Thursday Football Afterword: Browns vs Bills

Browns returner Travis Benjamin had a big night, returning a punt for a
touchdown and setting the franchise record for single-game punt return yards.

Cory Puffett

It’s not Thanksgiving, but I’d like to take a quick moment to express how thankful I am that the good Lord has instilled in me a passion for the NFL so deep that I would never for a moment consider missing a game that is available for me to watch live. Conversely, people all over Facebook and Twitter (I’m looking at you, NFL Memes) talked about how lame this game would be, going so far as to say that painting a fence a la Tom Sawyer would be more interesting.

Well, if they stuck to their words and missed this game, it was certainly their loss. The video game score in this one probably surprised a lot of people waking up this morning considering it was a game between the Bills and the Browns. They’ll probably be even more surprised to know that Brandon Weeden entered the game on Cleveland’s second possession and, though it took a couple drives to settle in, played a heck of a game.

E.J. Manuel also left the game, though he lasted until the second half. Jeff Tuel did not fair as well as Weeden.

It was a game of runs, as they say. The Bills opened the game with 10 points, but 17 points from the Browns in the second half gave them the lead at the break. The Bills scored the game’s next 14 points and then the Browns scored the game’s last 20.

On a rainy evening on which Jim Brown, the greatest Brown of all time and maybe one of the best players the NFL has ever seen, was honored at halftime, the ground game was highlighted in a way that probably made the old football hero proud. The two teams combined for nearly 250 rushing yards on 63 carries and the Browns got their first rushing touchdown of the season.

The 3-2 Browns now lead the AFC North. The Bengals will have to beat the Patriots and the Ravens will have to beat the Dolphins if they want to keep pace.

Buffalo falls to 2-3. After an exciting first two games that resulted in a close loss to the Patriots and an exciting last second victory over Carolina, they haven’t looked very good, and things only figure to get tougher with games against Cincinnati, Miami, New Orleans and Kansas City over the next four weeks.

Final Score:

Buffalo Bills – 24

Cleveland Browns – 37

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Sunday Football Afterword: Ravens vs Browns

Joe Flacco's wife Dana gave birth shortly before the Ravens
and Browns kicked off on Sunday.

Sean Kennedy

Joe Flacco had a lot on his mind yesterday. His son was born an hour before kickoff and his team struggled for most of the game. Most of the game was missed opportunities and low scoring as neither team could seem to find the end zone until the third quarter, when Bernard Pierce scored on a 5-yard run. Flacco found Marlon Brown halfway through the 4^th quarter.

Brandon Weeden looked decent throughout the game but failed to find the end zone. Both running games did not do much damage as the solid defenses on both ends made it difficult for any breakout runs. There was a scary moment in the 4^th quarter when star running back Ray Rice went down with an apparent hip injury.

Overall, the game was not interesting until halfway through the 3^rd quarter. The Ravens defense looked good with 5 sacks and 5 deflected passes. I expect the offense to pick up more as the weeks go on. The offense has to pick itself up if they expect to win next week when the Texans come to town.

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2013 Offseason Update, Week 6

Wes Welker was introduced as a member of the Denver Broncos this week.
Photo credit to ESPN.

As I promised last week, I will continue my weekly updates even as I continue to be counted on to cover Maryland basketball for ACC Battles. Speaking of which, if you are an ACC fan, be sure to check out the site.

The biggest news of this past week was of course free agency, so that’s my focus today.

Major Additions

The biggest names among free agent signings this past week were the wide receivers. Peyton Manning already has two young receivers who are beginning to make their mark on the league, but now he has a seasoned veteran already used to playing with one of the all-time greats as the Broncos signed Wes Welker.

Greg Jennings felt “wanted” in Minnesota, so the Vikings signed their former division rival and the Patriots, to replace Welker, signed former Ram Danny Amendola.

Steven Jackson considered retirement, but found a home in Atlanta. The Falcons still have Jacquizz Rodgers, so they will share the load which should definitely help Jackson last a few more years in the league.

Former Lion Cliff Avril landed in Seattle as they want to bolster their defensive front and the Vikings found some potential competition for Christian Ponder by signing Matt Cassel, who was released by the Chiefs after Kansas City got Alex Smith.

Reports came out last night that Jake Long, who was considering returning to Miami, decided to accept a deal from St. Louis, which Sam Bradford must be ecstatic about.

Trying to Get it Right

The Dolphins and Browns have not been particularly competitive in my lifetime. I became aware of sports as Dan Marino’s career wound down and they have only had a couple of decent seasons since. The Browns just haven’t been good since Baltimore took their original team.

Both teams are trying to get it right and have been big players in free agency so far.

The Dolphins added Mike Wallace to complement Brian Hartline and give Ryan Tannehill a much needed second option. A bigger emphasis has been placed on defense so far. Dannell Ellerbe and Philip Wheeler were added to their linebacker corps and they brought back safety Chris Clemons. Expect them to continue to play their hand.

