Braylon Edwards headed to Jets

Braylon Edwards is reported to be on his way to the New York Jets by several media outlets.
The enigmatic receiver had an interesting final few days in Cleveland as he went without a catch in what looks to be his final game with the Browns and then managed to get into a fight that evening.
The reports vary on the return haul for the Browns,but the most consistent name that comes up is special teams standout Jason Trusnik,a third year player that would be returning to the area as a product of nearby Ohio Northern.
Another report has third year receiver Chansi Stuckey in the deal.
Stuckey starts for the Jets,but the Jets are not exactly tipping with receiving talents,so don't read too much into that.
There also reported to be draft picks (yes,plural) in the deal,but no word on what they would be...
Editors Note-FOX sports.com is reporting the picks to be a 3rd and a 5th,but with no other confirmation.

I am on board with this deal,even though the return doesn't look like much.
The Browns basically had two weeks to see what they could get for a talented,underachieving player that has been a boil on this team since his arrival.
Edwards play ranged from occasionally brilliant to more often uninspired that led to excuses and often strange reasons on why he was not loved by Browns fans.
Braylon,it is tough to get into a fans heart when they see you putting little of yours into the game that they love.
Edwards also becomes a free agent at the end of the season, there was no way that he was re-signing and I doubt that the Browns had tons of interest in trying to keep him.
Yet another Browns top pick leaves town with a less than distinguished Cleveland career.
Edwards may have been the most accomplished of the bunch,which tells you all you need to know about the Browns drafting over the last ten years.
So basically the choice was this-get something for him (even if the value was not equal) or suffer through 12 weeks of half speed effort,dropped passes and locker room cancers.
Something usually beats nothing.

The one thing that I question (even though I know the answer) is why the Jets again?
Now,perhaps the Jets were the only serious suitor for Edwards,but hasn't Mangini caught enough hell for the amount of former Jets that he has brought into town?
Especially,when you consider that only Abram Elam of the former Jets has played anything approaching well thus far this season?
I see the logic in getting guys you know and I definitely see the logic in getting something for a guy that you will get nothing for soon,but could he have gone somewhere else?
This only prolongs the idea of the Browns being the town dump for New York refugees.

Stay tuned for more later as the Browns will have to either release someone or put someone on injured reserve as the two for one trade leaves Cleveland needing to make one more move.
I will be doing the reviewing the tape stuff soon as we try to catch up over the weekend.

Photo Credit-
Edwards-Unknown
Stuckey-Jim McIssac-Getty Images

Devils stumble in 5-2 loss

The New Jersey Devils stumbled from the starting gate in dropping a 5-2 decision to the Philadelphia Flyers at the Rock in Newark.
The Devils allowed the first four goals of the game before Brian Rolston (1) scored on the power play in the third period.
Jamie Langenbrunner scored the games final goal (1) shorthanded.
The Devils are off today (thank goodness) and cross the river Monday night against the Rangers.

Hell Raisers

1) Marty Brodeur was not very good on this night.
I don't say that often,but it was true as the Flyer goals ranged from fluky to simply soft.
Two of the goals were just the soft shots from angles and players that usually are less than strong offensively,but Marty has been vulnerable to that in the past.
Just a bad night for Brodeur.
At least I hope.

2) The Devils did kill off the Flyers power play on every Philly PP chance.
So there is a positive note.

3) When did the Devils seem to dip emotionally?
When the Devils had a full two minutes of a 5 on 3 power play and put a whopping one shot on net.
That is not going to cut the mustard in any circumstance.

4) The Devils did have a few chances in the first period,but the puck didn't bounce their way on rebounds against Ray Emery.
Emery was excellent until the last ten minutes,when he had a large enough lead to relax with.

5) Obviously the PP needs work,but one unit was much worse than other.
The Langenbrunner,Zajac,Clarkson line didn't move the puck much and did a lot of freeze framing.
The Devils always seem to go from one extreme to the other-non-stop movement at the cost of not shooting or standing around and waiting for the puck to magically appear in the net.

