[The Professor]

...from the "Kardiac Kids II" of 2007 (10-6) to the NFL's 'Flop of the Year' in 2008 to a new regime in 2009. Will Year I of the 'Mangenius' Era be a success or will it look like more of the Crennel train wreck? Lots of big questions to be answered on the shores of Erie this year:

• How long will Brady Quinn manage to hold down the starting QB job and how will he do?
• Is Derek Anderson going to finish the year in a Browns uni? If he does, will it be as the starter?
• Is Eric Mangini one of those coaches who "never has a QB" (is never happy with who he has calling the signals, no matter what)?
• How much gas has feature HB Jamal Lewis got? Will the Browns have even the semblance of a running game in '09?
• Will Braylon Edwards be last year's hands of stone (no mas! no mas!) or the scintillating threat of '07? Who else is the QB-of-the-minute going to throw to?
• How many yards will the Browns suspect defense give up? How many points? Record setting porous or just plain porous?
• How many games will feature the recap that "while Josh Cribbs provided some stand-up-and-shout moments of excitement, the Browns were otherwise terrible" (and took an "L")?

Here's hoping (as always) for some surprises, some "Kardiac" moments and maybe a miracle or two.

[Bobbuttons]

I'm going to be optimistic and say they'll go 7-9.

[Dargone]

You guys are f*****. Sorry

[Bobbuttons]

Originally Posted by Dargone

You guys are f*****. Sorry

So what does Vegas have the Browns at for a Super Bowl win?

[BaseballMan]

I dont think they will make the playoffs but i dont think they will be a flop unless Mangini just decides he wants to start from scratch. Going 10-6 and flopping the next year tells me they were not that bad but not that good either.
Its probably one of those years you shouldnt expect them to make the playoffs even though you should always hope your team does but the main thing is that they keep making progress and maybe last year was a minor setback. If my team cant make it i sure wouldnt mind seeing the Browns finally make it to a SB.

[Dargone]

Originally Posted by Bobbuttons

So what does Vegas have the Browns at for a Super Bowl win?

Open was 60/1 and current is 50/1.


Detroit 100/1

[Bobbuttons]

Originally Posted by Dargone

Open was 60/1 and current is 50/1.


Detroit 100/1

What are the odds in Vegas as to whether the Browns will score an offensive touchdown this season?

[Green & Gold Heart]

It was cute today when the Browns were leading at halftime.

[Bobbuttons]

I predicted to a guy at work that the Browns would hold Peterson to just under 150 yards. If the Browns could have done ANYTHING offensively in the second half, I'd have been right on.

[Bobbuttons]

dola,

And the reason I made that prediction was that many at work were predicting Peterson would run for another record.

[Bobbuttons]

Holy hell... a touchdown!

[MorseMoose]

Originally Posted by Bobbuttons

Holy hell... a touchdown!

Congrats . Your guys had me a little scared at halftime.

[Bobbuttons]

My thoughts on game 1:

Let's look at the positives, and there were some. First, the running game looked pretty good considering they were up against one of the best run defenses in the league. They had some pretty good run blocking at times. The run defense was also solid for the most part. Much better than anticipated by most, I'd imagine, but I expected it to at least be a little bit better this year. They held the best running back in the league, with one of the best run blocking lines in the league to not a whole lot for 2 and a half quarters. Had the offensive kept the ball enough in the 2nd half to give the D a little rest from time to time, I think they could have kept Peterson to under 130 yards. Special teams, which started out very poorly, turned in TD and got a couple of punts inside the 20.

The bad....

The offense was pathetic. I don't blame Quinn. He threw a few bad passes, yes. He also had a number of passes that were dropped or off the hands of the receivers that should have been caught in the 2nd half. The O line has to do a better job of pass protection. We had the best success we've had in years with screens in the preseason, yet we ran a running back screen once in this game. Why? With Minnesota's blitzing, it would have been a smart way to counter it. Davis was in the game FAR too much. Why the hell was he in the game in the 3rd quarter on 3rd down and 8 inside the 50? He got whistled for a false start and put us in third and a mile. NO reason to not have a veteran in there on a definite passing down. The playcalling was horrible. And who in their right mind runs a wildcat play on 3rd and goal from the half yard line? You can't stretch that out, you have to power it through for a half yard. And, finally, there were WAY too many stupid penalties, like false starts. Those are bonehead plays that Mangini is going to really be ticked about and he needs to get this team out of those kinds of penalties.

[PittPanther]

Same as it ever was. . . same as it ever was.

And to think all Modell had to do was move the team out of the city and they won a title . . .

[Bobbuttons]

Originally Posted by PittPanther

Same as it ever was. . . same as it ever was.

And to think all Modell had to do was move the team out of the city and they won a title . . .

Go away.

[Bobbuttons]

So far in game 2, two turnovers deep in our own territory leads to 10 points. Otherwise, it's a 6-3 Browns lead. It doesn't seem possible that an actual professional team can go this long without an offensive touchdown when it matters (last week's TD was nice, but well after the game was decided). In the preseason, this team ran a TON of screens, and most of them were pretty successfull. I understand that you don't want to run nearly as many in the regular season, but we ran 1 or 2 last week and no legitimate screen today. It makes no sense, especially when you finally get Harrison back.

Edwards has looked good this game. Cribbs has not. He whined all offseason about his contract, made one good play last week and this week he dropped a pass he should have caught in the first quarter in this one. He had one decent punt return and a couple of mediocre kick returns. AND he fumbled at his own 30. Try holding on to the ball, then you'll get a better contract.

The defense hasn't played too bad today. Except when it's third down, that is. Might be nice to show up for every down, though.

[Bobbuttons]

Prater not really making a good case in favor of him still wearing a Broncos jersey next weekend....

[The Professor]

Oh, sweet mother...

...this team is going to give the 2008 Lions a run, but even the Lions had moments of offensive productivity. The Browns are just pathetic. Yeah, Edwards has showed up today, but:

* They have no running game. None.
* If the Browns try to spread the field, Quinn is buried
* They cannot convert third downs. At all. Ever!!

Defensively, they just don't have a prayer. By the time it gets into crunch time, they are easy pickings for even the most mediocre offenses. Of course, if I was playing knowing that my offense was never going to score. (NEVER!) I'd give up in the fourth quarter, too.

Browns radio just said Buckhalter (45 yard TD run) looked like Adrian Peterson. Against the Browns? Hell, John Riggins could come out of retirement and look like a white Adrian Peterson against this bunch. OK. I know they are tired. Doug Dieken points this out. Still...yuk.

Eric Mangini and Randy Lerner talk a lot, or so the Cleveland press tells us. How long will that last?

Time to start watching the college game in depth, figure out who the Browns can get in the draft. Colt McCoy sweepstakes the talk already, just three weeks in.

[The Professor]

Dumervil has 3 sacks in the last 10 minutes...and the Browns, it seems, can't snap the ball, either. I wonder, can they do anything at all competently?

Great punting! Or, at least, they do it a lot and not always as haplessly as they do everything else.

[The Professor]

Interception to end it.

Quinn couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat on that last drive.

Not really anything positive to take away from this one.