Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Eagles - Browns preview...
Having lived in Pittsburgh for the last nine years I’ve watched plenty of Steelers – Browns games on TV here in Pittsburgh. (Cleveland and Pittsburgh, separated by a few hours of roadways and some dying steel towns, are forever comparing one to the other. Two cities more alike than they’d care to admit.) This is supposedly, one of the great rivalries in pro football, right up there with Cowboys-Redskins, Chiefs-Raiders and Bears-Packers.
I’d don’t see it.
It is pretty one-sided rivalry: the Steelers typically demolish the Browns, or the Browns blow golden opportunities to beat them. Who remembers the Browns blowing the big fourth quarter lead in the '02 playoffs? The passion to beat the Stillers isn’t matched by the Browns abilities. For whatever reason, this franchise can’t win (e.g., the '87, '88, and '90 AFC title games). It had to go to Baltimore and change its name to win the Super Bowl.
So this will be an easy victory, right? 6-0? Wrong. This has all of the ear-marks of an ambush: the better team rolling into town with some nagging doubts (the play of the Eagles offense these last two games), the seemingly inferior team coming out to greet them. Of course, the Browns are 3-0 at home, having beaten the Redskins and Ravens (and the Bengals). Oh, and the Browns 1-2 duo of Green and Suggs are starting to have success pounding the ball on the ground against an Eagles run defense that was spotty last week. Oh, and Jeff Garcia beat the Eagles last year with the ‘Niners.
Uh-oh.
Relax. I still think that the Eagles will win. The Browns are okay. Not bad, but not great either. The Eagles were fortunate to dodge having to face Kellen Winslow, Jr., this year. This guy is like Jeremy Shockey, but with an IQ. Garcia is crafty and tough, but the Browns lack the weapons to keep pace with the Eagles. If the game turns into a shoot-out, then the Eagles will run away with it. But that won’t happen: they shouldn’t get more than a few points against the Eagles defense, which has bent-but-not-broken all season long.
Defensively, the Browns are okay. Their good 18.8 points allowed a game is somewhat flawed in that they gave up just 3 points to the offensively challenged Ravens in Week 1. They’ve given up a lot of yards on the ground and in the air. T.O. will probably have some fun against the Browns corners and you had better believe he’ll be playing at full-throttle with the opportunity to show-up his archrival, Mr. Garcia. It is also worth remembering that the last team McNabb played the Browns he cut them apart, for 23 of 36 and 4 TD’s.
Close one: Eagles 21, Browns 20
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I’d don’t see it.
It is pretty one-sided rivalry: the Steelers typically demolish the Browns, or the Browns blow golden opportunities to beat them. Who remembers the Browns blowing the big fourth quarter lead in the '02 playoffs? The passion to beat the Stillers isn’t matched by the Browns abilities. For whatever reason, this franchise can’t win (e.g., the '87, '88, and '90 AFC title games). It had to go to Baltimore and change its name to win the Super Bowl.
So this will be an easy victory, right? 6-0? Wrong. This has all of the ear-marks of an ambush: the better team rolling into town with some nagging doubts (the play of the Eagles offense these last two games), the seemingly inferior team coming out to greet them. Of course, the Browns are 3-0 at home, having beaten the Redskins and Ravens (and the Bengals). Oh, and the Browns 1-2 duo of Green and Suggs are starting to have success pounding the ball on the ground against an Eagles run defense that was spotty last week. Oh, and Jeff Garcia beat the Eagles last year with the ‘Niners.
Uh-oh.
Relax. I still think that the Eagles will win. The Browns are okay. Not bad, but not great either. The Eagles were fortunate to dodge having to face Kellen Winslow, Jr., this year. This guy is like Jeremy Shockey, but with an IQ. Garcia is crafty and tough, but the Browns lack the weapons to keep pace with the Eagles. If the game turns into a shoot-out, then the Eagles will run away with it. But that won’t happen: they shouldn’t get more than a few points against the Eagles defense, which has bent-but-not-broken all season long.
Defensively, the Browns are okay. Their good 18.8 points allowed a game is somewhat flawed in that they gave up just 3 points to the offensively challenged Ravens in Week 1. They’ve given up a lot of yards on the ground and in the air. T.O. will probably have some fun against the Browns corners and you had better believe he’ll be playing at full-throttle with the opportunity to show-up his archrival, Mr. Garcia. It is also worth remembering that the last team McNabb played the Browns he cut them apart, for 23 of 36 and 4 TD’s.
Close one: Eagles 21, Browns 20
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