Cautious Coughlin Coaches in Cleveland

The 1-3 Cleveland Browns host an undefeated gnarly group of Giants Monday night in what should be another annihilation for New York. The obliterating offense led by lackadaisical Eli Manning has been strong, solid, sound and stable so far this short season. I am remaining cautiously optimistic about the Giants because they really haven’t faced a legitimate contending team outside of Washington.
The Browns have not scored more than 12 points against any of their opponents this year. Last week the team had a much-needed bye. Cleveland was winless after their first three games but those were against tougher teams. A 10-28 loss to Dallas in week one was understandable. The Browns were not expected to beat the Cowboys. They also were not anticipating attaining any sort of win against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Even with Big Ben hurt in week two, the Steelers prevailed, though it was slight. The 10-6 Pittsburgh win wasn’t really as close as it appears. In the third loss, the Ravens played as fair as the Browns during a week three 38-10 victory. Baltimore’s rookie, Joe Flaco, upstaged Cleveland’s Derek Anderson. He did throw three interceptions to Anderson’s two. The one touchdown thrown by Flaco flopped into the hands of Jerome Harrison for a 19 yard reception. Ed Reed’s 32 yard interception return for a touchdown put Baltimore in the driver’s seat and ended Anderson’s hopes of turning the game around in favor of the Browns.
Week four was the best of the bunch for the Browns. Talented receiver, Braylon Edwards, caught his first touchdown pass in the 20-12 victory over Cincinnati. The Bengals were penalized during the last Cleveland scoring drive when an interception was overturned. If not for that penalty, the Browns could be heading into the Giants’ game with zero wins on the year. Anderson did not have a great game against the Bengals at all. He only completed half of his passes (6 of 12) for 48 total yards. Kicker, Phil Dawson, has been the bright spot because he’s seen plenty of leg action so far. The Browns cannot seem to come up with big scoring drives, settling for three points on field goals. They also have not run the ball well. Jamal Lewis scored the team’s first rushing touchdown in week four. The Browns are 31st in points per game and 32nd in yards per game in the NFL. With Brady Quinn of Notre Dame fame waiting in the wings as backup to Anderson, we might see a change soon at quarterback. Romeo Crennel doesn’t have anything to lose by placing Quinn behind center. Most likely, he will not do any worse than Anderson, who had a terrific 2007 season. It appears to be only a fluke at this point.
The Giants come into Cleveland with high expectations. Tom Coughlin has his team headed in the right direction for sure. The schedule doesn’t get any easier after the next two weeks, heading into November however. Coughlin is a calm coach and knows how to keep his players in line. The Giants can’t look past these Browns. Even though tight end, Kellen Winslow, could be out for Monday night, wide receiver, Donte Stallworth, is probably going to make his season debut. If Anderson can get anything going against a tenacious Giants’ defense, they may have a chance. I can’t imagine New York losing in Cleveland. Eli Manning has clearly shown his capabilities and Brandon Jacobs is angry heading into the game already. Jacobs will come up big again this week. With Plaxico Burress’ return and the emergence of Steve Smith and Dominick Hixon as wideouts, look for a high scoring, high power offense on Monday night. Cleveland could be out of this game by halftime if the Giants’ defense forces the Browns to three and outs in the early part of the game. The Browns are having a disappointing season and I think it will only get worse as they are host to a national audience this week. This is hardly a statement game for New York, but if they win big, perhaps some of the doubters out there will remain silent.

Parting points: Backtrack of the day: Stone Temple Pilots’ “Interstate Love Song”. It’s one of the greatest driving songs.