Stillers vs. Browns Pregame Analysis (Game #15, @ Clev)
The 9-5 Stillers take to the interstate to travel to
Cleveland, where they will square off on Saturday against the hated 5-9 Browns
in a must-win game for the Stillers to remain alive in the playoff chase.�
Not much has changed from the previous matchup, so in the
earnest of time, I ask readers to re-read my pregame analysis from the
previous Stiller-Cleveland game, as well as that of Steel Phantom.� I will thus highlight major changes that
have occurred since that tilt.� Additionally,
readers are encouraged to listen to my podcast interview with host Lance
Williams at MySportsRadio.com,
which covers a pregame look of this Saturday's matchup.
* When the Browns have the ball, there are 3
major changes for the Brownies; 1 good, 2 bad.�
On the positive side, rookie QB Charlie Frye is at the helm,
replacing subpar veteran Trenton Dilfer.�
Frye is obviously raw and prone to greenhorn mistakes, but he's got good
upside, and it only makes sense to get him some PT instead of frittering away
this time with a worthless pile o' dung like Dilfer.� Frye doesn't have a rifle arm, but he throws a decent ball, and
while he isn't going to remind anyone of Frank Tarkenton, he's got enough
agility to escape from pressure and make plays out of the pocket.
The Brownie offense has been hit with 2 brutal injuries
since the last Stiller tilt.� Rookie 1st
rounder Braylon Edwards tore up his knee and is out for the rest of the season,
and may not be ready in time for training camp next summer.� After a slow start, Eddie had made some
progress, and this is obviously a big loss to the Clev passing attack.
Center Jeff Faine tore an arm muscle last week and is lost
for the season.� Faine isn't a Jim
Langer, but he's a solid center.�
Filling in for Faine will be Mike Fucillo, a 7th round pick by Buff in
2002.� Besides not being terribly
talented, Fucillo is entirely too tall, at 6'4", for the task at hand, and
now he has the unenviable job of trying to stave off Casey Hampton.� You saw what Hampton did to Minnesota's
backup center last week, blowing the poor chump 3 yards off the ball and
forcing a safety, so you can imagine how ugly this will be unless Clev uses a
guard to help out on any and all ground plays.�
Even with Faine in the lineup, Clev would have had a difficult time
running the ball, but without Faine, Clev might just as well be better off
going to a 3 or 4 wide set and flinging the pig on most downs.�
In the last tilt, TE Steve "Eric" Heiden was
basically ignored, grabbing 1 pass for 0 yards.� Heiden is a solid possession receiver, and with a youngster like
Frye at the helm, I'd look for Clev to work a lot of dumpoffs to Heiden and
fellow TE Aaron Shea, as well as to RB Ruben Droughns, who has had a nice
season snaring the ball out of the backfield.�
�
* When the Stillers have the ball, not much
has changed since the last scrum between these 2 rivals.� Obviously, Batch-Maddox did the QB chores in
that game; this time it'll be BenRoth at the helm.�
The weakness of this Clev 3-4 defense, which I'm sure HC
Romeo Crennel will address in the offseason, is in its LB corps.� Andra Davis is a stud, but he's surrounded
by 3 borderline starters that would most likely be riding the pine in other
cities.� Fellow ILB Ben Taylor is a
tough, gritty 'backer out of Va Tech, kind of in the Jerry Olsavsky mold.� Like Jerry O, however, Taylor is small (6'2",
240) and slow.� At one OLB spot is Matt
Stewart, another small LB (6'4", 235) out of Vandy that has little
redeeming value.� Chaun Thompson mans
the other OLB spot.� Reached for in the
2nd round a few years ago out of West TX A & M, Tommie has never blossomed
like Butch Davis and company presumed he would, and at 6'2", 240, he's barely
more than just another guy.�
The key matchup will be the Clev secondary on WR
Hines Ward.� Hinesie ate the Brownies
alive in the last game, grabbing 8 passes for 124 yards and 1 TD.� Perhaps Crennel will go vanilla and go with
what he used last time, or maybe he'll throw caution to the wind and put some
press coverage on Ward and force BenRoth to look for other options.� Aside from TE Heath Miller, the Stillers'
other receivers haven't exactly torn up the league since very early in the
season.�
* Synopsis: Going into the Minn game, my
concern wasn't with the Dykings; it was this game up in Cleveland.� The Dykes were a paper tiger and showed
little intensity.� Crennel, to his
credit, has this Clev team playing hard and tough.� 3 weeks ago, they succumbed to Jax by a mere 6 points, and 2
weeks ago gave the Bengals fits in Cincinnati before losing by 3.� In fact, early in the season, they lost to
the Colts, 13-7, in a tough battle.� Last
week, in a game the Davis/Palmer Browns would have mailed in days ahead of
time, the Browns went to Oakland and beat the Raidas.� For the Clev team and its fans, beating the Stillers is their Sup
Bowl, and they'll be plenty fired up on Saturday.� The Stillers haven't handled road adversity all that well; they
squeaked by Diego and lost at Balt and at Indy.� The Stiller coaches and players have said all the right stuff
this week, about how much they respect and admire the Browns, blah blah
blah.�� I have concerns about this team
keeping up its intensity and showing moxie in a tough road venue while under duress,
and those concerns are enough that Clev will eke out a 22-19 win in the mud of the
Dawg Pound. �