Cleveland Browns 2010 Preseason: What To Watch Vs. St. Louis Rams
On Saturday, August 21st, the Cleveland Browns host the St. Louis Rams in the second preseason contest for both teams. Cleveland will be looking to build on the success of an exciting 27-24 win over the Green Bay Packers in the preseason opener while St. Louis tries to rebound from a 28-7 blowout loss to the Favre-less Minnesota Vikings.
The Rams were one of the few teams who had a worse 2009 season than Cleveland and a 1-15 record earned them the first overall pick in the 2010 draft. St. Louis used that pick to select Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford. Much like Cleveland, the Rams are in rebuild mode and the future of their franchise now rests on Bradford's shoulders.
Both the Browns and the Rams suffered through disappointing 2009 seasons and are striving to make improvements entering 2010. Cleveland seems to be a bit farther along in the rebuilding process and the Browns have now won five straight games, winning last week at Green Bay and winning the final four regular season games of 2009. This should be a good match-up of two young, building teams and a win on Saturday would be a big step for both franchises.
The following is a quick glance at some key aspects of the game for Browns fans to watch during the game.
Can The Quarterbacks Continue To Shine?
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New Cleveland Browns quarterbacks Jake Delhomme and Seneca Wallace used their opportunities in the Green Bay game to silence critics, at least for the time being.
Delhomme is expected to be the regular season starter, but both he and Wallace played very well in limited time against a solid Packer defense. Delhomme and Wallace combined to go 10 of 15 for 138 yards and two touchdowns during four drives. Three of those drives ended in touchdowns for the Browns, which is a promising sign for an offense that struggled to score for much of 2009.
Both Delhomme and Wallace will likely see more playing time in the second preseason game and it will be interesting to see if they can continue to lead the offense effectively. This will be especially important for Delhomme, who was only in last week's game for the opening drive. If he can continue to lead the team downfield over multiple drives, it may be a good indication that Delhomme is indeed working his way back to winning form.
Can Cleveland Stop The Run?
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The Cleveland Browns will be trying to improve a run defense that surrendered 106 rushing yards against Green Bay, good for 21st in preseason rankings. While the starting defense played relatively well against the run, the Browns were gashed later in the game by backup running backs Quinn Porter and Kregg Lumpkin. Cleveland also allowed two rushing touchdowns during the game.
On the other side of the field, the St. Louis Rams only managed 33 total rushing yards against a stout Minnesota defense. The Rams have one of the league's top running backs in Steven Jackson, but he is not expected to see much playing time is preseason. Jackson didn't play against Minnesota and will probably not see time against the Browns either. That means that Cleveland will likely see a lot of backups Keith Toston, Kenneth Darby, Chris Ogbonnaya and Mike Karney.
The Rams are currently in the process of finding a primary backup for Steven Jackson and may test Cleveland's run defense early and often throughout the game. Part of the philosophy of head coach Eric Mangini involves controlling the tempo of the game. That will mean controlling the running game on both offense and defense. The preseason is all about tightening up points of weakness and it will be important for the Cleveland defense, both starters and depth players, to hold up against the run for the duration of the game.
Can The Secondary Show Improvement?
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Last week saw the Browns' secondary get picked apart by starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers who went 12 of 13 for 159 yards and a touchdown. Rodgers executed almost flawlessly with his passes, finding holes in he coverage and delivering the football with nearly perfect precision. While it is virtually impossible to defend a perfect pass, there were times when a play could have been made, but the defender failed to execute. Covering the tight end position proved especially difficult for the Browns so it will be important to see what steps are taken to improve in this area of coverage.
Rookies Joe Haden and T.J. Ward played well in their debut for Cleveland. Haden was usually tight in coverage and Ward was seen flying all around the field hitting hard and making plays. The secondary overall will be looking to continue to improve against a Rams offense that only put up 117 passing yards in the first week of the preseason.
Starting cornerback Eric Wright is aiming to return from injury Saturday against St. Louis and his presence should add another element to the Cleveland secondary. It will be interesting to see how the Browns' defense performs with cornerbacks Wright, Haden and Sheldon Brown on the field at the same time. Also expect to see safety T.J. Ward to continue laying big hits on opposing receivers, providing an enforcer presence not seen in Cleveland for a very long time.
Rams quarterbacks A.J. Feeley, Keith Null and rookie Sam Bradford do not pose the same threat as Rodgers, and the Browns should be able to use this game to work on shoring up the pass defense.
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Which Receiver Will Step Up For The Browns?
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Second year players Mohamed Massaquoi and Brian Robiskie looked the part of starting NFL receivers against the Packers and seem to be developing good chemistry with quarterbacks Delhomme and Wallace. The tight ends were also effective in the passing game with Benjamin Watson, Evan Moore and Alex Smith all making on-field contributions. However, Cleveland still needs another wide receiver to step up and prove worthy of playing time in the regular season.
Outside of Massaquoi and Robiskie, the wide receivers were unspectacular last week and no one was really able to stand out from the rest of the group. Unfortunatly, undrafted free agent Johnathan Haggerty was lost to injury and was been waived by the Browns. That leaves Caarlton Mitchell, Bobby Engram, Chansi Stuckey, Syndric Steptoe, Jake Allen and recently signed Taurus Johnson all competing to make the 53-man roster. Joshua Cribbs is also in the mix at wideout, but is a given to make the team.
St. Louis fields a secondary that gave up 336 passing yards to Sage Rosenfels, Tarvaris Jackson and rookie Joe Webb in last week's game. A poor Rams pass defense should provide a golden opportunity for one or more of the receivers on Cleveland's roster to take a big step toward making the team.
Punter Reggie Hodges
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Browns punter Dave Zastudil was in the process of recovering from surgery to his patellar tendon this off-season and was hoping to return for the 2010 regular season. However, his leg has not responded to rehabilitation and he has been placed on injured reserve and will miss the entire season.
Since coming to Cleveland, Zastudil has been one of the best punters in the league, helping Cleveland build the league's top special teams unit. His strength and directional accuracy will be missed.
Taking over punting duties will be fourth-year player Reggie Hodges. Hodges filled in when Zastudil was lost to injury last season and also played for coach Mangini in 2008 with the New York Jets.
Hodges is a capable punter who can consistently boom the football 50+ yards downfield, but he does not possess the same accuracy as Zastudil. Every punt Hodges attempts this preseason will be important as he will be the Browns' punter moving forward for the 2010 season.
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