Browns Game, Notes

What a great week it's been. The weather's great, the Pats are undefeated, the SOX are up in the Divisional Series and the Yankees are down. Who could ask for anything more? How about some Patriots notes....

Tom Brady has won the AFC player of the month for September.

Rodney is back and should be in the lineup come Sunday.

David Thomas was placed on IR for the second straight season.
In his place they signed Marcellus Rivers to a two year deal.

I haven't even noticed that Seymour Money isn't playing. It doesn't appear that there is much of a difference between he and Jarvis Green. Green has been doing a great job filling in, he is 7th on the team in tackles with 14 and second in sacks with 3.

The Pats are scoring an avg. of 37 points a game while giving up only 12.

The Pats are also #1 in the league on 3rd down conversions - offesively AND defensively.
The O is converting 51% of 3rd downs.
The D is holding opponents to only 30% conversions on 3rd down.

Adalius Thomas is serving "Humble Pie" to his teammates to remind them not to get too big headed. T-shirts were printed that say "I eat" on the front and "Humble Pie" on the back. Players have been wearing them in practice. Word is that a special hoodie was also printed for Belichick that says "Humble Pie" on the back, while the front reads "I serve".

Keep yourself glued to the tube this week if you're a football fan. There are a TON of great games
starting with the college games on Saturday.

Oklahoma v. Texas
Georgia v. Tennessee
Virginia Tech v. Clemson
Ohio State v. Purdue
AND THE BEST OF ALL #9 FLorida at #1 LSU - DON'T MISS IT!!!!

On Sunday the good match ups include:

Chicago v. GB
TB v. Indy
Seattle v. Pitt
Detroit v. Wash
Ny v. NY
Jags v. KC
Balt v. SF


Here's what you need to know for The Patriots hosting The Browns on Sunday:

The Browns have a pretty good offense, ranked 11th in the NFL, but the D is pretty poor, at 31st overall.

On Offense you'll see an average QB in Derek Anderson. He's completing 52% of his passes for 9TD's but has thrown 5 interceptions. Kellen Winslow is the main target at TE He's got 20 catches and a TD but a whopping average of 19 yards per catch. Then there's Braylon Edwards. He's got 18 catches and 4 TDs and another big average of 21 yards per catch. The featured back is 'chip on his shoulder' Jamal Lewis who's rushing for nearly 5 yds per carry.

The X factor in this game is special teams. The Pats will have to bring it on Sunday. Brown's returner Josh Cribbs has already brought one to the house and is averaging 34 yds per return. If he scores on Sunday it could give the Browns some momentum and some much needed points. (see the 17 point spread)


I expect to see a Patriots gameplan similar to last week. Soft zones on defense to prevent the big play. It's the same old frustrating bend but don't break defense. It worked tremendously against Cincy last week and we should see the same thing this week. On offense, the Pats will run and then run and then run some more. The Browns give up an average of 160yds rushing a game. Ball control, long drives leading to scores - all day. Hopefully Maroney will be healthy and will be able to contribute to the running attack, but either way the Pats have enough runners to gash the Browns.

I think that Belichick won't try to run it up too much on old friend Romeo,
but I don't see the Browns getting in the end zone.

Pats 31
Browns 6