OBR News-o-rama |
| OBR News-o-Rama: 11/25 Evening Posted: 25 Nov 2007 09:32 PM CST The Browns win 27-17 over the Texans at Cleveland Browns Stadium in a game which featured power running and surprisingly strong defense rather than the wide open offenses that we've seen of late. Of course, if you're reading this blog, chances are that you already know all this. Let's get right to the linking. Before we get the news-type-stuff, get yourself to the Gameballs and Goats Voting Booth (just click that little button on the linked page).
The latest from your favorite disturbingly obsessive, yet still independent and objective, Cleveland Browns website: John Taylor's 'Tales From A Notebook' More to come later tonight and early tomorrow on the OBR! BROWNS NEWS Naturally, the newswire is going to get clogged with updates following the Browns game, and there will be the usual side features focusing on Brandon McDonald and Jamal Lewis, most likely. Here's the first round of game recaps. Associated Press Sports Network WKYC Edwards (Yahoo!) Lewis (Off Site) McDonald (Off Site)
FROM THE BLOGOSPHERE The latest from the greatest fans on earth... Really on a Run - Ace Davis
Simon, a Browns fan living in Belfast, Ireland, wrote and asked that other Myspacers add him as a friend. He's needs Browns fans to "friend" him because there aren't many dawgs in Belfast. Simon's Myspace page is at: http://www.myspace.com/simonparsonsbelfast We've added you to the OBR Myspace friends list, Simon! Less than an hour ago I ran into a Browns' fan at the grocery store. Do you have any idea how rare that is in Packerland? We talked about this crazy marvelous season and it felt great not to lament, but rather celebrate the success of this unlikely bunch. I choose to interpret that chance meeting as a positive omen on today's game. We resume the battle in an hour and how about this: the game is televised here, a very unusual occurrence.
The NFL Network will take time off from manipulating fans and demonizing cable companies to replay the Browns home victory over the Houston Texans on Monday at 7PM. Those of you who have access to the NFL's latest cash grab - a group that does not include yours truly - can probably put aside your concerns about the NFL's weird desire to pretend that it can "report" on itself long enough to watch. The rest of us will sleep safely knowing that Jerry Jones refuses to abide by that irritating cease-and-desist order from Comcast. He's a fighter for the people, that Jerry. |
| Browns-Texans: Second Half Analysis Posted: 25 Nov 2007 03:04 PM CST THIRD QUARTER Cleveland's offensive line has clearly started to beat down the quick and talented front four of the Texans, as evidenced by a number of runs for ten yards or so on the drive. While the possession resulted in just a 25-yard Dawson field goal, it set the Browns up for further success down the road by not only beating down the speedy Texans front line but by possibly convincing the Texans safeties to cheat up a bit. The Browns had a very fortunate exchange on the next two possessions. With the Texans driving partially thanks to a dubious pass interference call, Owen Daniels fumbled the ball after being hit by Kamerion Wimbley wiping out the drive. When the Browns got the ball back, Joe Thomas allowed his first sack of the year to Mario Williams, causing DA to fumble the ball. But Thomas covered it, keeping possession. The bounce of the ball in the third quarter allowed the Browns to hold onto their fragile seven point lead. As the teams exchanged punts in the third, it was the Browns running attack, established early in the game, which finally paid off for the Browns as they kept the Texans defense on the field. Although the Browns hold onto the lead, the conservative offensive strategy is still questionable, as they have failed to really take advantage of the weak Texans secondary. The Browns secondary, meanwhile, has played admirably without Eric Wright, with Brandon McDonald having a particularly strong showing. While the Browns offense sputtered to begin the fourth, a nice Zastudil punt put the Texans back on their eleven, a situation made worse after an incompletion and a holding call. With the Texans backed up against the Dawg Pound, two successive incompletions were created by blanket coverage on Andre Johnson (by Brandon McDonald) and Kevin Walter (Leigh Bodden). The Browns secondary really stepping it up today with Wright out. Tanks to the defensive stand, the Browns got the ball back at the Texans 35 yard line. Again, Chudzinski sticks to the ground, but the resurgent Texans front seven limited what the Browns could do. The only play of note on the drive was a very nice 21 yard throw to Winslow across the middle. The drive stalled after two Lewis runs got only three and Heiden couldn't pull in a third down. Phil Dawson nails the field goal to make it 20-10. With the Browns now ahead by two scores, the Texans commit to the air. It turns out to be a mistake as the Browns secondary rises again to the occasion. Schaub is sacked by Antwan Peek after not being able to find anyone open on first down and on second down, Brandon McDonald, yes, him again, plucked off a pass intended for Andre Johnson, giving the Browns the ball back deep in enemy territory. Chud plays it conservative again, using just runs to Lewis and a single throw to Winslow to punch the ball in for a 27-10 lead. Down three scores, Schaub comes out throwing and in a