Pro Bowl Snubs Announced

Wow. How Eric Steinbach was left off that roster I’ll never know.

Congratulations to Josh Cribbs, who will be the ‘starting’ kick returner for the AFC Pro-Bowl squad, and also to Braylon Edwards who made the roster at WR. Those two are certainly deserving of their first Pro-Bowl appearance. Unfortunately for Cribbs and Edwards, every article written about the Browns and the Pro-Bowl will more than likely focus on who was not invited to Hawaii. I understand that because of injuries another Brown or two might find themselves invited, but there is something to be said for being nominated from the get-go.

We know this for certain- Browns guard Eric Steinbach was the leading vote-getter on the offensive line from the fans. That vote is supposed to count for one-third of the final tally. The other two-thirds come from the players and the coaches. So what does that tell us? Well, apparently Eric is either not well liked, or not well respected among those in the league. He was first among guards from the fans, and obviously didn’t crack the top three from either the coaches or the players or he would have made the roster.

An Order of Crow With a Side of Humble Pie to go, Please

John returns with his state of the Browns evaluation, and this time it’s surprisingly optimistic. 

Hey everyone . . . So, last time you heard from me I was entertaining the idea of calling for Romeo Crennel’s head. OK, I admit I was a bit hasty; mostly because I was writing out of frustration after watching my beloved Browns give away a game to the Steelers. I have had some time to settle and have to admit that this team has made significant improvement this season.

At the beginning of the season, my hope was that the Browns would win 8 games. Well, Sunday’s win over the Jets was number 8, and with 3 games to play the Browns are staring at a likely playoff berth: they hold the second Wild Card spot with destiny in their hands (a good position to be in). There is even an outside (way outside) shot at the North Division Champion spot as Pittsburgh continues to struggle. When all is said and done, I believe the Browns have a really solid shot at winning 10 games.

Joe Thomas honored

Not a major award, but certainly Thomas deserves a post for his contributions to the Browns. (Photo from Browns 247.com)

You would think that a former offensive lineman would pay more attention to the Browns rookie offensive tackle. Shame on me. Truth is that Joe Thomas has had an outstanding rookie year, and it is starting to be noticed around the league. Joe Thomas earned the league’s AFC Rookie of the Month for November. Joshua Cribbs was also honored as the AFC’s special teams player of the month.

Joe Thomas is performing at a very high level, at a very difficult position. He certainly has benefited from outstanding play from Eric Steinbach, lined up right beside him. But make no mistake, Thomas is the real deal at left tackle. Does he have a chance to be the rookie of the year in the league? No. Simply because of the year that Adrian Peterson is having. Ironic that many fans complained about the Browns taking Thomas over Peterson. It seems that the future is lined with pro-bowls for both of these players, barring injury.

Thomas has kept top pass-rushers off Derek Anderson this season. He has lined up against the likes of Mario Williams, Terrell Suggs, James Harrison, Jason Taylor and Richard Seymour. In 7 games against the Browns, those players had 4 sacks against the Browns, and I can’t verify if all of those came against Thomas. My memory says Jason Taylor’s was not, neither was Suggs’. In any case, that is outstanding for a rookie LT. In addition to his pass blocking, he has shown tremendous rush blocking technique. He pulls well and blocks well down field.

Because of the signing of Steinbach, and the drafting of Thomas the Browns’ offense is ready to fire on all cylinders.

Browns’ O-Line dominant in OT win over Seahawks

Jamal Lewis runs for 4 TD’s; no sacks allowed all day for Browns!

The Browns fell behind early, but came on late to win a close game over a good opponent. The Seahawks may not be a Superbowl contender this year, but they came in with a 4-3 record, good enough for first in the weak NFC West. The Browns had trouble stopping Seattle’s passing attack, as Hasslebeck picked the Browns apart to the tune of 318 yards. Everytime the Browns had Seattle in a third and 5 it seemed Bobby Engram was always open. Well, judging by his 14 catches and 139 yards I guess he was.

This game nearly went into the loss column for two reasons. First, the Browns stubborn refusal to rush more than 3 defenders. On Seattle’s game tying drive in the fourth quarter, the Browns sent only three rushers everytime. It might as well have been a 2 man rush, because nose tackle Shaun Smith seemed to take every other play off, staying at the line of scrimmage and trying to bat the ball down. Had it not been for a replay reversal of a Hasslebeck scramble, the Browns probably lose that game because they couldn’t get any pressure on the QB.

The second reason the Browns nearly lost this game was dropped passes. There were at least six balls dropped by Browns receivers. Braylon Edwards had the most violations, including a drive killer in the fourth quarter, and a dropped TD pass that eventually was overcome by a Lewis TD run. Winslow also dropped a TD on that drive, but stayed focused and set up the game tying score with a nice catch and run to the 1 yard line. Winslow finished with 125 yards on 11 catches. Edwards had an off game, failing to reach the end zone while grabbing 5 balls for 67 yards.

Was it good enough?

Good points John. I wonder was Charlie Frye’s performance good enough to be named the opening week starter this week? I thought Charlie did a good job, particularly his handling of third down situations. He certainly looked comfortable running the offense. And speaking of that it was nice to see Jamal Lewis move the ball on the ground. Did you notice he got most of his yards running to the left side? Makes a lot of sense to me. Thomas did well run blocking, but I thought struggled a bit in pass protection. His man got the sack on Anderson, and on the very next snap he needed double team help to keep Dumervil off Derek. I was less impressed by Derek as everyone else I’ve talked to about the game has been. Sure, he was 7-9 for 74 yards, but I felt he didn’t take enough chances down field, and let’s face it the offense sputtered when he was in the game. Whether that is a result of the play calling, or the defense I’m not sure, but He had another chance to get them in the end zone and failed to get it done.

Notes on the Browns before the first pre-season game

Much has happened on the Browns front since the last time I posted on them. Brady Quinn is in camp finally, running the scout team. Let me say this again- Brady Quinn will not start the season. He will eventually start this year. I say that because while I believe that the Browns will be better, they will not make the play-offs, and Quinn will see the field after they are eliminated from play-off contention, if injuries don’t force him on the filed earlier.

The real news is that the injury bug has started biting again. Willie McGinest will need surgery on his back, and will be out for 6 weeks minimum. Eric Steinbach will miss 2 weeks or more with a bruised knee. Matt Stewart is out for the season with a torn labium. Isaac Sowells continues to miss practice with a concussion issue. Orpheus Roye is still weeks away from practicing after his knee surgery. Steinbach is the only one on this list that is irreplaceable in my book. Roye is a close second, but if the Browns are going to really improve this year Eric has to play at a high level. The only more significant injury would be if Jamal Lewis were to go down. In which case, we might as well start Quinn. (No, we shouldn’t!)