UNLEASHED/Full Circle

, left, punts the ball into one of his teammates resulting in a safety in the first quarter of an NFL preseason football game against the New York Giants Monday night, Aug. 18, 2008 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)" width="500" height="375">

Browns Backers,

redeem - ” to make up for; make amends for; offset (some fault, shortcoming, etc.) “

Let me first offer my condolences to Cubs fans everywhere, most notably Jay Mariotti of BESPN’s Around The Horn, as the curse lives on, and with no Steve Bartman in sight, the Cubs bombed worse than Britney Spears first comeback and the bright side to all of this? Phil Savage can inquire about Cubs pitcher and former Irish WR, Jeff Smardzjia, considering the lack of talent in Steptoe and Sanders it might be possible.

With the Browns sitting at 1-3 and with the Ravens and Bengals both losing, The Browns might not be dead in the water after all but thanks to the strong undercurrent they are desperately doggy-paddling and on the edge of going under.

To borrow from Mary Kay Cabot, “The Brown Pants Massacre” that assaulted our eyes back in August is still in the back of many Browns players and fans eyes as they were dump-trucked 30-3, the final score of 37-34 was a illusion and injustice of the level of play that night as former Akron standout, WR Domenik Hixon had a career night torching the Browns first-stringers for two TD’s and a 82 yd kick return.

So what has changed since that football style wedgie that the Giants gave the Browns? The Giants are playing like a Super Bowl champion at 4-0, crushing teams with ease, most recently the poster child crybabies in Seattle 44-6, and the Browns are playing like a jilted and violated Cinderella who have mistaken their horse-drawn AFC North title chariot for a jitney.

Many Browns fan will look back at this game and see all the bad karma that has happened since that awful night and see a NFL-style Murphy’s Law of football that happened that hasn’t stopped since, Anderson’s concussion, the bad penalties, horrid coverage, loss of poise and collective self-destructive nature, at least Ed Hochuli wasn’t officiating!

Not to appease the Brady Quinn fan club, but Quinn was the lone bright spot of that dreadful evening hooking up with Syndric Steptoe for a 44 yd TD and at least helped make the game look more respectable, but the bottom line is that Anderson hasn’t been the same since that game and with the missed reps in training looks very out of sync(not N’ Sync!!) and I know that despite it being a pre-season game in August that started his downward spiral, playing the Giants on Sunday could be both Anderson’s and the teams redemption.

The reality of the situation is that these are the same two teams from August, with the G-Men now missing Umenyora, and the Browns finally getting healthy, this game could be more competitive than last time, and it would give the Browns a much-needed team boost in front of their fans to finally have Stallworth, Tucker, Jones and possibly J.J. back all the calls for Brady will be muted if Anderson can get back on track.

During the bye I had the chance to reflect and think of suggestions of how the Browns can wake up for the stretch run:

1.) Split carries with Harrison and Lewis - this would not only help keep Lewis fresh for the home stretch of the season and provide a inside-outside punch, but would give DA another weapon to beat blitzing teams with a Harrison screen.

2.) Where is Steve Heiden? – If there is a QB’s best friend and security blanket, it is a tight end, don’t get me wrong, Winslow is a god, but when you have a blocking TE that can catch, then please use him, last year he was a vital part in Chud’s offense and since then has gone missing with only ONE catch for 9 yards.

3.) Flex out Winslow, attack mismatches - One thing that I’ve noticed is that the Browns have gotten away from attacking mismatches using Winslow, and it appears that other teams have figured out that Edwards can’t catch, the Browns must get Winslow the ball MORE!! Make opposing teams bring their safeties or make a LB go out in coverage which would put seven in the box also making it easier to run why not utilize your best player.

4.) Use 3-step and 5-step quick passes, use more WR screens - I know it isn’t in DA’s nature to do quick passes, but being 6-6 and able to get the ball out fast, this could a easy fix when the run game stalls or to keep defenses honest. When(and if Stallworth plays this will be right up his alley, as both Philly and NE used a lot of WR screens, and with Winslow and Edwards able to block, these “quick-hitters” could be a new wrinkle coming from Chud soon.

5.) Anderson needs to show up – This is critical, because with Brady ready to start at any minute and every snap, throw, pass and INT dissected in EVERY Browns forum, Anderson MUST play like this is his personal Super Bowl, Anderson must be confident again in his throws, regain control of the huddle and be aggressive downfield, what DA can also do is try to throw to someone other than BE once in a while and with Stallworth coming back that should help greatly.

6.) O-line must protect DA – What happened to the o-line? After giving up the second fewest sacks last year, this year they seem to have taken time off and forgotten how to block. They can either regain their pride and composure by adjusting their pass protections and cut down on the holding calls and false starts.

7.) Play more man-to-man – It seems the Browns DB’s are playing too far off the receivers and are afraid of taking chances, what they can do is bring a safety over to help down field and also keep LB’s in coverage to contain a running QB.

8.) Maintain pressure and containment – Rogers has been a animal on the DL and has done a great job of collapsing the opposing team’s pocket, what the Browns can do better is contain opposing QB’s from scrambling and get pressure in their face and backfield constantly.

9.) BLITZ and tackle!! – This is the most obvious, nerve-racking and frustrating thing about watching the Browns defense, they cannot tackle, PERIOD!! Or even wrap up and finish a play, Tucker needs to call more blitzes and be more aggressive by bring heat on the QB consistently, not only to make a stop but to keep them from becoming tired in the 4^th quarter of games.

With the Browns at 1-3, they can start off on the right foot with a upset win at home on MNF and finally being healthy would help Anderson and the defense greatly and this could be the life preserver the Browns may need to keep them from drowning.

Dawg for Life!!

Dawgfather