Short and sweet...unless you're the Rams

I’m keeping things short and simple this Friday. I’m working on two pretty large columns right now. One is on the current state of the NFL and will be out tomorrow. The other one is on the NCAA and will be out Sunday night/Monday morning. So here are this weeks winners in BOLD CAPS.

DENVER BRONCOS (-9.5) at Kansas City Chiefs
Three things will happen this week:

1. We will see the Broncos gain 600 yards on offense
2. We will see just how bad the Broncos defense really is
3. We will see the Kansas City Chiefs lose again

CLEVELAND BROWNS at Cincinnati Bungals (-3.5)
This is a must win for the Browns and it is the only reason why the Browns will win. Well that and they are playing the Bungals.

HOUSTON TEXANS at Jacksonville Jaguars (-7)
I know the Jags beat the Colts last week and the Texans haven’t won yet. But 7 points is a lot to give up when your defense is giving up 300 yards a game.

ARIZONA CARDINALS at New York Jets (-1.5)
The Jets have no running game, Brett Farve is going to be chucking up INTs, and the defense can’t defend the pass. I guess making the Jets the favorite is logical.

SAN FRANCISCO 49ers at New Orleans Saints (-5)
The Saints might win the game but they aren’t beating Vegas. The Saints haven’t won a game by more than 5 points and the 49ers have showed they got a lot of fight in them.

Atlanta Falcons at CAROLINA PANTHERS (-6.5)
I want to pick Atlanta because the Panthers can’t stop the run. But the Falcons won’t be able to stop Steve Smith. In the end, not having a playmaker downfield will be the difference.

Minnesota Vikings at TENNESSEE TITANS (-3)
I was sold on the Titans before the season but now that they have a two game lead on the Colts; I’m Ed McMahon sold. This is the one team in the league I wish was my team. I would take this defense and Jeff Fisher every week; even if they had Tavaris Jackson at QB.

Green Bay Packers at TAMPA BAY BUCCANNERS (-1)
Aaron Rodgers didn’t like the Cowboys defense and isn’t going to like Bucs either. And if you thought the Bucs said “F running” last week, wait until this week. Not having Harris putting the fear of God into subpar receivers is going to be the reason why the Packers lose.

BUFFALO BILLS (-8) at St. Louis Rams
I would pick the Bills -17 against the Rams. Hell, even Rams players are starting to openly say that they don’t want to be a Ram. My only advice for the Rams is to make sure a medic and a defibrillator are near by for Trent Green.

SAN DIEGO CHARGERS (-7.5) at Oakland Raiders
And there goes another one of my sleeper picks. I hate you Al Davis.

Washington Redskins at DALLAS COWBOYS (-11)
It is going to be damn near impossible to beat the Cowboys at home this year.

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (-3) at Chicago Bears
I think this is make or break week for the Eagles. If they win, it probably means McNabb and Westbrook lived to see another week. If they lose, it means McNabb and/or Westbrook has a bed next to Trent Green. More importantly, if the Eagles lose; this could be the game that costs them a spot in the playoffs.

BALTIMORE RAVENS at Pittsburgh Steelers (-5.5)
I don’t like Flacco or really anyone on the Ravens offense beside Ray Rice. But this is a bad week for the Steelers to be playing the Ravens. Not having the one-two at running back means Big Ben is going to feel the pain.

Last Week — 9-7

Overall — 29-18

Next Week or Next Year: Your Choice Romeo

I wrote a column this morning about what I think is wrong with the Browns. How what’s really wrong with the Browns is that they were playing like “the winners” instead of playing like “the upsets”. To make a long story short, I wanted to write something that was serious, heartfelt and moving. Instead it ended up resembling a Dick Vermeil postgame speech on meth. It was allover the place and to be honest—in the end—it didn’t even make sense to me. So I’m not posting it and going to leave the good writing to Terry Pluto for now on. But I will explain what’s really wrong with the Browns and what I meant by how they are playing like “the winners” when they should be playing like “the upsets”. Before I get to the Bad News Browns, I’m going to talk about the Good News Browns.

The Good News Browns

The defense? Yes…the defense! Looking back to week 1, I think it is fair to say that the Browns defense wasn’t that bad; the Cowboys offense was just that good. This is the second week in a row the Cowboys have destroyed a good defense.

Last week, you could have said the Browns defense didn’t look so bad because of the weather. But this week, the Browns held two solid running backs to only 3.4 yards. They picked off Flacco twice and didn’t allow a passing touchdown. These past two weeks the defense has come up huge. Unfortunately, their play has been overshadowed by…

The Bad News Browns

Okay so here is what I meant by the Browns playing like “the winners” instead of playing like “the upsets”. They are playing like they expect to win the game and they expect to be winning the entire game. Some teams, like the Patriots and Cowboys, can—but more importantly—are built to play like this. They go into each game knowing that the plan is to start out running the football to control the clock early, then start passing towards the end of the first quarter and most of the second. Then run the ball some more and control the ball with short slants and outs to the tight end. The problem is that even though the Browns defense is better; it is far from lights out. And you can’t play this style of “winner” football without a highly dependable defense.

Instead the Browns should be playing like they did last year; playing like “the upset”. Remember the creativity in the Browns offense last year? You want to know why it was so creative last year and so predictable this year? Well last year the Browns weren’t supposed to do a damn thing so they had nothing to lose calling play action passes to a streaking Braylon Edwards, 60 yards downfield on first down. So far this year, they have been playing conservative because Romeo doesn’t want to take chances on loosing the game. But by doing so, he has handcuffed himself from taking chances on winning the game.

Bottom line, the Browns can play Johnny Utah at QB and it won’t make a difference. Until they stop planning for a win and start playing like they have nothing to lose; it’s never going to get better. Because the only thing we ever “plan on” in Cleveland is another long season.