Counting On Colt

First things first; I have a confession to make. Unfortunately I haven't been able to keep tabs on my beloved Brownies so far this season, not really. The week 1 game against Tampa Bay... I was in Spain. Every other game since... I've been here in Bath with no internet access for close to a month. I've managed to catch some highlights on friend's laptops, I've followed games on my girlfriend's Blackberry, but it's not been much fun to tell you the truth. I was even able to watch other live games in a pub in town, but not the Browns.

Alas, I have finally arrived into the 21st century with broadband back in my possession, complete with my beautiful yet flawed Cleveland Browns. Let's get you up to speed with what I know so far:

Peyton Hillis. The man is an absolute beast. Despite knowing bugger all about how our season has been going, I made absolutely sure I knew about him. He has been a revelation this year and I love it. I was pretty shocked the other day when I read that Jerome Harrison had been flogged to the Eagles but my worries subsided immediately when I remembered we have a battering, bruiser of a running back with the number 40 emblazoned across his chest (and back). It's clear to all that Hillis is going to be the go-to guy now until Montario Hardesty is ready to start his pro career, which won't be until next year anyway. In fact, with the injuries in Cleveland mounting every day, Hillis has become the focal point of the offense, and is single handedly keeping the Browns in each game they play. Long may Hillis's success continue in Browns Town, I'm still getting over that one handed catch he made last week... stunning.

And that's about it. My 2010 Browns knowledge ends there. I understand our defense has been pretty shoddy (no change there then). I know we beat the Bengals in a close one, and have been pretty competitive in the other games we have lost. But still, any fan hates to see their team sitting at 1-4, and it doesn't make things any better when a trip to Pittsburgh is up next.

I hate the Steelers and I'm not even from Cleveland. I have no affiliation to the city apart from my child-like love for their sports teams, yet, I still despise the Steelers as much as any die hard Browns fan does abroad. I'll never forget our 13-6 victory against them last year; I celebrated that win with as much vigour as I do when Arsenal smash United or Spurs. Plus, it was amazing to see Big Ben get sacked so many times that night... oh how his o-line struggled.

However, eager as I am to see the Browns play, I am not expecting a repeat result from 2009. Our quarterbacks Jake Delhomme and Seneca Wallace are suffering from ankle injuries which means the Colt McCoy era begins ahead of schedule, tomorrow night in Pittsburgh. Our rookie QB is being thrust into the deep end for his professional debut, by facing one of the top defenses in the NFL. Our young Colt was never expected to see much action this season, apart from holding a clipboard on the sidelines in an effort to learn the professional game, but things change quickly in the pro's and Colt will have to adapt quickly It's going to be some task for him to guide the team to a victory but stranger things have happened. Look at Max Hall last weekend, who made his first NFL start in an upset win for the Cardinals over the reigning champs Saints. Who saw that one coming?

So we're all counting on Colt now, and I wish him the best of luck in tomorrow's contest; he's gonna need it. Our offensive players can help him out by playing out of their skins, and our defense can help by not giving him such a mountain to climb. Here's hoping anyway.

My next post will likely be on Wednesday, where I'll write something about Arsenal's Champions League game against Shakhtar Donetsk. I'm hoping I can get to the pub Tuesday night for that one. I missed the Gunner's comeback win against Birmingham today as I was at work, so I'm not really in the position to comment on their performance and victory.

Thanks for reading.

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.

Delhomme signs 2 year deal...

Jake Delhomme decided to pounce on the Browns offer, which effectively ends Brady Quinn's career in Cleveland. Of course nothing is certain, Quinn is still a Browns player and is technically still in contention to start come next season. But things don't look good with the signing of Delhomme, who I'm sure has been promised the starting role for the 2010 season.

There is a lot of negativity concerning the signing of Delhomme, which is not unexpected considering his miserable performances last year. The problem I have is that he looked very much like the bad side of Derek Anderson (the interception machine he has become). Delhomme is 35 years old and in obvious decline, which doesn't bode well for Browns fans. I just hope he can get back some of his old magic that made him a success in Carolina, and revive his career.