First, my stipulations:
1: Weeden sucked.
2: The defense sucked in the second half. One idiot waited eleven halves to declare this defense a failure, but going forward, those of us with two gliel cells to rub together aren't concerned about that side of the ball.
The referees had a strong and obvious anti-Brown bias. The first two interference calls were not "iffy"--they were bullcrap. A cornerback is allowed to keep a hand on the reciever in order to track him. If he doesn't shove him five yards past the line of scrimmage, he's clean. I repeat: Bullcrap.
In fact, later in the game Calvin Johnson caught a TD pass after obviously pushing Haden away while the ball was in the air.
The first time Psycho Suh had a chance to hit Weeden, he hit him in the facemask with the top of his helmet. The referees and TV announcers made sure to pretend it didn't happen, but after the victory was safely in the books for the Lions, the league fined Suh for this and another cheap shot.
Greg Little's feet were in-bounds. Sure, Fox should have had more camera angles, but the shot from across the field was sufficient to confirm it. Terry Pluto, what are you looking at? The inside foot was already down and dragging. The only issue was the outside foot, which got down clearly in-bounds a few nanoseconds later.
After letting Suh go helmet-to-helmet and late all he wanted, they flagged OUR guy for a clean hit on Stafford!
The referees mugged the Browns, period.
But I give Stafford and the Lions their props. They outplayed the Browns and might have won anyway. Maybe.
Peter Smith, Jason Campbell does not suck. If Weeden doesn't get it together and achieve at least mediocrity, Campbell is a better option.
Pat McManamon ticked me off a little with his dismissive "is what he is" description of Chris Obgannaya. All the guy does is rack up yards every chance he gets. I don't get how people can look right at something and see something else.
The Browns have a puncher's chance against the Packers, who are mainly a West Coast offense temporarily short on intermediate recievers. Joe Haden will of course be on Jordy Nelson, which makes a difference.
As everybody else knows and has written, Eddie Lacy is kicking butt, and the Packers will try to hammer the Browns on the ground. But with Haden on Nelson, the defense can play shallow and try to smother and attack.
Sheard is back, and the OLB rotation is four deep again. This makes for a good matchup for the Browns, since Rodgers is perhaps more dangerous running out of the pocket than he is inside it.
The Ravens don't have a Haden, and the Browns front seven rotation is better here on planet Reality. Lacy is dangerous, and Rodgers' normally is quick and decisive. But Lacy can't do much damage if he is met in the backfield, and Rodgers can't count on anybody getting open quickly.
The Pack's passrush is also hurting, and believe it or not Weeden might have a good game.
That's all optimistic, because it feels like the Browns with Weeden are outgunned and will lose. Especially if the referees are on their side again.
By the way, how's that Trent Who trade looking? Huh?
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