Cleveland

What will beat the Browns?

It would be hard to be a more psychotic Browns fan than I am - and if there's a note of arrogance on any of the local message boards or any of the streaming radio broadcasts, it's a tiny fraction of the fanbase and media. Most see this as a close game and more than a few expect the Browns to lose it - we've not been 3-1 since, well, ever and rarely been 2-1. So much as your Titans-goggles may make you take the occasional "here's how the Browns could win" comment as if it reflected the whole fan base, it just ain't so.

That being said I come in peace and have a long-term regard for your current QB - he's been under-appreciated for years and years. If you guys are going to win, I can't see it coming much through the air though. Britt would have been scary but anything less than Britt is going to get shut down on one side by Haden. Your 2nd wideout will get matched up with Sheldon Brown who has definitely lost a step and can be beated regularly - so the safety will slide over that way. But really, with Britt down only a week, is your 2nd option going to be able to exploit Brown? Dunno, you tell me.

As far as the run I see CJ has struggled thus far. If you ever want him to break out, this is his week. The middle will be plugged reasonably well with Rubin and Taylor (our 1st rounder this year who is playing well) and you won't get much between the tackles. However the outside is a BIG problem for us - we've got a rookie in Sheard who is a fine pass rusher but struggles with the run and can be exploited. Screens too are an issue for our D it appears as we routinely give up chunks of yardage there. CJ's probably custom-made to bounce runs outside with speed and that's where we're weakest. So if CJ can get it together, he could have a huge week.

On special teams we're just fine - the return game is strong with Cribbs and or some other good options and our coverage team is good too. Punting will be mediocre but targeted to the sidelines.

The O is growing and learning. Our WR's pretty much are a wasteland. There's a rookie named Greg Little who could bust out by year end but isn't on the field that much yet and is still learning. Cribbs is an option here. There's also Mo Massaquoi who was injured much of the preseason and hasn't yet fully rounded into form. At best he's a good number two though and we don't have a top option to put on the field. Expect lots of passes to our TE's (Benjamin Watson and several lesser knowns like Evan Moore and Alex Smith). We'll also regularly dump off to Hillis who is a load when he gets started. Hardesty - our alternate RB - has more shimmy than Hillis and a quicker burst but is far short of the kind of speed CJ could offer; he's also pretty raw as he spent his 1st year on IR.

So my script for a Browns loss would be runs primarily to the outside and lots of screens. On D if the Titans can cover TE's across the middle and get Hillis going sideways instead of North/South, the Browns could be kept with a lot of 3 and outs. The game ends heavily tilted on TOP to the Titans side and - although the Browns D can probably limit your total score quite well, the Browns' O probably won't be able to keep up to even a low score.

That's the Browns in a nutshell - now give me the skinny on what it will look like if (and sure, it's a big enough "if") the Titans were to lose? What's the scenario that produces that and what should an outsider know to look for while watching the game on Sunday?

In any case - good luck after Sunday and here's to an injury-free game for both sides...

 

Obviously someone who knows football and their team...quite the departure from the fare that we read from Colts and Cows fans who wander on this site, huh?

To answer your question on what could bite us...

On offense the biggest factor is the loss of Britt IMO. If your #1 CB is like you say and can shut down Nate, that puts more pressure on a young group of players vying for the #2 receiver spot (Williams, Hawkins, Mariani, maybe throw in Jared Cook). A reduction in passing production puts more pressure on the run, and alot of pressure on CJ to produce. How we run the ball will be much more important to game outcome this week than it has so far this season IMO.

Given what you are saying on your interior line I think that we will not get much positive yardage there, since we have not yet this season anyway (interior OL has been pretty pedestrian in run blocking so far). For CJ to have a breakout game he is going to have to shift into a higher gear on outside runs than what I have seen him do so far this season (really has looked tentative with the ball, especially on sweeps, IMO). That said, for CJ it is his 4th week since the holdout (equivalent of a full preseason), so he may be due here.

Our D has been pretty good this year, and we are healthy (with exception of Hope, who may be back this week, but Babineaux has been very good in his place). Ruud has improved our ability to cover TEs across the middle (last year we were HORRIBLE at that), and with Morgan, Jones, and Ball we are getting a good push in the pass rush. One item to watch is penalties. Last week we committed alot of stupid offsides (neutral zone infractions) and personal fouls (late hits, shots to head, etc.) that could have easily cost us the game... Shaun Smith will likely be funny for you to watch...lots of trash talking, lots of stupid penalties. Hopefully that gets cleaned up this week.

