DA and RAC Corrections

First, try to grasp this fact: Every defense the Browns have or will face has studied the game-tapes of this offense. They are using umbrella/shell coverages to deprive the recievers of their deep routes, forcing shorter crosses and slants.

DA critics need to decide whether they want to bash him for forcing the ball into double coverage deep, or for throwing shorter. Clearly, he's going to get bashed no matter what he does, by those who see what they want to see.

When Edwards sees a guy hanging back ten or more yards, with a safety watching him, he can't get by these guys. Nor could any olympic sprinter. Still, he can sometimes challenge it, if Chud has decided that he can use his height, size, and leaping ability to overcome it. But in most cases, he will break off the route and cross in front of DA, where he is wide open.

This coverage scheme concedes these shorter routes. They know that there will be completions, but they hope to jump the route for the pick or break-up, slam the reciever to knock it loose and intimidate him, or at least nail him before he can do more extensive damage.

They have determined this is how best to stop Anderson and Edwards, expecially since Winslow must also remain underneath (He's very fast for a TE, but free safeties can pick him up and run with him deep.) They know that he, too, will make some catches, but ditto what I said about Edwards.

This scheme keeps passes short and intermediate, taking away what DA and Edwards do best. DA might complete three or five of these in a row, but the first incompetion means a down, and two mean third down. DA is a gunslinger, who has improved his short game (yes he HAS), but this will never be his strong suit. He may never get over 60%. The math simply favors the defense by taking away the deep ball.

This also involves the attack scheme. Defenses are unable to stack the box against Lewis while doing this. Most answer this by adapting to Winslow with a modified nickel. This puts more speed on the field, and the zone approach ensures that every secondary defender spots a run before backpedalling, so that they can close on it immediately and at full speed.

The front will consistantly rush four or five--only in lanes; the objective being first to catch Lewis before he can get going, and second to get to DA. Though this leaves short zones open for quick passes, these are contained by five fast defenders ideally positioned to jump on them.

So far, two of the best defenses in the NFL have proven the efficacy of this approach.

Anderson should have completed five more passes for at least one more touchdown, but Edwards made sure he didn't. He has thrown some bad passes, but for the most part has been okay, unless you're using the young Kosar or Sipe as your baseline...which, I know--you naturally are.

He practices with Stallworth all spring and then loses him on the eve of the first game, after losing time with a concussion, and gets the "bad" Braylon to boot. The Stallworth thing can't be overstated. Stallworth was here precisely to exploit the type of coverage the Bengals used so effectively in game two last season. On the intermittant occasions when he is healthy, Stallworth is very reliable short reciever who runs like Josh Cribbs in the open field. He is also the fastest reciever on the team, and can go deep.

As good as Steptoe is, he's not the same.

Rucker, too, was not merely here to collect splinters. He was going to be one of the recievers. It doesn't matter what you call him--wide reciever, slot guy, or tight end--he was here to tear up umbrella coverages underneath and beat the snot out of defensive backs.

It's easy for the intellectually lazy or downright stupid to blame the quarterback for everything. It's the most obvious thing to do, and works great with an echo-chamber full of barstool quarterbacks.

Anderson threw a low bullet to Steptoe in the end zone. Steptoe defended him, saying that he should have come back towards Anderson. This is called a sight adjustment--he needed to get away from Polumalu, and DA threw it where it was supposed to go. Had Steptoe made this adjustment, Polumalu would still have got to it, but Steptoe would be in his way. He could try to reach around him, or to jar it loose--but couldn't have made the pick.

And an incompletion would have killed the clock DO YOU UNDERTAND an incompletion would have killed the clock.

Look, are you now saying that he should never have thrown it to Steptoe? I didn't see the tapes, but...well, does that mean that he should have forced it into coverage or thrown a high, time-consuming jump-ball instead? That Steptoe is not a real reciever?

The 20/20 hindsight is astonishing.

