Hardesty, upon further review

After finishing watching the Browns game again on DVR, I come to a conclusion that I was unsure about earlier.  Montario Hardesty looks pretty good.  You cannot just look at his stats for the game (14 car/67 yds and 3 rec/19 yds) and make sense of his impact.  Hardesty runs hard, quick and finds the holes that were opened by the line.  Hardesty's stats would have been more like 14 car/90 yds if the line would have opened a few holes on about 5 of his runs.  Other than those few 0 and 1 yd runs, he moved the ball very well on the dolphins; eating up large chunks of yardage.  This should be fun to watch with Hillis and Hardesty in the backfield now.  Give Shurmur a little bit of time to figure this out, but between Hillis, Hardesty, and McCoy you have 3 different and fun running threats to work with.  And that's not even considering an end around to Cribbs!

Browns Defeat the Dolphins

In what looked like another "All is Lost" game, Colt McCoy comes up with two huge drives, with Touchdowns in the exact same spot in the end zone. The first to Cribbs, the second to Massaquoi. No Peyton Hillis in this one either. Hardesty looked good. Hardesty had the clutch catch and run on 4th down that kept us in this game. Colt and Massaquoi won it, but Hardesty got us there. It seems like so many other times the Browns drop that easy pass on fourth down. Last Sunday, they got it done. The Browns are at 2-1 for the first time in what seems like forever...I think it was 2002? They're second place in the AFC North for the first time since Derek Anderson.

The Bengals haven't managed to do anything since they beat us, had we had more of a clue in that game we would be 3-0 right now, and only one of two undefeated teams in the AFC.

So here's what's left of the season and my revised thoughts after three games:

We have Tennessee next. They lost to Jacksonville, then beat The Ravens and The Broncos. This could turn out to be a tough game. I think the Browns can take it though, about 17-14. Chris Johnson will run all over us, but when they start throwing, I think we'll be able to stop them.

Then its Oakland. Another team that looks better now. This one could also go either way, as we usually have trouble with Oakland. Another 21-20ish game, could go either way. My guess is that the last play will be Janikowski attempting a 60 yard field goal, and the make or miss will decide it.

Next up is Seattle. They got their first win against the Cardinals..They were destroyed by The Steelers.. We can probably take Seattle. Cleveland wins 21-10.

Then San Francisco. They just played an UGLY game against the Bengals.. I think we can also win this one, but you never know. Braylon Edwards seems to like to play extremely hard against us (despite only playing hard for us when he felt like it) so who knows.. Another 17-14 game that could go either way.

Then Houston. The Texans will win this one and it might be ugly. This might be a 35-10 game, Houston.

The Rams are up next. So far in the season they're 0-3. They didn't even compete against The Ravens last Sunday. If they keep that up they're in for another long season. Browns can win this one and come back from the loss to Houston.

Jacksonville is next. Should still be Blaine Gabbert in there unless they lose their minds. The Browns can win yet another one here, but Jacksonville is another team that's given us trouble before.. Maybe a Colt McCoy hail mary into the endzone with five seconds left in the game......?

Then the rematch with Cinci. I still think we'll win this one. By this point, the Bengals should be completely exposed and firmly at the bottom of the AFC North. Cleveland might not walk all over them, but they'll win it and get their revenge.

Then for Baltimore and Pittsburgh. I still think that these two games are lost causes. Baltimore will win by three scores. Pittsburgh will win by a field goal in a game that they completely control from start to finish.

Then the Arizona game could go either way.

Then Baltimore and Pittsburgh again.. I think the Baltimore game will be another one that's not even close, but then the second Pittsburgh game could go either way. I think one team will win the game by 10 points.

New Season prediction: Between 7-9 and 10-6.

Browns Lose to Bengals

So...alright, this one sucked. Bad. This one was really bad, because for once everyone in the world was calling it for the Browns. We're actually the more experienced team for once in the match-up. We have the more experienced QB for once. Our RB didn't get out of jail five days ago. Our WR is a Cleveland hero, not a rookie. Our defense is healthy for once...

On Offense, we start the game like a first year expansion team, as usual. But then things start to turn around a little. Colt starts making some nice throws. Hillis never really gets going. Then, back to the expansion team.

On Defense, we start the game like a first year expansion team, as usual. But then things REALLY start to turn around. Joe Haden is all over anything thrown his way. We're making tackles, we're kind of stopping the run. We're getting pressure on Dalton to the point where we knock him out of the game.

Then, Cinci gets off an illegal snap (they substituted, the referee should've been standing over the ball until Cleveland was ready) and Bruce Gradkowski of all people hits a wide open AJ Green for his first touchdown. Awesome. Great job, guys.

Then...we can't do anything. Then we force a three and out. Then...we can't do anything. And the Cinci Defense isn't Superbowl caliber.. Based on this game, here's my predictions for the rest of the season:

vs. Indy:
Peyton Manning is out. Kerry Collins is in. The Colts are TERRIBLE without Manning. I predict that Kerry Collins pulls off some late game heroics and beats the Browns 21-20.

vs. Miami:
I know nothing about Miami, except that Reggie Bush will have over 200 yards rushing in this game. Colt will be picked off three times (all tipped passes). Miami wins 35-28.

vs. Titans:
We should easily be able to beat the Titans, so we won't. Titans win 5-3.

vs. Oakland:
Our first win of the season. 35-7.

vs. Seattle:
Our second win of the season. 42-14.

vs. SF:
Our third win of the season. 17-14.

vs. Houston:
We lose this one. This one might be 35-0.

vs. The Rams:
Not sure about this one. I feel like we can win it, but they wont. Or maybe they will. Final score 17-14, not sure which team has which score.

vs. Jax:
Is Luke McGown still the QB there? Browns win, 14-3.

vs. Cinci:
Browns obviously will look for revenge. They'll get it. Cinci is horrible. By now, Dalton will be on IR and Cedric Benson will be back in jail. 35-14 Cleveland.

vs. Baltimore:
Oh god.

vs. Pittsburgh:
Pittsburgh wins 3-0.

vs. Arizona:
Arizona wins 35-0.

vs. Baltimore:
Oh god.

vs. Pittsburgh:
Pittsburgh wins 13-10.

Final Record: 5-11. As usual.

Slow down about Cobb

So (Green Bay's) Randall Cobb is getting all this run because of his performance yesterday.  I'm sorry, but since when does having 2 receptions for 34 yds and 1 TD deserve this praise.  Yes, he ran a kickoff back, but Josh Cribbs wouldn't have gotten that praise had he had those stats.

Everyone is going to pick this guy up in fantasy, and be very disappointed by week 12 when he's back to being 4th on the depth chart catching 1 ball a game.  Typical overreaction in week 1 of the NFL.