of the year for Cleveland is Joe Jurevicious.
The Penn State product was the only wide receiver on this team was willing to go over the middle and make the tough catch.
With Jurevicious in the lineup,Braylon Edwards could be freed up to do what he does best instead of doing what he hates doing-Going over the middle.

10) More Quinn credit-Quinn could in no way be the goat of the game,but he took blame anyway.
"This loss is on me,I know I'm good enough whenever we have the ball at the end of a game that I can make a play for us to win. I believe that."
I like what I heard there.......

Bonus Round

The two back to back home losses with blown double digit leads will be the reason that we all look back on when Romeo Crennel and (maybe) Phil Savage are fired at seasons end..

Backbreakers for the Browns came on the final drive when both Brandon McDonald and Brodney Pool (I think) dropped passes that were thrown right to them.

My favorite Aunt,Becky attended the game and snapped this pic for us.
Thanks Becky!

The Ohio State Buckeyes return to action today against Northwestern in Evanston Illinois.The surprising Wildcats enter the game 7-2 (3-2 Big Ten) and off a miracle win at Minnesota last week.
Northwestern is missing star runner Tyrell Sutton for the season and starting QB C.J. Bacher is less than 100 percent.
Our Pick;Buckeyes 24-10

The New Jersey Devils will visit the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings tonight at 7;00.
Coverage here tomorrow....


Bullpen notes

Just wanted to wish the lovely Cherie a Happy Birthday and wish her the best on yet another year of tolerating me!!

Another great game in Lubbock Texas tonight between top ten teams Texas Tech and Oklahoma State.Will be watching that one for sure!

I may have seen the fight of the year last night on Telefutura when featherweights Rogers Mtagawa swapped bombs with Tomas Villa for eight exciting rounds.
Villa floored Mtagwa in the ninth and the 10-8 round looked to be the difference in a close battle on the scorecards.
But NO (As Howard Cosell used to say) Mtagwa floored Villa three times in the 10th before referee (and former 130 lb contender) Rocky Burke stopped the war.
What a great one,but don't take my word for it,check the final two rounds for yourself!


Tonight in New York,Joe Calzaghe vs Roy Jones.
This one shapes up as Calzaghe winning by a clean decision if he wants to play it safe or a later round KO,should he choose to press the action against the faded Jones.....

Photo Credits
Browns-Broncos:Becky Heimberger
Winslow:Tracy Boulian-Cleveland Plain Dealer
Helmets:Helmet Project