And by the way, maybe two safeties in the NFL could have made that play, and Polumalu (the bastard) is one of them. Anybody named Manning couldn't have thrown that pass better, and both would have thrown it (I think...I mean I don't know for sure--was Winslow open? Was he told to keep it low no matter what? That is--unlike most of you, I don't assume a lot, so I could be wrong).

The other interception? Well in the swirling wind, predominantly from behind DA at the time, he took something off the ball, lest the wind take it too deep. The wind died. This I know. This is from the players. Big Ben threw a couple of those, too. The only safe passes were low-trajectory bullets.

...oh crap. So now he shouldn't have attempted it, right? Jeez, I give up.

Would Quinn have done better? Yes, I think so. Quinn is a more proficient, accurate short passer. Does that mean that DA should be benched in his favor? No. Because Edwards would still have dropped his passes, he'd probably make the same adjustments and throws on both interceptions,, and would still be missing Stallworth.

It's not DA's fault.

Who's fault is it? Romeo's. I think the field goal thing is debatable, although I would have gone for the first down. They'd still need a touchdown either way, to tie, if not to win. If the Steelers take over right there, the defense could still get a stop, and presumably leave more time on the clock for the offense. Romeo's decision could be called sound, but to me it was timid.

The clock-management stuff showed a startling lack of preparation and a poor clutch decision.

The defense played a really good game against an offense that destroyed a pretty good Texans defense last week.

Two defensive offsides calls on the Browns were bullshit. In both cases, an offensive lineman jumped BEFORE the DL moved, and it was called the other way. One of these kept a touchdown drive alive. There were also bullshit calls against the Steelers, so I'm not saying this was intentional. But the TV announcers completely ignored the screw-up and endorsed the bad calls.

Romeo can be forgiven for mistakes made last season, maybe. But not anymore. He has a lot of good points, but his teams are too often unprepared, and bad decisions at critical times are almost certain.

One especially bright poster on the Browns site asked if maybe Romeo wanted to get fired. If he quit, it would void his guarantees. If he were fired, he could ride off into the sunset a wealthy man. (Incredibly, one of the other posters asked "why would he do that instead of just quitting?").

I'm not sure. I mean... after the Dallas game, when he was asked if he had that de-facto surrender field goal to do over, would he? he said "absolutely".

A couple weeks ago, Phil Savage said that Harrison would be the number two back. This was news to Romeo, but no mistake by Savage. Phil is no doubt constrained from interfering with Romeo, and said this in public to put Crennel in a corner.

RAC got the hint, and has ignored it. I DO suspect that RAC wants to get fired. I mean, look at how old he is. Do you think he wants to coach until he dies? When he's already past the age at which most of the rest of us are done working?

Some pundits are talking about the bloom being off Chudzinski's rose because of the first two games. Don't believe it. Chud hasn't been dropping passes, or pulling groin muscles, or failing to pick up blitzers, or throwing bad passes (I already admitted there WERE a few, okay? The truth is rarely as conveniently absolute as stupid people wish it is).

Many coordinators fall on their faces when made head coaches. We don't know about Chud in that respect yet. And he is young--and a coordinator for only one year.

Still, I would give him the chance. Savage knows him well. I'd fire Romeo, right now, and make Chud the new honcho. Not a panic move. A business decision. The defense is run by Tucker, who might do better without RAC anyway, and it's Chud's offense. On an interim basis, Savage could fill in some gaps to keep the rookie from getting swamped.

The season isn't lost yet. They came to play the Stoolers, and the most likely culprit for this loss is RAC.

For that matter, the defensive game-plan vs. Dallas called for a three-man rush and rediculously soft coverage. When Romeo coordinated here for Butch Davis, I remember a lot of the same stuff. Romeo always seemed timid to me. I sure hope that "give up the short stuff" all up-and-down the field was him, and not Tucker. Since Tucker and his players had talked about being more aggressive, right now it looks like Romeo's style which allowed Dallas to kick the crap out of the defense throughout the first half.