The Browns made several nice additions, but none better than on their defensive front. End Paul Kruger and Tackle Desmond Bryant were signed on the first day of free agency as Cleveland appears to be building around the defensive line. I’d like to see them emphasize the offense, but maybe they’re going about this as a multi-year project, which isn’t a bad idea when you’re as bad as the Browns.

High Profile Trades

Last week it was Chiefs acquisition of Alex Smith via trade with San Francisco. The NFC West again worked some deals this week. Anquan Boldin was likely going to be released by Baltimore. Instead, San Francisco managed to convince the Ravens to give him up for a sixth round pick as the 49ers did some nice thrift shopping.

Seattle preceded that move by trading for Percy Harvin. The Seahawks are going to be dangerous this year and these two teams are making it even harder for St. Louis and Arizona to have any chances of digging their way out of the abyss.

Fax Fiasco

The Broncos were seething, Elvis Dumervil was seething, and Dumervil’s agent was looking for anywhere to pass blame until he was fired just hours after huge mistake caused Dumervil to land in free agency.

Elvis Dumervil has just signed a contract to stay with Denver when suddenly it all came undone. Apparently the fax with his signed contract did not reach the Denver offices until minutes after the 4 p.m. deadline, causing Dumervil to become a free agent. This is a huge loss from a Denver defense already in need of some patchwork. This is a big step back that will be difficult to fully recover from this offseason.

If I’m missing anything important, or if you just want to hear my thoughts on any other offseason news from the past week, feel free to contact me via my blog’s Facebook page or my Twitter account, @cpuffnfl.

2013 Offseason Needs: AFC North

This week and next, between Tuesday and Friday, I am going through the NFL division-by-division, writing about what each team needs to address this offseason. Yesterday I covered the bases in the AFC East, today I move on to the AFC North. I will talk about the Alex Smith trade on Friday when I cover the AFC West.

I won’t pretend to know every detail of what each team needs, but am open to comments from those who may know better what their teams need.

Baltimore Ravens

Jim Caldwell will stay on as offensive coordinator in 2013, so we will get a chance to analyze whether it really was the combination of him and Joe Flacco that led to so much offensive success in the playoffs. I still think it was just the fates of Ray Lewis, but that’s just my theory.

Joe Flacco is demanding big money, and no matter what his agent says, Tom Brady taking less than half of what Flacco is asking in his new deal affects what the Ravens will be willing to pay Joe Cool.

Not to mention, if Flacco gets the money he wants, they will lose some key pieces. With the fire of their defense gone, they need as many of their guys back as possible, but among the guys they could lose, Ed Reed, Paul Kruger, Dannell Ellerbe and Cary Williams stand out.

Anquan Boldin has already said he won’t play for another team, but that doesn’t mean he’ll play next year if the Ravens can’t afford him.

Ravens fans can hound me all they want for saying this, but what the Ravens need this offseason is consistency from what they had this past season. They need to keep as many of their players as possible, they need to add a talented young linebacker and one more wide receivers and add a little depth elsewhere. But the only way they can do that is if Flacco backs off and takes a little less money than what he’s asking.

Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals should be pretty content right? They are coming off consecutive winning seasons for the first time in three decades, right? So let’s move on.

Of course I’m kidding. I’m just sick of people always having to bring this kind of stuff up whenever they write about the team’s previous season. Seriously, as I researched what the Bengals need this offseason, every single article I read included some mention of that milestone. This is not the same team that it was 30 years ago, so stop being so impressed!

On to the Bengals, their defense really came along during the latter part of the season. Depth is what they really need on that side of the ball.

On offense, the Bengals have a very good running back in BenJarvus Green-Ellis but they don’t really have a good second guy to go to. Green-Ellis is used to being the workhorse, but with how short the average running back’s NFL career is, how many more years can that be the case?

Cincinnati also has one of the best receivers in the NFL in A.J. Green. Dalton was able to get it done this year with very little depth at the position but the Bengals will never get over the hump if they don’t get Green a right-hand man.

Cleveland Browns

The Browns have a new coaching staff and it is unlikely that Brandon Weeden will be the only quarterback they go through training camp expecting with who is expecting to start. I really like what they have with Greg Little, Josh Gordon, and Trent Richardson on offense.

On defense, there really isn’t much of anything that I like. The Browns have a lot of cap space, about $40 million. They haven’t been using that space the past couple years; maybe this is the year they try to get some actual talent.

Beyond that, the only thing I like about the Browns is Phil Dawson. They better make a serious splash in free agency and in the draft. I don’t see anything good coming out of Cleveland in 2013 if they don’t make some serious moves this offseason.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Mike Wallace is unlikely to return, and with Jonathan Dwyer turning heads this season, Rashard Mendenhall may not be back either.

The Steelers have a talented team. I never really understood why they weren’t able to win games. Yes, Ben Roethlisberger spent several weeks injured, but they’ve found ways to win when he’s hurt before. The only thing I’ve come up with is that they are lacking in depth across the board.

