#Browns Preview 10.23.15: Cleveland Browns @ St. Louis #Rams

By @mrgroce

Fresh off a disappointing 26-23 loss to the Denver Broncos, the Cleveland Browns travel to St.Louis to take on the Rams who are coming off of their bye week. The Browns found every way possible to lose this game and midway through overtime accomplished their mission. Questionable coaching decisions, bad defense, and terrible QB play eventually killed the Browns chances of pulling off one of the biggest upsets of the young season. Peyton Manning struggled for most of the game, but Denver realized they were facing the worst run defense in the NFL and decided to hand the ball off for the rest of the overtime and finished the Browns off with a field goal. 

That same run defense must now prepare to face one of the newest studs in the league, running back Todd Gurley. I'm a little biased here because Gurley was my favorite player coming out of college in this year's draft. After missing all of training camp, preseason and the first two games of the year Gurley has gained over 300 yards in the two games he has started this season. The Browns coaching staff has heard all season long how bad the run D is, so I'm sure they have been stressing to the players to not allow themselves to get embarrassed by a rookie. The Rams only average 309 yards per game and have the second worst passing attack gaining only 183 receiving yards per game. QB Nick Foles has one of the worst passing ratings in the league only registering a lowly 77.6 per game. WR Tavon Austin is questionable for this week's game and WR Kenny Britt only has 183 yards all season. Stopping the run seems to be the recipe for victory for the Browns this week. 

Browns QB Josh McCown has shown why he's not a franchise quarterback while at the same time allowing us to see how he has stayed in the league for 12 years. When he's on he hits everything in sight, but when he's off he is absolutely terrible. The Rams have one of the top defensive lines in football. They have 19 sacks in only five games. WR Travis Benjamin and TE Gary Barnidge had big games last week and seem to be the most targeted options for McCown. If Cleveland could get a consistent run attack this offense could be dare I say, dangerous. Before the season started the number one question Browns fans asked were "where will the points come from"? Who would've imagined the Browns would be the 6th best scoring team in the NFL averaging 23 points per game? Running back Robert Turbin who made his Browns debut carried the ball ten times for 27 yards. Isaiah Crowell had 32 yards rushing and Duke Johnson finished with 38 yards rushing. The offensive line hasn't played the way everyone expected this year, but I can't blame them for the run game being this dismal. It's time for one of the three backs to step up and take over the lead rusher position and carry this offense on their back. 

The Rams have beaten the Seahawks and Cardinals, but have lost to the Redskins and Steelers (minus Ben). Seems like they play to the level of their competition which is great news for the Browns. Two average teams with average quarterbacks means this one will come down to turnovers and who commits fewer untimely penalties. If I was to use that logic I'd have to go with the Rams, but Cleveland knows that a loss here which would drop them to 2-5 will pretty much end their season. That level of desperation has me thinking that the Browns will find a way to pull this one out 27-17. 


What: Cleveland Browns (2-4) at St.Louis Rams (2-3)
When: Sunday Oct. 25 1:00 PM
Where: Edward Jones Dome St.Louis
TV/Radio: CBS, WKNR 850 Cleveland, WKRK 92.3 The Fan, WNCX 98.5

Leadoff with Lee 3.11.15 #NFLFreeAgency #Cavs #LeBron

By @cleeverizon

Move over Cedar Point, the NFL was America's roller coast yesterday. This was the most active first day of free agency that I have ever seen. We had trades,players retiring and unexpected signings. All I have to say in the morning is "Ya betta have my donuts." Here we go:

-The blockbuster of the day came when the Eagles traded Nick Foles, a 4th round pick in 2015 and a 2nd round pick in 2016 for St. Louis Rams QB Sam Bradford and 5th round draft pick in 2015. Here's the kicker, The Eagles will surrender a 2016 2nd-round pick to Rams in the trade no matter what. But will get back a conditional 2016 pick from the Rams. It will be a 3rd if Bradford does not play at all and a 4th if he starts less than 50 percent of plays.

- Here is the other blockbuster trade of the day: the Ravens traded their multiple time pro bowl, star lineman Haloti Ngata and 7th-round pick to Detroit for a 4th and 5th round pick in 2016. Nice steal for Detroit.

- Blockbuster trade number 3. Seattle Seahawks trade C Max Unger and a 2015 1st-round draft pick to Saints for pro bowl star tight end Jimmy Graham and a 2015 4th-rd draft pick.

- The Kansas City Chiefs signed SS Tyvon Branch to a one-year, $2 million contract. The Chiefs will release WR Dwayne Bowe today.

- The New York Jets signed Buster Skrine to a four-year,$25 million contract, including $13 million in guaranteed. But it didn't stop there. Cornerback Darrelle Revis signed a 5 year year deal worth $70M, $39M fully guaranteed. He gets $33M in first two years, and $48M in first three. WoW! They also released receiver Percy Harvin.

-The Colts signed running back Frank Gore to a 3 year deal with $7.5 million over the first two years. They also brought in former Houston Texans wide out Andre Johnson and re-signed S Mike Adams to a 2-year deal. Along with those moves, Trent Cole signed a two-year deal with the Colts for $14M, $8M guaranteed  $2M signing bonus, $3.75M 2015 roster bonus, $2M 2016 roster bonus; salaries $2M (guaranteed), $4.25M; $1M incentive.

- The Carolina Panthers released RB DeAngelo Williams.

- Linebacker AJ Hawk signed with his favorite childhood team, the Cincinnati Bengals.

- The Denver Broncos signed tight end Owen Daniels to replace Julius Thomas, who agreed to a deal with Jacksonville earlier in the week.

- The San Francisco 49ers signed former Ravens receiver Torrey Smith to a five-year, $40 million contract.

- The Raiders signed ex-Seahawks linebacker and Super Bowl XLVIII MVP Malcolm Smith. Oakland also signed running back Roy Helu, formerly of Washington.

- The Tennessee Titans signed former Falcons receiver Harry Douglas.

- The Cardinals signed linebacker LaMarr Woodley.

- Tennessee Titans free agent QB Jake Locker shockingly retired after only 4 years in the league. Locker, 26, was the eighth overall pick in the 2011 draft, but suffered from injuries and inconsistencies in his time with the Titans. Locker was expected to be one of the top free agent quarterbacks available this offseason.

- San Francisco 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis retired after 9 years due to health concerns with feet, along wanting to leave the game on his own terms.

- Steelers free agent linebacker Jason Worilds has also decided to step away from playing football, announcing his decision via a series of tweets on Twitter. Worilds, 27, had 15 sacks the past two seasons in Pittsburgh and was expected to get offers up to $15 million in guaranteed money.

- Lastly, the Cavaliers went down to Dallas and hung the biggest home loss of the season on the Mavericks, smashing them 127-94. LeBron James led the Cavs with 27 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists. This was the third time this season that all five Cavaliers starters scored at least 17 points, with James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love and JR Smith all above 20 points. Timofey Mozgov had 17. On the Mavs side, Monta Ellis had 17 points while Dirk Nowitzki struggled with 13 points on 3/10 shooting. In the game, LeBron James also became the team's all time assist leader, passing Mark Price. The Cavs have off tonight while they prepare for their TNT nationally televised game versus the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday. Tip off will be at 9:30 pm.