As you saw, they were much more aggressive vs. the Stoolers. Parker was often hit in the backfield, Big Ben pressured. When we had them pinned in their own end-zone on third and long, what happened? A three-man rush! Mel Tucker? I doubt it. That's got Romeo written all over it, and you saw what happened.

Absolutists will hate hearing this, but the defense made huge strides on sunday, and finally was allowed to play to it's strengths. Things are looking up on that side of the ball, despite the loss of Robaire Smith. Williams started instead of Davis, and did well. This is putting more speed on the field. More aggression worked, as it usually does. The secondary was exposed here and there. but not nearly as much as it would have been had Ben had more time. Parker gashed them here and there, but not nearly as much as if he hadn't been hit in the backfield a lot. Let's hope RAC learned something...or is fired.

Steptoe is still new, but is improving. Rucker will be back. The butthead stopped dropping passes last season and can stop dropping them again. Subsequent teams they'll play are no where near the Stoolers vs. the run, and Lewis will do his damage to help this offense work.

This young team will improve over the course of the season, and has just played a good--if stupid--game vs. a projected contender.

Cinci sucks, the Cravens are overrated, and Pitt has a tougher schedule, and can be had.

If DA fails now, that's fine--I like Quinn just fine, and figure he's the future anyway. But we don't make that move until DA really IS as bad as so many of you hope and pray and hallucinate he is.

YOU STAND CORRECTED.

Browns vs, Stoolers Game Preview by John Madden

History: The Browns have sucked for a long time.

Keys to the Game:

1: The Browns must contain Willie Parker and that other running back.

2: The Browns must put pressure on Big Ben so that he doesn't have time to throw.

3: Jamal Lewis must have a good day.

4: Anderson must perform well.

5: The Browns must prevent long punt and kick returns.

6: The Browns must have good punt and kick returns.

Summary: If the Browns are able to score over twenty four points, and to prevent the Steelers from scoring more than twenty three points, they will have a good chance.

Prediction: Whichever team is unable to score the most points will probably lose.

Blabberage

I'm glad to hear positive news about Cribbs. Also glad that Alex Hall is on a fast track.

The Steelers in particular make me ask this question:

If Romeo Crennel had an unproven Willie Parker, would he ever get a chance?

Answer: NO. He's even lighter than Harrison, and maybe even almost as short. Parker would be returning kicks, maybe, and collecting splinters. Including behind Jason Wright. Regardless of his awesome YPC numbers (you can always rationalize those away. By prevending him from getting any meaningful reps, you can keep him from proving that he can do what he did for three years in college.)

I'm sick of it. I hope they fire Romeo, regardless of how well the season goes, and make Chud the new boss. It's not just that:

Why do they have to use the 6'1" Sean Smith at DE? They DON"T. Robaire, Williams, and --yes ROGERS are all BETTER DE's than Smith--even Louis Leonard might be! But Sean might well be the second-best nose tackle on the roster.

Smith lacks reach and vision at DE, and is more quick than fast--he has less range. Rogers is taller, has longer arms, and has better range. Smith's stoutness is an advantage in the middle, where leverage is more important. Centers are more athletes than goons, and he can overpower them.

Rogers can get around most right tackles and run over a lot of left tackles. How do you get a hat on Wimbley with Rogers in front of him? Rogers in the middle indeed collapses the pocket, but then he has to slow and turn in pursuit. Rogers coming from the tackle area just keeps going and chasing the quarterback, or smashes or reroutes the running back.

And how could this team be THAT unprepared for the Cowboys?

I hope Anderson slapped the taste out of Braylon's mouth. He makes those catches, and it's a real game. They might even have won.

You let Harrison play, like Savage tried to force you too, and maybe that 6-yard run is a touchdown. Romeo the blockhead. You look at it during the week, and then make that decision to MAKE HARRISON NUMBER TWO, or I hope they fire you.

