Not only does Buffalo have a bad run defense but they lost two of their offensive linemen last week. Our defense needs to make a statement this week and get after the quarterback. We are the more talented team. If we limit our mistakes I know we can win.

I love the cold, and I love watching football being played in the cold. The Browns and Bills have played some exciting late-season games and now we might be in for another one. People are talking about a big weekend storm. Is it possible this game will be played in yet another blizzard? I can't wait to see Hillis go busting through the line while defenders slip and groundskeepers dust off the yardmarkers with brooms.

This is our kind of football baby!

Has someone set one of these up already? I thought this board did one every year.

Timing is everything. We started off the year against established teams that were playing good ball at the time and quickly found ourselves in a bad hole. I'd love to see us start the year with a few managable games like Buffalo, Jax and Cincy before tackling elite teams like New Orleans and a Balt/Pitt road game.

With disciplined players, a good ground game and a strong defense we have a chance at meaningful football in December again.

Thanks, I'd been busy and hadn't heard.

In the middle of the season when things were darkest I would have been certain that they would have blacked these games out (Oakland, Jax, San Diego). I know we'll see lots of empty seats today but maybe this is a step in the right direction, as in we've hit bottom and are climbing back up.

I was offered a pair of freebies myself today and have already gone for free twice this year.

Has anyone heard if they are blacking out today's game or not?

How many years now have we run the 3-4 defense without success? I never liked it because we didn't have the proper personell to make it work effectively, but we stubbornly stuck with the thing.

Whatever enables us to put consistant pressure on the QB.

I'm sure I could spend time researching this but I figured someone on the board knows the rules. If we lose out, and so does Tampa Bay and St. Louis, who gets the #1 pick?

Does common opponents have anything to do with it? St. Louis beat Detroit, who beat us. Tampa Bay beat Green bay, who also beat us in case it makes a difference.

@blowe said:

Its going to be packed with steelers fans, and then those inbreds will come on our board to rub in how shitty our season has been. I may just avoid all things Browns related for this entire week.

Hey, after today, they aren't a playoff team either. What do they have to crow about this year?

That is such an awesome moment. Wide Ass Open and "Donk", right off his face! It's too bad it didn't affect the outcome of the game. That drop he had against Baltimore last year cost us the game. I was furious. Now it's just hilarious.

How the hell does any team in the league expect to win with this guy?

When it comes time for him to ask a team for more money as a free agent, they need to trot out that replay and then throw a much lower dollar figure at him. If he walks away from the table, he's doing you a favor.

I honestly wish the man success, happiness, and good health throughout his retirement and I tip my hat to him for his years of service as a Cleveland Brown.

In terms of our running game, this is one of the best things that can happen because we can fully assess our talent for the 2010 season. Yes, I think we'll take a back in the early rounds of the draft. It's time for new blood in the backfield.

FREAKofSTEEL08 said:

vs. Raiders * At Home Ben back...Talented team with Backs against wall WIN !!

@ Browns Talented Team with backs against wall WIN

vs. Packers * Tuff game but Troy back...AT Home and STILL Backs against wall WIN !

vs. Ravens * Ben Healthy Ratbirds could barley handle us with a 3rd string QB we WIN !!

@ Dolphins * May not need win.... If needed Much more talented than Dolphins... and Backs against wall WIN !!

We should Win out but One loss wont kill us UNLESS its to the Raiders !!! I dont see that BUT I didnt see KC either !!!

No Certainties but Steelers will Most likely get in ...and then You NEVER KNOW !!!

I'll give you the Raiders and Browns but the Packers are a better team playing better football - that's a loss. The first part of your Ravens sentence - Ben Healthy - is questionable. The Dolphins game is going to be a coin flip. At BEST the Steelers go 3-2 to finish out the year. That could be enough to make the playoffs. 2-3 is definately not good enough.

Damn I wish the Browns had a shred of talent to make a difference here. The entire team looks like practice squad rejects.

I think the real question here is will both teams get leapfrogged by the surging Titans? I for one hope they do. I think Denver has righted the ship and will make the playoffs at least as a wild card. San Diego is going to the playoffs too. Cincy has a 2-game lead right now and owns division tiebreakers so neither Pitt nor Balt will catch Cincy.

I'd be quite happy if the Bengals were the only team in the AFC North that made the playoffs.

Oh, and for all those who complained about the trade of Braylon Edwards to the Jets? He had one catch for 10 yards today. And for the rest who complained that we passed on Mark Sanchez? He had 4 interceptions today.

We all knew Quinn needed to show some kind of improvement today and he didn't disappoint. In a rebuilding season like this one games like this are important because it shows the team still has a pulse. It's important that he not go out next week and keep up the momentum. I'll be pleased if we get at least two meaningful touchdowns out of the guy - I'm not talking about garbage time scores.

It's too bad he didn't get more opportunities after the first Baltimore game because he could have used the extra experience.

Well, I just got an answer to my question. According to ESPN Harrison is inactive this week. Earlier I read that he was very unhappy about his lack of playing time against Baltimore. I wonder if his attitude had anything to do with being inactive this week.

Who will get the most carries this weekend - Lewis, Harrison or Jennings? We've been splitting up the carries lately and it doesn't seem to be very effective. Lewis is no fun to watch but I don't think it's right to give his carries to a guy just off the practice squad. Detroit has a defense that should allow us to move the ball so it will be interesting to see who can make something happen. Of course with us it seems that our backs end up on the sidelines after a few good carries.

@dj_illness said:

17-3.

i like the games where we take the opening possesion and march down the field..... for a FG.

so we think, "eh, okay...we might do allright."

and then we do NOTHING offensively the rest of the game.

I've seen more of these games than I care to remember. The offense goes into hibernation until we are down 21-3. I wonder how many times this has happened in the past 3 years?

It's such a tough question to answer. Everyone has a different opinion but what stands out for me the most is the pressure that teams are able to put on our QB due to poor blocking on the line.

As the eventual winner of the pro pick'em, what will I receive?

Are the rest of you even making picks anymore or am I just that much better?