What's Wrong With the Redskins and Browns?

Derek Lofland from Fantasy Football Maniaxs

If Detroit as been the most impressive team of the preseason, the Browns have been one of the worst. They played well in the opener against the Jets. Since then, they have imploded.

Even though they only lost 37-30 to the Giants, they trailed 31-3 in that game in the second quarter. Those were backups getting the team back into the game. Then they lost 26-6 to Detroit.

Derek Anderson suffered a concussion against the Giants and did not play against Detroit. Head Coach Romeo Crennel has elected to hold out a lot of his starters to keep them healthy for the regular season.

The Browns have a tough start to the season. They play Dallas and Pittsburgh at home before playing at Cincinnati and at Baltimore. If the Browns start 0-2, it is going to put a lot of pressure on them to win on the road in consecutive weeks. Last year, the Bengals and Ravens had less-than-stellar seasons.

Despite the Browns' 10-6 record, they lost 19-14 at Cincinnati and gave up 30 points in a 33-30 win against the Ravens. That was the crossbar-miracle game. That was also the only game Baltimore scored over 30 points last season.

The Browns are going to score points in 2008. The problem is that they still have questions on defense, and based on the preseason, it doesn’t look like a real strength of the team. Hopefully, for the Browns, they can get that fixed in the regular season. If they don’t, they are going to need to score points in bunches to be successful.

What happened to Washington vs. Carolina?

This was the head-scratching game of the week. It’s one thing to lose a preseason game, but 47-3 is always going to be cause for concern, especially against a Carolina team that many people consider a fringe playoff team at best.

The majority of the damage was done in a 31-point second quarter. Steve Smith, DeAngelo Williams, Jonathan Stewart, and Dante Rosario all got into the mix. Credit Carolina for playing a good game.

Washington was 3-0 headed into this game; so one preseason blowout isn’t reason for panic. Jason Taylor is now hurt and figures to miss time. He might not be ready to open the season, as the Redskins face the NY Giants on Sept. 4 to open the season.

The team still seems to be learning the new offense and has had a number of injuries on defense.

The Redskins can’t afford to get off to a slow start. They play at New York, Dallas, and Philadelphia in the first five games of the season. They also host New Orleans and Arizona.

It is imperative that they don’t dig themselves a 2-3 or 1-4 hole. In that division, it will be tough to overcome.