Okbye.

Chicken Little Again

Looking for the Browns to add another receiver? There’s nothing to see here. Move on.

Even with a less-than-100% Josh Cribbs – he of the scant “real” experience at the position to begin with – the dinged-up and enigmatic Donte’ Stallworth, and the very raw and very green tandem of Syndric Steptoe and Steve Sanders – whose only real-game experience in the NFL occurred last week – manning the position? Sir, m’am , please, move on. There is nothing to see here.

Hoping for the Browns to add a veteran to prop-up a depth-challenged secondary or a talent-challenged linebacking corps? OK, this is your last warning. Move on.

Right or wrong, personnel-wise, that’s where the Browns stand right now. And will likely remain standing for the week leading up to the critical divisional showdown. Standing pat and preparing for perhaps the most critical game since their return in 1999.

Over the course of the day yesterday, The OBR attempted to contact the agents for 27 NFL veterans at varying positions of perceived need currently out of work. We eventually heard back from 21 of them. Of the 21, exactly none of them had heard from the Cleveland Browns.

Needless to say, given the questions surrounding multiple positions on the depth chart, more than one eyebrow was raised by the silence of the phones.

“No, I haven’t heard from them, which is kind of surprising to be quite honest,” Peerless Price’s agent, Tim McGee, told The OBR late yesterday afternoon. “Given their injury situation, you’d figure they’d be like the Titans and Seahawks and show at least a little bit of interest. But, no, I haven’t heard from them.”

Yeah! Why don't they cut that Steptoe or Sanders guy and sign my guy to a one year contract so he can come out of the retirement home and do almost as well as them for a year, then leave the younger guys growing with another team? I don't get it! How can I make any money on this deal? You're going to print this, right? Think the dum...fans will get all pissed off?

“I don’t understand it,” Ralph Vitolo, the agent for receiver Joe Horn, told The OBR. “Who do they have there? Joe could help, and he wants to come to Cleveland. But for whatever reason, the front office just isn’t interested, it seems.”

He's only thirty six! He can still separate occasionally, and has good hands. He can do everything Sanders does!

As The OBR reported in recent weeks, and was reiterated by a Browns source yesterday, there are members of the coaching staff – with senior offensive assistant Dave Atkins being the most vocal – who have been pleading with Phil Savage and company to add some veteran help, in particular and especially at the receiver position.

“With Joe (Jurevicius) being out, then Donte’, you saw what happened (in the loss to the Cowboys). I really don’t think much else needs to be said,” a Browns source grumbled.

DA has not practiced with Steptoe or Sanders, and Cribbs will return. Winslow is the second reciever. Savage is building this team to REMAIN good, and to continue to improve, for several years. You can't do this by signing one year geezers and releasing young talent.

Jurevicious may return, and we have that other veteran as well. These guys want to rent a player, then release him about when he's up to speed with the offense, release a young player, and/or release somebody else when he returns from IR. All for an old player who at this point is probably no better than any of them, and who has no future with this organization.

One agent, who refused to allow his name to be used for this piece, relayed a conversation he had with an unnamed member of the Browns’ defensive staff.

“He told me ‘I’m pushing, a bunch of us are pushing for some help, some veterans. It’s almost to the point where you just throw up your hands and just go about your business’”, the agent said he was told.

When given the premise for this story, one Browns source became slightly agitated. When given the specifics of the conversations, the same source became downright incredulous.

“Do people think we've forgotten how to build a football team? We should just implode everything and start all over after one loss? I don't get it. I really don't.

“Could we use some help, some veteran help, at certain positions? I could see how someone could probably make the case for that. But there are 31 other teams in the league who aren't and won't be 100% healthy, and 15 of them lost their first game. Are they blowing up the roster they spent all off-season and training camp building after Week One? C'mon. We'll always be looking to upgrade the roster, but we aren't going to make a move just to say that we made one.”