hurry-up offense. It works, knocking the Browns defense off-balance and allowing the Texans to move quickly down to the 21 of the Browns on three passes. At that point, however, the Browns settle down and at least force the Texans to burn some clock before a touchdown to Owen Daniels made it 27-17. The subsequent on-side kick failed thanks to Nick Sorensen's recovery, and the Browns went back to grinding it out with the and the ball in Texans territory. Jamal Lewis continued to beat on the Texans tired defensive line, padding his stats and running out the clock. In all, a game that - per usual for the NFL - went in a different direction than many would have predicted. The Browns were conservative on offense, grinding out rushing yards behind a stellar offensive line which has become a better run blocking unit with Ryan Tucker replacing Seth McKinney. The approach worked, thanks not only to the line's performance, but also due to a surprisingly strong showing by the Browns defensive secondary, sparked by rookie Brandon McDonald and veteran corner Leigh Bodden. For a Cleveland team that has had good fortune in 2007, the bounces continued to go their way today, and a surprisingly safe approach on offense created enough points to come out on top. Jamal Lewis finished with 29 runs for 134 yards (one touchdown) and Kellen Winslow was the top receiver with 10 catches for 107 yards and a touchdown. The Browns go to 7-4 and, thanks to losses by both the Texans and Titans, look more and more like a playoff team. |
| OBR News-o-Rama: 11/25 Halftime Posted: 25 Nov 2007 01:31 PM CST OVERVIEW The Browns lead at the half 14-10 in a battle between two evenly matched teams. The strength of the Browns offensive line has been the difference, giving Derek Anderson time to find open receivers in the red zone. Anderson has hit Kellen Winslow and Braylon Edwards for touchdowns, while the Texans have managed a field goal and one touchdown pass. That Browns offensive line as the key differentiation between the two teams has been made more evident by an inconsistent performance by Derek Anderson in the first half. Anderson has made some excellent passes when given time, but has also been spotting in missing some open receivers and throwing a key interception. Superb pass protection against an excellent Texans front four has allowed the Browns to take advantage of weaknesses in the Texans secondary, however, although Rob Chudzinski seemed unenthusiastic about going downfield early in the game. This contest could go either way as neither team is clearly dominant in either phase of the game. The Browns and Texans are fairly close in terms of their competitiveness, with the Browns offensive line doing a good job of dulling the primary strength of the Texans. Turnovers and special teams could determine the outcome. I am worried about the Browns defensive line tiring in the second half as they have only one backup lineman (Louis Leonard) remaining after Simon Fraser left with an injury. Ethan Kelley was inactive due to a knee injury.
FIRST HALF ANALYSIS Rob Chudzinski's play-calling to start the game seemed a bit odd, and very conservative. The Texans are strong up-front, particularly in the defensive line, and have a battered secondary, so the Browns have focused on the short pass and running the ball? Sure, the Browns need to make the Texans recognize the run, but the Browns failed to go downfield at all in their first two drives and paid for it by handing the Texans the ball back twice in short order. Without stretching the field, the Browns couldn't effectively run. The Texans were more aggressive to start. Schaub was the first to stretch the field, and it paid off with a 7-0 Texans lead in the first quarter. The Texans, overall, mixed up the run and pass to great effect during the first quarter. Leigh Bodden seemed to have problems in coverage, and the Browns were fortunate that Schaub overthrew Owen Daniel on their second drive. Daniel had gotten behind coverage and would have been open for a TD if Schaub had hit him. After the Texans score, the Browns decided to go downfield, finally. Anderson seemed locked on Edwards, but with good results most of the time. It's clear that the Texans were rolling coverage over to Edwards, which left Joe Jurevicius open for a 25-yarder and later freed up Jamal Lewis for a powerful run around the right side. Edwards found a hole in the zone and the Browns tied the score at seven. One Chudzinski and Anderson started going downfield, things turned around. After the Browns score, Grantham stopped blitzing and just rushed three. The net result was that Schaub had time, but good coverage by Brandon McDonald knocking the ball away from Andre Johnson and Brodney Pool, nailing Owen Daniels to knock a pass free, stopped their drive. Both teams were hurt by poor kicking. A Texans punt gave the Browns the ball in Texans territory in the first, and a poor kickoff by Phil Dawson gave the Texans a short field in the second (which turned into a Kris Brown field goal). I didn't think Darnell Dinkins would be with the Browns this year after bringing back several returns with special teams penalties. He did it again today. This might explain why the Browns constantly rotate TEs through the practice squad. DE Simon Fraser left the game with an injury to his right knee, hit return questionable. That leaves the Browns with only four defensive linemen (R. Smith, S. Smith, Roye, Leonard). Yikes.