6) Color me unimpressed with the defense tonight.
Paul Martin was OK,but the rest were weak.
Johnny Oduya made mental error after mental error and newcomer Cory Murphy had better use his advertised offensive skills,because defensively he was easy to move off the puck and less than physical.

7) Brian Rolston might have been the Devils best player,not just for his goal,but for his other offense as he seemed to be the only Devil that attacked the Flyer zone and challenged Ray Emery.
Rolston fired six shots on the night and might be back to his Minnesota form.

8) Andrew Peters is going to be a liability against teams that can skate a bit.
Boy,is he slow.
I hope Jacques Lemaire will mix Peters and Pierre (3L) LeBlond up from game to game depending on the matchup.

9) I did like Lemaire trying a five forward power play to try to kickstart the offense.
Things like that are worth the effort and sometimes can change the flow of the game,even if a goal doesn't result.

10) Finally,it is just one game and I'll try not to read too much into it,but very disappointed in the effort more than the result.
It just seemed like after the missed power play,the teams energy was dead.
Hope for a better effort Monday,I'll be listening to the game unless the DirectTv-Versus issue is settled....

Photo Credit
Bill Koustroun-AP Photo

Weekend picks

In order to avoid missing predictions like last week,I'll do all three games now.
I might be back later,if I have time with an post that I have wanted to do for quite a while.

Ohio State invades Indiana as the Buckeyes come off back to back shutouts against Toledo and Illinois.
The Hoosiers score a lot of points and threw a major scare into Michigan last week at the Big Outhouse and feature an excellent running tandem in Demetrius McCray and Darius Willis.
Ohio State loses Boom Herron due to injury (which might be a good thing) and Kurt Coleman to a Big Ten suspension.
Indiana has a solid pass rush and Terrelle Pryor will have be aware of that and make good throws when being pressured.
Indiana has given up a lot of points though and hasnt faced a defense like OSU's either.....

The Cleveland Browns host the suddenly powerful Cincinnati Bengals by Lake Erie.
The Bengals should be 3-0,if not for a horrible break against Denver.
Eric Mangini has made a few changes with Derek Anderson at quarterback for Brady Quinn and Mike Adams moves from safety to corner to replace the often-burnt Brandon McDonald.
The Browns only hope is get a stop or two early and maybe a break as well and then hope the home town crowd gets into the the game.
If the Bengals score on their first two drives,this crowd will get ugly in a major fashion.
I just cant see the Browns secondary stopping Carson Palmer and gang all day..

Seattle travels to Indianapolis for a tough task against the 3-0 Colts.
Once again,it's Seneca Wallace at the helm for the injured Matt Hasselbeck.
One key to this game is can Seattle protec Wallace against the usually strong Colt pass rush.
Dwight Freeney may miss the game for the Colts and that could go a long way to keeping Seattle in the contest.
Julius Jones and Justin Forsett need to keep Peyton Manning off the field and move the chains,but I bet Seattle tries to throw the ball around.
If that is the case,watch for either Nate Burleson or John Carlson to be a big target.

Predictions
Ohio State 31 Indiana 10
Bengals 35 Browns 6
Colts 24 Seahawks 14

New Jersey Devils Preview

The New Jersey Devils didn't add a flashy new addition to the roster and lost some long time stalwarts as well.
But the Devils took a different tack with the salary cap likely to shrink in size and went with youth.
Will the calculated risk pay off?
Considering the Devils recent playoff struggles,I cant see things dropping any,so I think the risk/reward ratio is fair enough and even though some of the players will be missed,the gamble is worth taking.