In particular, the source wanted to expound on the agent's contention that some members of the coaching staff were upset at the lack of moves.

“How long have you been doing this, ten years or so? You know as well as I that every single coach on every single staff of every single team is always in the ear of the front office looking to add this person or that person. Every coach wants 22 Ray Lewis's on defense and 22 Peyton Manning's on offense. It's the job of the front office to listen, and then decide what's best both in the short- and long-term. And the stance this week – whatever that is – isn't necessarily the one that will be in place next week.”

And, since the source was seemingly in the mood to talk, we decided we had to ask the question: So, what exactly is the nature of Stallworth's injury and what did the MRI show?

"No comment."

Of course.

Here's some intelligent analyst stuff: Stallworth pulls muscles. There's no evidence of any structural damage for an MRI to reveal. He won't tell you (and the Steelers) anything about it, and if he's not back this week, he's probably back next week, and makes the geezer vet you want so bad as useful as a third thumb.

And stop with this "veteran" crap! This aint rocket science! At a certain point an old player can be as cagey and smart as can be, but still can't get open! At a certain point, the younger player is simply the better player. And you don't flush that future down the tubes because you PANICKED.

And do you really think that Josh Cribbs will keep being exclusively a special teamer for the rest of his career? Do you think that Steptoe will never return anything while Cribbs is healthy? Did you really ignore the huge leap Cribbs reportedly made as a WIDE RECIEVER in training camp?

And the coaches should KNOW better: Savage was a coach initially, and stated the truth: Winslow is the second/third reciever in this offensive scheme. When Rucker returns, that slot is two-deep. In fact, Rucker and Winslow could both be in a four-wide!

YOU go ahead and jump overboard. I'll see you in the harbor, if you don't drown.

Dear Browns: DON'T SHOW UP! IT;S A TRAP!

I just listened to NFL Radio, and found out that we don't just lack depth in the secondary. No--everybody else sucks too! Like Jones vs. Witten? Jones doesn't stand a chance! Jason Witten is the greatest tight end ever to have played, and Sean Jones sucks! It's true-it's true!

The Giants preseason game: That's the real Browns! Those sixteen games last year? Forget it! The national guys saw the Giants game, and it confirmed all their suspicions!

Sure, the Cowboys are thin at reciever and will have to try to cover K2 with Roy Williams and stuff, but they are so deep and stacked and awesome that it won't matter! Besides, who is K2, compared to Witten?

And T.O. is unstoppable. All that stuff about McDonald and Wright practicing against Edwards? Are you telling me that Braylon Edwards is in T.O.'s league? He's a Cleveland Brown--what are you talking about? The artist formerly known as Pacman will shut him down single-handedly.

And Marion Barber...how can they stop him? It should be obvious after preseason that the Browns defense has no chance of slowing down this offensive juggernaut.

You thought the Browns offensive line was pretty good? Well the Giants proved that they were just pretenders throughout last season! The fact that they did better against Detroit and merely just Chicago is irrelevant. The Cowboys might be the best team ever to have played.

Romo is so much better than DA it isn't funny, and so is their offensive line. The Browns can try to pressure him, but resistance is futile. Dallas's offensive line will dominate Williams and that other guy whats-his name...oh yeah Rogers. No double-teams needed here--Dallas's offensive linemen are future Hall-of-Famers, including the backup who'll start at left guard.

In fact, none of the Browns starters could even make the Dallas roster! Edwards? OK well, he might be a good slot-reciever. Winslow, I suppose, might be able to back up Witten. Rogers could maybe back up too, but Williams would of course not make the team.

Joe Thomas might be an adequate swing-tackle. Jamal Lewis a third-string change-of-pace guy, maybe. Steinbach? Maybe an emergency utility guy, but probably not. Sean Jones could be a backup, and fill in for Roy Williams on passing downs. Josh Cribbs might be okay, if he can do more than just that special teams stuff. Anderson could maybe make it to the practice squad.

