Archive for October, 2011

You would be forgiven for thinking that the Cleveland Browns offense has been celebrating Halloween all season, as it remains a truly terrifying display week after week. After Sunday’s 20-10 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, the disturbing trend of ineffective, bland offensive showings by the offense (in keeping with the tradition of previous seasons, which is a nightmare all its own), the Browns are in need of some major retooling. After Sunday’s game, the Browns now sit with the 28th overall offense in the NFL, ahead of the likes of the Miami Dolphins, Indianapolis Colts, St. Louis Rams, and [...]

The Cleveland Browns lost to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday to a score of 20-10, though it had the early potential to develop into a full-blown beatdown. The team once again has the defense to thank that it did not turn out that way, as it overcame an uncharacteristic poor first half to clamp down on the 49ers offense and give the Browns a chance to come back from a 17-0 deficit. Colt McCoy and the offense struggled once again, failing to put together much of anything in terms of a drive until late in the fourth quarter. Watching every [...]

The Cleveland Browns face a tough task on the road this afternoon, as they go against the San Francisco 49ers without running back Peyton Hillis. Lucky for them, they have a dominating defense that should keep them in the game. Should that happen, Colt McCoy and the offense will need to step up and make a few big plays to pull off the upset. To get a closer look at the match-up, we talked with Eric Melendez of Niner Noise. 1. How surprised are you really that the 49ers are 5-1? The 49ers faithful are really surprised by the 5-1 start [...]

The modern Cleveland Browns have never been known for their defense. Typically a bottom feeder in the defensive rankings (and occasionally a mid-ranked defense at best), the 2011 Browns find themselves in some unfamiliar territory. Going into Week 8 of the season, the Browns boast the fourth-best defense in the NFL. Strangely enough, the entire AFC North occupies the top-four spots for overall defense (No. 1 – Baltimore Ravens, No. 2 – Cincinnati Bengals, and No. 3 – Pittsburgh Steelers). That puts the Browns in some impressive company. They’re doing it with one of the youngest rosters in the league, [...]

The 3-3 Cleveland Browns hit the road on Sunday for a game against the 5-1 San Francisco 49ers. The Browns bring with them a dominating defense that has been a huge reason for the team’s .500 record while the 49ers are playing above expectations under new head coach Jim Harbaugh. Asking if the Browns can beat the 49ers is a tough question to answer, because improvements have been seen, mostly on the defensive side of the ball. However, there is no doubt that this team has a long way to go. A great defense is holding up an exceptionally weak [...]

Nothing seems to be easy for Peyton Hillis this season. The Cleveland Browns running back missed practice on Thursday after his hamstring felt sore following a day of limited practice on Wednesday. Head coach Pat Shurmur is still hopeful that Hillis will play on Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers (a road game for the Browns), as the team will most certainly need his services. Whatever your current opinion of Hillis is, and whatever you may be thinking about the emergence of Montario Hardesty, there is no doubt that a part of the reason for the Browns’ offensive struggles can be [...]

You might think that “going deep” is a play on how this is a football blog. Or you might think that it’s a play on how this is a football blog about a team that refuses to throw the ball deep down the field. Or you might think that I’m really into diving. All of those are true to a degree, but not what I’m referring to. I like to invoke famous quotations (side note, when you use someone’s words, it’s a quotation, not  a quote) and relate them to reality, and this time I’m taking something from the mouth [...]

The Cleveland Browns are currently sitting at 3-3 and have a top-five ranked defense. They are in the only division in the NFL that has every team at .500 or above, and have received even better news this week. Running back Peyton Hillis, who missed last week’s win against the Seattle Seahawks with a hamstring injury, was back at practice for the first time on Wednesday and is expected to start against the San Francisco 49ers. It’s no secret that Hillis has had a rough season – he’s already missed two games (including a third where he hardly played due [...]

For the most part, Seattle Seahawks defensive lineman Red Bryant had a great game on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns. He blocked two field goals and almost single-handedly kept the Seahawks in the game. However, he made one crucial error late in the fourth quarter. After the Seahawks sacked quarterback Colt McCoy with nearly a minute left in the game, Bryant head-butted Browns tight end Alex Smith, resulting in a penalty that gave the Browns an automatic first down, cementing the win. After the game, Bryant said Smith was “talking the whole game” and taking cheap shots, obviously getting inside the defensive [...]

It certainly wasn’t pretty, and at times it was downright appalling, but the Cleveland Browns pulled off the 6-3 victory over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. A lot of fans will say “a win is a win” in this situation, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that what everyone watched was something no one would ever like to see again. Believe it or not, it wasn’t all bad for the Browns. They came away from this game with a lot of positive notes, particularly on defense. The young defensive unit only continues to improve, now ranking second in [...]