New Jersey will start the season without Patrik Elias and this could contribute to a possible slow start.
Elias bounced back from a few seasons that were less than his top output and the question now is which is the "real"Elias?
Jacques Lemaire has discussed using Elias at center as well as his customary left wing position,but Elias will miss at least the early part of the season.
The Devils top line is paced by left wing Zach Parise,who might be the second best left wing in the game right now or at least the Eastern Conference.
Parise scored 45 goals last season and could become the first Devil to score 50 goals in a season.
Travis Zajac showed huge improvement last season as Parise's center as he posted career highs in both goals and assists.
If Zajac can raise his game further,the Devils chances of repeating as Atlantic Division champions
grow larger.
Captain Jamie Langenbrunner completes the Devils top line on the right side.
Langenbrunner also reached career highs in goals and assists last season,but the 34 year old Langenbrunner might not have as much room to improve as Zajac,but the Devils should expect between 20 and 25 goals.
The second line has questions,but could prove to be productive.
Dainius Zubrus returns to center the line after two average seasons as a Devil.
Zubrus has been disappointing and overpaid,but is reasonably productive as a third line center,which he should become upon the return of Elias.
Brian Rolston will stay at left wing this season after playing the center and left wing under Brent Sutter.
Rolston and Sutter didn't seem to be a good mix and Rolston's most productive years were under Jacques Lemaire in Minnesota.
One hopes for an improved Rolston or his contract could be a burden around the Devils neck.
Finally,Nicklas Bergfors looks to get his first real shot to be a contributing member of the team after a few false starts through the years.
The flashy Swede could add some breakaway pop from the right side and could be an interesting addition to the shootout rotation.
The third line features two newcomers and one returnee.
David Clarkson had the type of year that fans love to see with 17 goals last season to go with over 160 penalty minutes.
The pugnacious Clarkson is not afraid to drop the gloves or do the muckraking work around the net and could top 20 goals this season.
The Devils worked on Clarkson as part of the power play in camp and that alone could bump him to the 20 goal mark.
Rob Niedermayer was signed as free agent late in camp to center this line.
Niedermayer scored 14 goals with Anaheim last season and is a solid enough defensive player.
A nice pickup,but nothing to change the teams fortunes either way.
Ilkka Pikkarainen returns to the team after some seasons in his native Finland.
Pikkarainnen spent most of his stint with the Devils in Albany and posted pedestrian numbers.
But his top scoring season ever was last season and Lou Lamoriello seems to be quite high on the Finn,so I am open minded.
Pikkarainen is on the IR right now,but could be activated for the opener.
The checking line is led by steady veteran Jay Pandolfo.
Pandolfo continues to be a top defender and one of the leagues top penalty killers.
The question here is how effective will he continue to be without long time sidekick John Madden,who was allowed to move to Chicago via free agency.
Former Ohio State Buckeye Rod Pelley finally has his opportunity to replace John Madden as the teams top defensive center after being groomed for the role for years.
Pelley spent most of last season at Lowell after being a parent Devil for most of the previous year in preparation for being giving the role.
Pelley should be able to approximate Madden's defense,but with a little less offense.
The other winger will vary between youngster Matt Halischuk and either of the two enforcers that the Devils kept on the roster in Andrew Peters or Pierre LeBlond.
Halischuk will have to impress early to stick around,because someone will have to go to activate Elias.
I was mildly surprised at first of the signing of Peters with LeBlond on the roster already,but this could be a proactive move to keep teams from pounding Parise around.

The defensive corps looks intact.
The Devils will continue to play Paul Martin and Johnny Oduya together as their top pair.
I think they would get more juice if they split them up,at least on non specialty situations,but that isn't the way they are going to go.
Colin White isn't getting any faster and combined with mistake-prone Mike Mottau doesn't exactly inspire confidence in this pair.
Steady Bryce Salvador will team with either speedy newcomer Cory Murphy or Andy Greene in the third set of blueliners.
I like Salvador's game better than some Devil fans,but he was prone to the bad mistake last season.
Murphy brings a bit of offensive game to town,but he is on the smallish side and will have add some pop from the outside to hold off Greene for the final spot.
Greene was disappointing last season after an interesting previous season that showed a lot of potential.

