Cleveland Browns

If Denver continues to spiral out of control, that clears the path for New England. With games remaining against the Jets, Buffalo Bills, and Miami Dolphins, the Patriots must sweep and hope the Bengals lose to the Browns. If New England forces the tie, there’s still a chance for a playoff bye week as the tie-breaker goes down to common opponents (Baltimore, Houston, Denver, New York Jets ; N.E. 1-2 with Houston still to play, Cincinnati 2-2 with Jets remaining) followed by strength of victory (Cincinnati .508 New England .389) and strength of schedule. 

Continue reading "Looking Ahead"

I have a problem with Julian Edelman. He shouldn’t be wearing number “11” when a perfectly good “82” is available. “11” should be set aside for when the Patriots retire Drew Bledsoe’s jersey. 

Continue reading "Intrigued by Edelman"

In the world of journalism, it's the greatest compliment when an article you wrote inspires others to express their own opinion on the same subject.

Back in February, I wrote an article asking the question should teams draft tight ends in the first round. It was a relevant question because Oklahoma State's Brandon Pettigrew could be the only TE selected within the first 32 picks.

Continue reading "Great Minds Think Alike"

As the draft approaches, it's obvious that the Patriots need an outside linebacker that can effectively rush the quarterback and maybe another cornerback to add to the competition between Ellis Hobbs, Jonathan Wilhite, and Terrence Wheatley. Finding the kind of LB that would fit in New England will be tougher this year.

Continue reading "A Difficult Search for Patriots-type Players"

Continue reading "Patriots Job Fair '09"

Boy, we don't even get a chance to let the fact that the Patriots are out of the playoffs for the first time since 2002 soak in before the team is involved in off-season news.

On Monday, three teams fired their head coaches, with two of the head men out of work have Patriots ties. Rod Marinelli was canned after a 0-16 season with Detroit, snitch Eric Mangini was let go by the Jets for missing the playoffs two out of three years, and Cleveland had enough of Romeo Crennel after 40 losses in four seasons. Crennel and Mangini were both former defensive coordinators for the Patriots.

Continue reading "Wanna Trade, Cleveland?"

Except for maybe the Giants/Redskins game, these spreads are more a reflection of how bad the home teams have looked as opposed to how good the visitors have looked.  The Bengals and Redskins are playing as home underdogs against division rivals.  One would think they have a good chance of keeping the games very close and covering their spreads. 

Continue reading "NFL Week 13 Musings"

On the other side of the city is Progressive Field (formerly Jacobs Field. Damn naming rights. Since Progressive bought the right to name the stadium, why not go with Progressive Park?), home of the Indians, and the Quicken Loans Arena, where the Cavaliers play (the logo is in the background to the left).

Continue reading "A Hall of a Trip to Cleveland"

 As reported by ESPN, McGinest, in his third and final year with the Cleveland Browns, said he will retire after his contract is up. It would complete a 15-year career that lacked flash but was consistently played at high level.

Continue reading "A homecoming for 2009"

After seven rounds and 252 picks, one thing stands out. 41 defensive linemen were drafted and 39 offensive linemen were granted employment.

Did someone say monkey see, monkey do? They always said the NFL is a copycat league and it couldn't be more obvious.

Continue reading "Draft Review"