Sorry Hadman and Pucky...

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...but AT THE END OF THE DAY, today's game was a MUST-WIN for the Browns. They had to find a way to win after last week's poor showing against Arizona...not only for the playoff race but for the psychology of this young team. They have not lost two in a row all year...losing against another inferior team would have set them back in the standings and in their minds.

We should be used to this by now, but this was another game that was harder than it should have been. The defense seems to really wear down toward the end of games...it happened again today as QB Clemens started finding holes in the Browns' soft coverage in the 4th quarter. And another running back went for 100 yards. (Can anyone tell me what "Man-genius" was thinking on kicking that field goal on 4th and 10: Your team's 3-9, you already converted one onside kick, what are the odds you're going to convert the next one? Gotta go for it there, dude.)

OK, so we know the defense is bad. You can't shore up all of your deficiencies in one year. Savage has effectively rebuilt the offense--I suppose we have to trust him to rebuild on the other side of the ball as well. Unfortunately, that does not help matters now. I'm just happy the Browns got the win on the road--although was that the most sedate crowd you've ever heard at an NFL game? Granted there were perhaps 5,000 people in the crowd by the 4th quarter. I think our New Jersey correspondent MTP was at the game; maybe he could tell us how it was.

I don't know about you, but I was yelling "Fall down!" at Jamal Lewis on that last touchdown run. The way he got spun around I was fearing a fumble there. Lewis has been very solid for us--just another dimension (along with a real QB and an O-line) the Browns really have not had since they came back.

I'm happy with this win. It wa'nt pretty, but I'll take it. Beat Buffalo and I think you can effectively punch the Browns' ticket into the playoffs.

Bonus football talk:


I made two idiotic picks in our NFL Pick 'Em league this week. I took Pitt. and Balt. to cover, with Pitt. on the road at NE and Baltimore coming off a devastating loss after which they cried like little bitches. NE won by 3 TD and Indy is beating Balt. as of this writing by a count of 44-7. And I still picked 10 correct against the spread this week. Damn!