What more can I add to Martin Brodeur as the starter other than he will play 70+ games and I'll worry all season about his post season performance after playing so many games at the age of 37.
The Devils did bring in a new caddy for Marty with Scott Clemmensen moving on to Florida and Kevin Weekes doing Hockey Night in Canada,which seems to be the refuge for old backup goalies anymore.
Former Islander Yann Danis was passable in his stint filling in for the injured Rick DiPietro and should be at least equal to past Brodeur backups.

The Devils don't seem to be substantially improved,but they seem no worse for wear from last season.
It will be interesting to see if the play style changes with Jacques Lemaire instead of Brent Sutter in charge and Patrik Elias needs to return in form to keep the Devils from falling too far back.

Our prediction for the Devils is 2nd in the Atlantic Division and 4th in the Eastern Conference.

Brendan Shanahan released by Devils

Brendan Shanahan was released today by mutual consent by the New Jersey Devils.
Shanahan remains on the roster for now as it appears that the Devils could be trying to trade Shanahan before their Saturday opener against Philadelphia.
It appears that the "mutual and amiable" parting comes down to this-the Devils are going young and going young on their top three lines with Illka Pikkarainen over from Finland and three players making the team after spending last season with Lowell in Rod Pelley,Matt Halischuk and Nicklas Bergfors.
Considering that,there would be no room for the aging Shanahan on the first three lines.
The Shanahan contract of one million for the season remains on the Devils salary cap until Shanahan is traded or released despite not playing.

I think Brendan Shanahan could have been a contributor this season,especially on the power play and his "veteran presence" would have added some behind the scenes intangibles,but on the overall,this is the type of move that is difficult,yet necessary to make.
I really like what I have seen of Matt Halischuk and Nicklas Bergfors has been waiting for years for a legitimate chance to contribute and at least one of those two would not get that opportunity with Shanahan on the team.
It is always sad when a veteran player reaches the end of the line,especially one with the class of Brendan Shanahan,but this was a move that the Devils were forced to make by their prospects pushing their way in and demanding their time to shine.
For the Devils sake,they can make the next step successfully.
Back tomorrow with the Devils preview.


Photo Credit-New Jersey Devils

Better than expected,but could have been so much more

We finish our review of the weekends games with a look at the Seahawks 25-19 home loss to the Bears.
Later tonight or tomorrow,I hope to have the Devils season preview up.

Puget Sounds

1) Things weren't as bad as I expected them to be with Seneca Wallace at quarterback.The game actually turned on the foot of Olindo Mare'.
Mare' booted four field goals,but missed on two other attempts.
The difference in the game?
Do the math.

2) Wallace was more effective than usual,but the team seems to lack the same cohesiveness with Wallace than with Matt Hasselbeck.
That is to be expected,but Wallace is just too erratic with the arm to have me be entirely comfortable with him starting games.

3) One player that seems to have better chemistry with Wallace is Nate Burleson.
Burleson grabbed nine passes for over one hundred yards and the reason that it seems that he works better with Wallace is that he specializes in the short pass and run that Mike Holmgren liked so well.
Wallace's strength as a passer is his short pass accuracy and that plays right into the strength of Burleson as a pass catcher.

4) Huge game for Lofa Tatupu replacement David Hawthorne with 15 solo tackles and the teams only interception.
Hawthorne was all over the field and combined with Aaron Curry's six tackles and a sack showed that Seattle's young backers will be a major part of this season and the future.

5) One more thought on Hawthorne.
If he is able to continue to play so well,could Leroy Hill have a tough time getting back on the field after he returns from injury?
And if so,which moves to the outside,Hawthorne or Tatupu.

6) A glaring hole on this team seems to be secondary speed,especially when Josh Wilson isn't around.Devin Hester and Earl Bennett were generally able to get extra yards by being so much faster than Seattle's corners and safeties.
This is something that I hope to see addressed next off season.

7) Julius Jones just missed a hundred yard rushing day on the ground and caught a touchdown of 39 yards for the 1st score of the day for the Hawks.
I am not totally sold on Jones yet,but I have been impressed by his start to the season after a bad debut in the Emerald City.