So don't show up! Just send a fax: "We concede". You don't want to get beat 75-0, do you?

Hope I caught you in time.

Hysteria

Surprisingly, Antwan Peek just got hurt again. Wow. Didn't see that coming!

Then I looked at the comments board, and was even more stunned and amazed. I learned that when Savage said they were thin in that area, that he meant the entire linebacking corps, and not just outside linebacker!

I also found out that our secondary was weak. I had thought that it was mainly the depth. Wright looked horrible in the ONE GAME, so I guess that what he did last season doesn't matter.

Okay, then I found out that the secondary and the linebackers are bad. All of them. That Peek should be cut and replaced by Ty Law. That this was no big loss, since Quinn is a better QB anyway.

Wow! And we're going 7-9!

There was a mathematician entry: A formula starting with weak secondary + weak linebackers and winding up with the utter implosion of the team--wow!

There was another guy. He started out okay by calling these guys morons, but then he devolved into calling them disloyal and closet Stooler-fans and stuff. No no no! They're just irrational and ignorant. It's not "my team right or wrong"--it's "my team because it's still pretty good and I still have a homo sapiens brain".

Oh, and of course there's the obligitory kicking Peek while he's down. Like he does this on purpose, or something.

There were a very few intelligent comments, like re-sign Orr.

One guy demanded that Phil make some huge trade. Of some sort. I'm hearing alarm bells and screaming in the background.

Would you want to be in a foxhole with these guys? Not me. It would smell real bad as soon as a gunshot was heard, know what I mean? And they'd be grabbing onto you and shouting in your ear and you couldn't shoot or throw grenades or anything.
If they were drowning, I wouldn't rescue them. They'd take me with them for sure. At least the water would dilute their bowel-contents.

Willie McGinest has not suddenly forgotten how to play linebacker, and passrushing is not the exclusive role of that position. He's become one of the best run-stoppers on the team, and can hang with tight ends in the short area. You lose a little, you gain a little.

Alex Hall will get his chances. He's been consistantly close to the QB rushing from the down position on the tackle's outside shoulder. He's looked good. I doubt that he'll blow up the Cowboys, but if Romo tries to scramble to his right, he might do something.

In preseason the Browns didn't show all their cards. They didn't run games or stunts. Rogers and Williams were used very little.

Oh yeah...one guy said the Browns defense was "marginally" improved over last year's. Williams and Rogers constitute over 17% of it, and Leonard is emerging. Williams and Jackson
are only entering their third seasons. So everything this guy said is based on preseason, and at that on the overall performance without regard to the first team.

It's depressing, and embarrassing.

The Browns probably won't beat Dallas. But it won't be the blow-out everybody expects.

John Taylor of the OBR came up with a foolproof way to stop T.O.: Tape some video cameras to the defensive linemen's helmets. This way, T.O. doesn't make it past the line of scrimmage.

RAC on Harrison

I just heard Romeo Crennel interviewed on NFL Radio. When Pat Kirwin asked him about the decision ot make Harrison the number two back, RAC said "I didn't make that announcement. I'll look at it during the week, and come to a decision on it".

I already know what happened.

Savage made the announcement, in public, on purpose, to force the issue. It's obvious to the general public, as well as to Phil Savage, that Harrison is the second-best running back on this team.

I have little doubt that Phil and Chud have both lobbied on Harrison's behalf before. Probably, Phil made a promise long ago not to tell RAC what to do with his players. I think he's still keeping that promise, which is why he announced that Harrison was now number two instead.

He knows that most of the fans are bewildered and disgusted by RAC's inexplicable suppression of one of his most dangerous offensive weapons.

I have to. for the fourth time, repeat that, heading into this season, Crennel, when asked about Hrrrison's prospects, said "He'll have to do it on specials.", and later alluded to how unfortunate it was that Jerome was so short. SHORT!

