Week 4 kicks off tonight in Baltimore with the Browns still looking for their first win. I’m just hoping for futher improvement from Weeden and the O-line. Baltimore’s D has shown signs of aging.
Other games this week:
Sea @ StL
SF @ NYJ
SD @ KC
TEN @ HOU
MIN @ DET
NE @ BUF
CAR @ ATL
CIN @ JAX
OAK @ DEN
MIA @ ARI
WAS @ TB
NO @ GB
NYG @ PHI
CHI @ DAL on Monday night
Oh and one more thing I forgot…the real refs are back this week, starting tonight! Just wait 'til there’s a major blown call and everyone will be like, “we were begging for this?”
I can’t see the Browns pulling this one off tonight. I hope they do so the Bengals will pull even in the division, but I have a hard time finding a scenario where they can pull it off, especially now that the replacement refs aren’t around to lend a helping hand!
If I thought my coworker knew what fois gras was (much less whether is good or evil) I’d accuse you of being him because he said the exact same thing about wishing the replacement refs would do tonight’s game to screw the Ravens and help the Bengals.
But yeah, that’s why I’m just hoping for general improvement from the Browns’ offense, becuase man it sucks to be worried about having to draft Barkley and dump Weeden after just 3 games. I think the defense will be better when Haden comes back.
Unrelated to the NFL, Barkis, everytime I see your name, I think, “Willis is Barkin’,” which is strange.
Now that I don’t have to worry about boycotting the games this weekend, I’m glad I should get to see Vikings @ Lions (uh oh, I’m becoming somewhat confident in the Vikes) and Saints @ Packers. I think the Packers hoodoo on offense should end with a home game against a bad Saints D.
My suicide pick this week is Arizona. They’re very hot and have a bad Dolphins team traveling across the country.
The Cleveland defense is pretty good. They just get worn down because the Browns offense (ironically, outside of the Bengals game) can’t sustain many drives. Up until the Redskins game, the Bengals had the opposite problem. Their offense can stay on the field and score okay, but their defense, supposedly the strength of the team, was pretty putrid. Now that Carlos Dunlap is back I expect our pass rush to be nasty as it will free double teams off of Geno Atkins and allow guys like Michael Johnson to tee off on opposing QB’s (he had three sacks of RGIII last Sunday).
I’d say you have good reason to be. Christian Ponder looks like he may be catching up with NFL game speed. They really should be 3-0, but I’m sure you’ll take 2-1 all day considering the teams they’ve played.
Ok, being a fickle NFL fan, I’ve talked myself out of the confidence. The win over SF is great, but it took OT to beat Jacksonville, and last year’s worst team beat Minnesota. The Vikings can and might be the Lions, due in part to Stafford’s injury (haven’t checked to see if he’s out or not). But if the Vikings are 3-1 come Sunday evening, it will put a smile on my face but still be a bit flattering.
I know fans tend to be fickle and flighty but I find myself wondering if Brown’s head coach Pat Shurmer’s job is on the line against the Ravens tonight.
The team will officially change hands the middle of next month and the new (soon to be) owner Jim Haslam seems prepared to take a very hands on approach with the team. He’s attending the games and the post game press conferences and was reportedly visibly upset that the Brown’s stadium more or less turned into a Buffalo home game last Sunday. He also stepped down from his roll of company president of Pilot/Flying J retaining a chairmanship but turning day to day operations over to others.
Honestly I’d like to see him dump Pat Shurmer to be replaced by Mike Holmgren on an interim basis. If the team plays better then GM Tom Heckert can say that he was bringing in talent but it wasn’t being used correctly. If the team continues to wallow in sub mediocrity then the whole front office should be blown up (again).
I’m thinking that Shurmur is like a diagnostic variable. He doesn’t seem to be part of the solution so perhaps it’s time to see how much of the problem he is.
True. Actually, I liked the Ponder pick by itself (could have picked him up later in the 1st round, but whatever…with hindsight, a good qb is easily worth a high 1st rounder at any time). His ceiling isn’t super high, but I’ve felt all along he could be at least at the level of guys like Matt Ryan.
My Saints are 0-3 and playing at Green Bay. This does not bode well for us. Packers are probably going to be pissed off after getting robbed in Seattle, and we have no defense.
I sorta feel the same, but I don’t know if I can handle this team being at the “rock bottom” stage of a rebuilding process again. As many high draft picks as they’ve had, they’ve gotta start showing that they’re at the “mediocre but promising” stage some time soon. My biggest fear is that some new guy will come in and decide we’re going to a base 3-4 or something.