8) However,I would have liked to have seen a little more of Justin Forsett in the game.
Forsett shows potential as a change of pace back that could give Jones effective relief off the bench.

9) Seattle was getting some effective pass rush off the end from Patrick Kerney,Aaron Curry and
Lawrence Jackson,but little push up the middle from the defensive tackles.
The tackles were fine against the run,but were little help in rushing Jay Cutler.

10) Yes,I saw the neon green jerseys.
Not a fan,I much prefer the throwback blues...

11) I didn't get to post my pick and I was correct,but off in the score as I saw Chicago winning 24-10.
This one hurts as this could have been a win and now a trip to 3-0 Indianapolis awaits.....

Photo Credits
Mare':John Froschauer-AP Photo
Burleson:Elaine Thompson-AP Photo

6)

Reviewing the tape-Wipeout in Baltimore

No fluff,we go straight to the comments on the Browns humiliating 34-3 loss to Baltimore.

Brownie Bits

1) Wow,did it seem like the Browns mailed in this one early.
One never knows for sure unless you are on the field or in the locker room,but it sure seemed that way.
If Eric Mangini hasn't lost this team (if he ever had it),this weeks game against the suddenly imposing Bengals could either help him grasp the reins strongly or loss them altogether and send the team falling into a canyon that they might never return from.

2) Lifting Brady Quinn for Derek Anderson seemed to be a short sighted move in a game that was already out of control,but Quinn's faces on the sideline might have hurt his case in starting this week.
Knowing Eric Mangini,he could grab any small reason as his reason for making a decision.
Ryan says Quinn always looks like that and he could be right,but he sure seemed awfully descriptive with his expressions in the second half.

3) I am not a Quinn backer,but I fail to see where putting Anderson in last week or starting him against the Bengals is the long term answer for this franchise.
Quinn needs to play and give the Browns some kind of answer on what they can expect from him next season and whether or not they need to yet again go shopping for a passer.

4) Some fans claim that the plays called for Anderson were different from those for Quinn.
I differ with them as I see the plays were the same,but Anderson was looking downfield,while Quinn was always going to the checkoff receiver or the short player at worst.

5) Jerome Harrison was far from Jim Brown,but his 55 yards against the rugged Raven defense was not bad and five catches out of the backfield was impressive as well.
I have been hoping to see more Harrison for two years now,all the guy does is play well and while we are at it,more James Davis too....

6) D'Qwell Jackson and Abram Elam had nice tackle days (9 and 7 solos),but all their tackles are 7 to 10 yards downfield.
Couldn't someone tackle runners before they got that far?
And that is not a totally bad indictment of either player.

7) Eric Wright misses a tackle that leads to a TD for the third week in a row and Brandon McDonald gets burned deep and misses tackles repeatedly for the third game in a row.
McDonald might be the worst tackling corner I have seen in a while,while Wright almost seems to have dead legs when he chases players and is muscled aside easily.

8) Brian Robiskie inactive again.
Robiskie was worth the 36th pick in the draft,but he isn't worth activating?
I see no sense in this,especially when you see Rey Maualuga playing so well with the Bengals and think that Maualuga could be a Brown instead of Robiskie,who doesn't see the field for whatever reason.

9) Not only did Joe Flacco torch the Browns for 337 yards,but he was only hit twice.
Kamerion Wimbley sacked Flacco once and Corey Williams hit him once,but that's it.
No rush at all other than those.

10) These things snowball,but if the Browns have a game similar to the two road games at home,it could get very ugly from the crowd.
The Browns don't have to win to save themselves from the wrath of the fans,but they do have to keep it close and really need to keep it close early.
If the Bengals strike early and get a 14-0 lead,it is going to be a long day in Cleveland.

11) I forgot to post my pick,but I was pretty close as my prediction was 35-6 Baltimore and it wound up 34-3.
Wish I wouldn't have been that close.

Photo Credits
Gail Burton:AP Photo