Phil had to read these comments and scratch his head. He probably called Chud, and Chud probably said "I've been telling him! I don't understand it! Every time I manage to get him out there, he kicks ass and outgains everybody else, and RAC still likes Wright better!"

Well, nice job, Phil. You made the announcement, and now everybody is overjoyed that Romeo's insanity has ended. They're asking him in interviews about it.

He no doubt is pissed. He asked you why you said that, right? I hope you told him you did him a favor, because he was making an ass of himself.

But he's stubborn. He'll probably put Wright in instead. Then the cameras will zero in on Chud--who I hope will have his face buried in his hands. The fans will look at eachother and ask "Where's Harrison? Is he hurt?" Get a shot of Harriosn's thousand-yard stare!

Boo. BOOOO!!! HAR-RI-SON! HAR-RI-SON!

Good job, PHIL! PHIL FOR PRESIDENT!

Hey that new Philadelphia lineman is a good fit! He's very athletic. Has his drive-blocking improved since is was the only thing wrong with him coming out of college? It's ok since he's ideal for a zone-blocking line, pulling, trapping, and pass-blocking.

Glad you kept Hubbard, even though he won't do much this season. You would have lost him for sure. Later on he can show up in some packages--I mean just when you want to send everybody deep and throw it out there. Just on a go-route where the only other choice he has to make is to break it across under super-soft coverage.

Next season, he'll be further along than if he'd just been on the practice squad, and can compete for number two.

I wish you hadn't waived Lee. Rucker could get back in three or four instead of seven weeks, but I'm not sure it was worth losing rare left tackle depth. I guess I understand: Schaeffer is number two there for now, and Tucker will be back soon.

Thanks for telling everybody what I've been telling them about Winslow (and Rucker) being number three (and four). When you have Edwards and Stallworth to threaten deep, that's more than enough. Even of one of those two is injured, Steptoe can help, and you really only need one; the safety can't ignore them.

And how do you cover Winslow? Like a wide reciever with a small guy? I mean, with Lewis waiting for you to try that? With a big guy who can't run with him? Doesn't matter, really--why isn't this obvious to everybody?

Anyway, thanks again for sticking it to Romeo like that. Wright can turn a broken play into ten yards, but Harrison can take the same ball to the house. That's why Cribbs will be used more, right? That's the whole point. right?

Jamal Lewis scares people, but they know that, more often than not, they can at least converge on him and run him to ground. Wright has their respect. But Harrison is scarier, because if he gets to the second level, it might be over for them. Ditto Cribbs.

Everybody thinks Chud's offense is all about vertical passes and hard inside runs. That's the way it is with Anderson, Edwards, and Lewis. But if they sell out to stop the over-the-top stuff, this offense will look like Infante's.

What if they kitchen-sink the backfield trying to pop Lewis and Anderson at the same time?

That's what Stallworth, Harrison, Winslow, Rucker, and Heiden are for. Get rid of it fast, and let Cribbs, Steptoe, Stallworth, or Harrison dart and juke downfiled, or the big guys just smash into people and run them over. (Including Lewis, who--it turns out--has become really good at catching flare-outs and screens.) I mean, when you throw a kitchen sink at a guy, it means holes in coverage, and mostly man, right?

Winslow: "There's only one guy with me! I'm open!"

Hahaha!

The guys on Farve Radio mostly pick Pitt in the North. Marty picked Cinci.

His logic was that when a bunch of teams are all bunched up like that, you go with the best quarterback.

That makes sense, except for this: Cincinnati and Baltimore are NOT strong teams. This Division os between Pitt and Cleveland.

Also, Marty is no doubt being burned in effigy in Pittsburgh, since everybody there knows that Rossenmuncher is the best QB ever to have played, and Palmer, DA, and everybody else sucks.

..and anybody who says different should be killed.

OKbye