INACTIVES As reported on the live feed, Browns inactives today were CB Eric Wright, CB Ricardo Colclough, RB Jerome Harrison, OL Isaac Sowells, C Greg Eslinger, DL Ethan Kelley, WR Travis "Why am I here?" Wilson, and Ken Dorsey (third QB). Shaun Smith started at NT. Daven Holly started at LCB for Eric Wright. Texans inactives were: CB Jamar Fletcher, RB Ahman Green, RB Darius Walker, DE Shantee Orr, G Kasey Studdard, T Jordan Black, T Brandon Frye, TE Jeb Putzier. RB Ron Dayne started.
FROM THE PRESS BOX A sign that the Browns are getting more successful... national writers have descended on Cleveland to figure out what's happened here. ESPN's John Clayton is among the writers who have suddenly discovered Cleveland after a decade or so, and he's here today. If they keep winning, there will be more of it. Here in the press box, they have TVs scattered around, and I'm unfortunate enough to be seated by one that has the CBS pre-game show. The sound isn't on, so that's a help. At one point, I saw a graphic that said "Should Vince Young become a pocket passer?". LOL... yeah, that's why the Titans drafted him. Anyhow, apparently Emmitt Smith called RAC "Romeo Cornell" at some point. I not only don't watch those shows, I actively loathe them to the point where I would like to see everyone involved beaten savagely with croquet mallets. This is an unusual reaction for me, since I'm such a mellow guy, but those network pre-game shows bring it out of me. |
| OBR News-o-Rama: 11/25 PRE-GAME Posted: 25 Nov 2007 08:56 AM CST Subscribe to an RSS feed of this blog here
The OBR will be large* and in charge all afternoon and evening from Cleveland Browns Stadium, as Fred Greetham and I will be in the Browns press box reporting on the game throughout the day. Here are some of the LIVE in-game options for Browns fans tracking the game. The Live Feed: Constant updates (one a minute, on average) during the game. We'll have the inactives and an injury update around noon. OBR Chat Room: Watch the game along insane people (in a good way) in the OBR's free chat room. Cooler Official Game Thread: It started rolling last night and won't stop until after the game. Join in with the Browns fans in the most popular Browns forum on the 'net. * Time to go back on a diet
Scout.com is running their annual all-you-can-eat freebie buffet through Sunday night. All articles across the Scout network are FREE FREE FREE. We posted a bunch of stuff yesterday so that folks can get a sense of the good life that subscribers live. If you have a few extra bucks burning a hole in your pocket and are a hard-core Browns fan, consider an online or magazine subscription for yourself, or maybe even a Christmas gift. Webdorks gotta eat. Here's some of the articles we posted on Saturday and this morning, with a heavy mix of subscriber stories so folks can live the good life today.
There are a lot of the usual game previews (here's ours), some player profile pieces, and a few status resets. Plus, a little open-mouthed and somewhat stunned pieces from out of town noting that the Browns don't suck this year. Those are always a kick. Anyhow, here's some of what's out there. We've got it all listed on the newswire. Stunned Out-of-Towners
WTF. Somehow, the News-o-Rama has jumped from completely off radar to one of the top sports blogs on Myspace. Browns fans on Myspace have really been spreading the word... thanks, Dawgs! Here's some more of the relatively light activity on the blogosphere this morning. Apparently Browns bloggers are all getting a start in the real world version of the Muni Lot. Things have been pretty nuts on the virtual Muni this week, catch up if you've got some spare time this morning. Houston Texans vs. Cleveland Browns - Dawgs by Nature
RECENT TRANSCRIPTS IN ASK THE INSIDERS We generally post transcripts in our Ask the Insiders forum from the Browns and our upcoming opponents. Here are some recent ones: Gary Kubiak (11/19, 11/21, 11/23); RAC (11/19, 11/21, 11/23); Texans Players, Andre Johnson, Browns Players Speaking of transcripts, the most recent chat session with Scout.com NFL analyst Adam Caplan somehow fell off my radar before the Ravens game. I cranked it out tonight and posted it in Ask the Insiders. Click here if you're interested.
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