Quietly Confident

Finally it has hit me. The NFL season is getting closer and closer and I am getting excited and ready for the new campaign. It's been months since I've paid much attention to my beloved Browns but its too hard to resist now. Pre-season is in full flow and the Browns impressed last week in Green Bay, so I'm looking for more of the same this Saturday against the Rams.

I was very uneasy about the signing of Jake Delhomme earlier this year and I know its early, but he looked very good against the Packers. I realise its just pre-season, but Jake did well to put some of the worries to rest that we Browns fans have about him. His first drive was fantastic, flashes of the Jake of old in evidence. Delhomme spread the ball well to his receivers, with Massaquoi making a couple of nice grabs and a wide open Evan Moore (who seems to catch everything) getting a quick 17 yard gain. To top off the drive, Jerome Harrison punched in from 4 yards for our first touchdown of the game. But like I said it is far too early to tell how Jake is going to pan out in a Cleveland uniform. Let's wait and see what happens when he throws his first interception - I'm hoping we don't see a return of the 2009 Delhomme, who never recovered from his mistakes and became a massive liability to Carolina's offense. However, he has another opportunity to impress against the lowly Rams on Saturday and I'm optimistic about his chances.

Another QB who impressed last weekend was Seneca Wallace, our backup QB acquired from Seattle. The playmaker was exciting to watch, and looks a dangerous tool in our offensive plans for this season. I'm excited to see what Wallace and Cribbs can do when they are on the field at the same time. Seneca left the game with 72 yards and 2 touchdowns, one a laser to Brian Robiskie in the back of the endzone, and the other a pass down the middle for new tight end Ben Watson. Exciting stuff for the Brownies.

Anyway this wasn't meant to be a game analysis of last week, just a quick piece on my Browns and the expectations we have this year. Confidence is increasing, but realistically the Browns are still a major work in progress, especially on defense, where Aaron Rodgers had his way with our secondary (although this might be a sign of how immense Rodgers is rather than how good our defense happens to be). I'm hoping I'll be able to watch some of the Rams game on Saturday night, at least staying up to watch the starters.

Thanks for reading.