The weather today in Cleveland will be a distinct advantage for the home-town Brownies.  The Jaguars, not surprisingly, do not generally play well in cold, snowy and/or windy conditions.

The football game today will boil down to one key matchup – the Jags’ running game against Cleveland’s run defense.  Jacksonville will not throw the ball often.  The Jags’ best offensive weapon is Maurice Jones-Drew.  MJD has helped Jacksonville become the 9th best NFL team in rushing yards this season.  Maurice, alone, has 1309 rushing yards (4.4 yards per carry on average) and 15 touchdowns.  The team averages 126.5 yards on the ground per contest.  Those numbers could spell bad news for Cleveland as the Browns are 28th in the League in run defense, giving up an average of nearly 150 rushing yards per game.  We have all the momentum and energy, however, as Jacksonville seems to be limping into the final game of the season.

We get the distinct impression that the result of today’s game will have no impact on Holmgren’s decision regarding Mangini’s fate.  But from a fan’s perspective, it sure would be nice to say that we improved on last year’s record, even if by just one victory.  And ending the season with 4 straight wins for the first time in an eternity in Cleveland (at least on the football field) would provide a nice introduction to a brand new decade.  The Buckeyes did their part the other day with a very impressive win in the Rose Bowl over Oregon.  Now it is up to the Browns.  Go get ‘em boys!

-Clayton         

The Cleveland Browns are starting to show some heart and perseverance.  We won our second straight game today to move to three wins on the season.  Cleveland beat the Chiefs at Kansas City, 41-34.

Two Browns had extraordinary days.  Josh Cribbs returned two kickoffs for touchdowns.  Josh now has eight kick returns for touchdowns in his career  – an NFL record.  Jerome Harrison ran for 286 yards and three scores, including the game-winner.  Jerome beat Jim Brown’s team record for most rushing yards in a game (237) set way back in 1961.  Harrison’s tally is the third highest in NFL history.

The Chiefs are a bad football team, but a win is a win.  Most impressive was that we did not quit when the Chiefs tied it up late in the fourth quarter at 34.  Rather, we showed some character and took back the lead in the final minute of the game.

I remain concerned, however, with Brady Quinn.  We won the game against Pittsburgh with defense and Cribbs, not Brady.  We won this game today with Harrison and Cribbs, not Brady.  Quinn completed just 10 of 17 passes for a total of 66 yards and two picks.  Brady has definitely shown improvement in the last few weeks, but it appears that we must resign ourselves to the fact that this learning process will be a long and bumpy one.

And our defense showed its inconsistency in allowing over 300 yards passing and more than 150 yards rushing.  Pretty impressive numbers for a Chiefs team that is no offensive powerhouse.

Heck, we won.  Let’s leave it at that.  Mangini no doubt has his eyes set on winning our remaining two games so that he can boast a better record than Romeo had last year and salvage his job when Holmgren takes over.

Go Browns!

-Clayton

The Pittsburgh Steelers, the Browns’ opponent tonight, are on a four-game losing streak and are on the brink of not being able to defend their title.

Some might also say that a win by the Browns will go a long way in letting coach Eric Mangini keep his job.  But will it actually happen? Can the Browns actually beat the Steelers?

Unfortunately, I don’t think it will. This team has heart, but often just can’t seem to hang with the Steelers.  Pittsburgh unfortunately wins, 24-16.