Has Hillis recovered from his strep throat yet? I had heard that he showed up to play last week, and the doctors made him go home...is that correct?

 

Have the Brownies been wenging and whinning all week like Orton and the rest of the menestrating donks?

What a bunch of classless losers the mountain donkies are

 

I think the Browns are going to be more difficlt to beat than most think. We have to regroup in a big way this week without Britt and we absolutley have to get our running game going. That might be difficult in one week. Of course the Browns are a pretty young team and if the game gets out of control in favor of the Titans I think the Browns could totally lose their composure and take a big hit. No matter what both teams are doing better than anyone expected they would two months ago.

 

Call me crazy but i think this will be our toughest game so far out of the four we've played besides the Baltimore game.

We could end up having a lot of problems with our offense mainly due to the loss of Britt.If we still have problems running the ball and our receivers can't get open due to the Browns good pass defense there is a chance we could either be shut out or barely get points on the board.

Due to the Browns being good on pass defense this will have to be the week our run game exploits the Browns run defense.Like i said if we don't do that its going to be a long day.

We match up very similar to Cleveland in terms of weaknesses and strengths on defense.I could be wrong but i think this will be a low scoring game.

My prediction right now would be Titans 10 Browns 9.

 

Excellent post from an opposing fan rushmore.

Well, fortunately for you we haven't been able to run the ball outside (or inside for that matter) this season. And screens aren't exactly our strong suit either. Although we've supposedly been working on them more than in recent years. Hopefully for us, this is the week our run game gets on track.

As Cheesehead said, we have become better at TE coverage. But we're certainly still susceptible to giving up the big play to the position (as we've seen a few times this season already).

Our run D has been very good since they got castrated by MJD in week 1. But Hillis is the kind of back I could see giving us fits. You see, sometimes our defense up and decides they don't feel like tackling today. If that defense shows up on Sunday Hillis is going to make it a very long day for them.

As I already said, poor tackling is probably the thing that worries me most going into this game. We've been pretty solid the past two weeks but I know my Titans so I know those type of problems can pop right back up when you least expect them.

If we can just play good defense and get your offense off the field in a timely fashion we have an excellent shot. I don't think any one of the two offenses are HANDS DOWN better than the other right now. If CJ was going at full speed and we still had Britt I'd say we would clearly have the better offense. Hasselbeck has been great but we'll see if he can keep up that same level of play consistently without Britt. I sure hope so. Regardless, I think we'll be able to move the ball, one way or the other, pretty effectively so the onus will be on the defense IMO.

The other thing that worries me, and another thing Cheesehead already mentioned, is stupid, STUPID penalties. You would not believe how many dumb penalties we committed last week, and that game was at home. We really lucked out winning that game. Even though I fully believe we were/are the better team.

I don't really see either team running away with this one, unless one defense just flat out lays down. I expect a fairly close, physical game. And despite the above negatives, I see a Titans win on Sunday.

 

2 draft picks? Where did you get that?

 

I think we traded up a few spots in the draft to get Jared Cook and we also gave up our pick the next season.I think it was New England we dealt with on that one.

 

Thanks for the welcome and the answers gents -

Hillis was off last week with strep throat. There is some noise that he'd like a reworked contract / extension and he's certainly earned an increase - the debate (as you well know) is over how MUCH of an increase that should be. There is some suggestion that Hillis' missing last week was a ploy but I've not heard anything concrete on that and it would be counter to what I've seen or heard from Hillis in the past - he doesn't seem like that kind of player.

In any case, Hardesty started at RB for us last week and did a more than creditable job. So if Hillis was trying to show how valuable he is to the team by staying home, his ploy failed as Hardesty picked up the slack well. So whether strep was the reason last week or whether it was spite (and I don't think it was), Hillis will be back and motivated this week in any case.

Curious to hear that CJ has been tentative; I've not watched the Titans much this year yet but my impression in previous views was that CJ's game was almost raw speed above all else. Here's hoping he gets that back for you in full right around week 5....