I’m not saying they don’t have good backups, but they have a lot of backups who aren’t really worth having who are eating up roster space that would be much better occupied by other guys. I’m not really sure what Pittsburgh needs, but they don’t have much cap space so expect them to part ways with a lot of players to make room for better depth.

Tomorrow I will go through the AFC South, looking at each team’s offseason outlook just like I did for the AFC North today. Keep up with new posts as I publish them by ‘liking’ my Facebook page and by following me on Twitter, @cpuffnfl.

Also, tune in to WMUC Sports Radio at 7pm today as I co-host The All-Sports Crew. We'll cover hockey, basketball, baseball and some offseason NFL news, as well.

Thursday Night Football Afterword: Ravens vs Browns

It is becoming harder and harder to knock Joe Flacco. Despite a valiant effort on the part of Cleveland, Flacco improved to 9-0 when facing their AFC North rival. Last night was also Baltimore’s 10^th consecutive intra-division victory, and their 13^th straight home win.

The 23-16 final score is very telling of a hard-fought game, which it was. But almost everything came through the air. Trent Richardson had just 47 rushing yards for Cleveland while Ray Rice managed 49 on 18 carries. Meanwhile, both Flacco and Brandon Weeden threw for over 300 yards.

Ultimately, it was Baltimore’s defense that preserved this win and gave the team a 3-1 record after a quarter of the season.

Late in the third quarter, Cary Williams made a great play on an our-route, picking off Weeden and taking it all the way back. It was the first time in the game the Ravens had a real cushion.

Also important was stalling the Browns when they did get the ball moving. Phil Dawson attempted, and converted, field goals of 50, 51 and 52 yards (not in that order) and became the seventh player in NFL history to convert three 50+-yard field goals in a single game.

On the final Cleveland drive of the game, Weeden led them from their own 10-yardline with just over a minute on the clock into scoring range. Two desperation attempts into the end zone by Weeden fell incomplete, but it felt oddly similar to the end of Monday Night’s game between the Packers and Seahawks. This time both attempts fell incomplete, and we didn’t have replacement officials to make any boneheaded calls to affect the outcome of the game.

So how much does this say about the Browns? I saw a meme earlier, with photos of the last four Cleveland quarterbacks, including Weeden, reading, “Same s*** different day.” I think this game may be an indication that Weeden is not the “same s***.” Richardson didn’t get many yards, but I think Cleveland was too ready to abandon the run game when the Ravens built up a lead, despite only trailing by double digits only once in the game.

The Browns have big-play potential, but the Ravens defense is good enough to contain it, as are many NFL defenses. But I think Cleveland is better than their 0-4 record; maybe not much, but a little. This is the third time since 1998 that the Browns have started 0-4. They finished 2-14 the first time and 5-11 in 2009. I think this year could be more like 2009.

The Ravens, meanwhile, are sitting atop the AFC North at 3-1. The Ravens could tie it up with a win over Jacksonville on Sunday but the Steelers will sit at 1-2 through the weekend since they have a bye week (along with the Indianapolis Colts).

Baltimore certainly seems to be in the driver’s seat of the division through four weeks.

2011 Offseason: AFC North

Today’s posts are for the teams in the AFC North.

Baltimore Ravens

2011 Offseason: Baltimore Ravens

Cincinnati Bengals

2011 Offseason: Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

2011 Offseason: Cleveland Browns

Pittsburgh Steelers

2011 Offseason: Pittsburgh Steelers

Thanks for reading and check back tomorrow for posts on the AFC South teams.

2011 Offseason: Cleveland Browns

Unlike Pat Kirwan of NFL.com, I actually like the Browns going into next season. I don’t know that they’ll be in the postseason, and I definitely don’t think they can beat out both Baltimore and Pittsburgh (or even one of them) for the division crown. But I like what they have right now, as far as players are concerned that is.

Cleveland is currently without a head coach. Marty Mornhinweg’s name has been thrown around as a possible candidate, and he would be a good man for the job. I actually think Mornhinweg could be ready to move on from Philly at this point, if he has ambitions of moving up the coaching ladder. He could also be perfectly content where he is.

Colt McCoy needs to stay, in my opinion. He just finished his rookie season and it was pretty good from what I could tell. He still has some maturing to do, and he made some pretty bad decisions at times, but he learned from them and I think he could really develop into the type of player a teams needs to have for a postseason appearance.

What the Browns need is some better defense, especially in the secondary, and some better offensive weapons to surround McCoy with. One or two new offensive linemen could also help in terms of avoiding McCoy being constantly flushed out of the pocket and forced to make so many of his throws on the run.

I like what they have in the backfield with a couple young guys to back up Peyton Hillis. But Cleveland could definitely use a little more quality depth at other positions. If Mike Holmgren can continue what he has been doing, the Browns could be looking at a wild-card birth within the next 2-3 seasons, a pretty good outlook for any 5-11 team.