New Sherriff In Town

USA Today felt the upset monday night was of no interest. Pacman Jones must have bumped the blurb.

Not since Nelson, Sipe, and Kosar have the Browns had a QB who could overcome so many idiotic screw-ups. I'm certain that all the DA-bashers will proclaim it a fluke, and predict four interceptions vs. the Skins...and if that doesn't work out, predict it for the next and the next game until they get at least two. Might take awhile, but eventually they'll use their fancy mathematics to declare the second-year starter a bumb.

The guy we played, Eli? Took him over three years. DO YOU UNDERSTAND? And I guarantee you, that if Anderson ever does what he did, then has one game like monday night--they'll be declaring everything that went before a fluke. Unbelievable.

Edwards and Stallworth only dropped one pass apiece...both probable touchdowns. If they had dropped three or four more, as usual, or blown a route resulting in an interception, DA would still be a bumb. Everything is always all his fault, including deflections and idiotic penalties, you know.

At least on monday night Steve Young kept repeating that this didn't look like a fluke to him. It was domination. It was a better team. Others were and are picking at Eli, a lack of inspiration, the game-plan going away from the run.

The game plan went away from the run on the rare occasions when the run was blown up in or near the backfield by the frequent and long overdue blitzes, resulting in long yardage situations. And when the Browns expanded their lead. The clock-management late was inexplicable, though. It looked like the proverbial towel on the canvass.

Tucker returned the othe offensive line, and they, those roll-outs, three-step drops/quick releases (I TOLD YOU DA HAD IMPROVED HIS READS AND SHORT GAME), and Jamal Lewis neutralized that awesome pass rush. (Oh must include Vickers, Lewis blocking, and both Dinkens and Heiden--great job, guys!)

Savage snagged Anderson first in the seventh round and then off the Ravens practice squad. He signed a "washed-up" Lewis for chump-change. Hank Fraley too.

The Browns did this sans K2! And without Sean Jones. Jones absence definitely hurt. He's 225 lbs. and Adams under 200. Adams never stood a chance against that human cement truck. Jones would have spent more time near the box and attacking the run.

The Browns were finally ABLE to go deep by using misdirection, and due to the fact that Lewis was tearing them up. So was Harris, by the way.

The defense finally did what they should have all along: Attacked, on nearly every down. And it worked out like I said it would. Sometimes they got burned, but at least as often, they blew up plays and forced turnovers. This 3-4 needs to do that to running and passing offenses alike. It's what their personnel dictates.

Alex Hall is really coming on. McGinest made a big difference against the run (I mean it would have been even worse).

These were the world champs, undefeated, ranked atop the league in most categories.

What happens when Winslow and Jones return? And Rucker. (I read a guy say that with all the time he missed, he might not be able to do much. Look, he was doing great in preseason and has had his playbook. Let's not overthink this, ok?) Even JJ could return eventually. What about Shaffer? He did well last season--why can't he return to that form? His return at RT would move Tucker to RG and upgrade the line overall.

Tucker is the unsung hero. He had a lot to do with both the running and the passing. Many of the runs went to his side--the Browns weren't left-handed as usual. Tucker is perhaps the most underrated offensive lineman in football--he should have been in several Pro Bowls. He's athletic enough for zone-blocking and powerful enough to simply blow people away. He had a lot to do with this win.

They also did this without Shaun Smith, and with Robaire on IR. The Browns were starting "severe lack of depth" guys!!!

Speaking of which, here's something else: Young players tend to IMPROVE. Is any of that sinking in yet? You seem to think it's possible to have six Sean Rogers'. It's not. Please believe me. And you seem to think that "raw, needs development" means "he will always suck no matter what so don't sign him period".

Couple items: I heard one of the analysts look right at that end-zone pass going exactly between Stallworth's hands, and this guy says "Now a quarterback will see that and say 'oh, he should have made that catch!', heh-heh." Well it went RIGHT BETWEEN HIS HANDS, ok? What the hell was that guy looking at?

It was a perfect pass, too. The defender was all over Stallworth, and he's only 6' tall, so he couldn't leap like Edwards or K2. Anderson placed it over the defender's hands and exactly where only Stallworth could grab it.

He caught people IN-STRIDE with nearly every pass. He went deep while rolling out. He shocked even ME with his accuracy, both short and long.

From the gun to the end, every unit played to their potentials. Only the stupid, idiotic, inexplicable false starts and an intermittant (that means not constant) vulnerability to the run marred this. And what the hell is going on with those penalties? Make those guys run gassers or fine them or something! It's rediculous! You can't EXPECT a QB to bail you out of all those long-yardage situations every single series!

Yeah--and you can't expect DA to be as good as he was monday every game. You need to expect him to be consistantly good, but even Brady and Peyton have mediocre games. The bashers will sue this, too. They're like interior decorators; masters of shade and contrast. Now ONE interception, less than 70% completions, and less than 250 yards will elicit "same old bumb".

You guys are rediculous.

Savage is grinning ear-to-ear. He can give you Quinn next season, and get a ton of draft picks for DA. All DA has to be is pretty good (to the objective, sane, rational observer--which you aint).

The most important thing? He had TIME. This is one of the best offensive lines in the NFL, and they're finally playing that way again.

Oh yeah. I'm listening to NFL Radio and they're talking about the Redskins like the Browns are an asterisk. They lost a hearbreaker last week and Riggins and company expect them to rebound. The Browns absolutely have to beat them, too, before they get any respect.

And hey--you idots chanting "overrated" at the Giants? What the hell is the matter with you? That's one of the three or four best teams in the NFL. That's just irrefutable. They're the Superbowl Champs, mostly intact. It doesn't occur to you that the Browns were underrated? Idiots.

All the lowly Browns have are Jamal Lewis, K2, Braylon Edwards, Steinbach, Thomas, Tucker, Fraley, Heiden, Rogers, McDionals (fourth round pick), Jones, Pool, Wight, Harrison, and bumbs like that, right? How can you win anything with no talent?

In the real world, it was only a matter of time.

Look, last week I wondered why nobody but me noticed that the fourth quarter vs. Cinci was a lot better than the preceding three. It appeared to me that a corner was turned, right there, and with the bye week coming up. They gave the Stoolers hell before that. Dallas humiliated them in game one, but since that game, they were competitive and just kept shooting themselves in the foot offensively. The defense was consistantly improving. Where would they have been ranked SINCE the Dallas game? NEAR THE TOP OF THE LEAGUE is where.

And most RECENT performances mean a lot more than overall. This is how you calculate trends.

I remain not a big Romeo fan. Chud and Tucker created the game-plans, and you simply have to make the buck stop at the top for false starts and stupid crap like that.

And during an interview he talked about Harrison's "skill-sets" and "finding a way" to get him on the field. The only freaking thing he can't do is stop a 260-lb. linebacker. He can do everything ELSE--what a knucklehead!

Of course, vs. the Giants...okay. When Lewis wasn't trampling people, he was picking up blitzes, and those guys are ALL big. I did like how he was used against this specific team. And I bet it was Chud's idea and he had to fight for it.

Well okbye.