AFC North
Browns Buzz - Oh no, not again
By Andy Rioux
Sep 17, 2006, 08:06

From Parma to Painesville, and from Strongsville to Solon, Northeastern Ohio fans were eagerly anticipating opening day for the Browns. Maybe this would finally be the year Cleveland would break through and gain some respect.

Instead, after a dreadful opening day that saw the Browns lose at home to the New Orleans Saints, many fans in the greater Cleveland region are probably asking a different question.

When is opening night for the Cavaliers?

Cleveland's troubles began in preseason when all-pro center LeCharles Bentley was lost for the season. However, the rest of the line was upgraded, and after numerous auditions the center position looked to be stabilized with solid veteran Hank Fraley coming over from Philadelphia. The Saints, despite adding Reggie Bush and Drew Brees, weren't expected to come in and beat the Browns on opening day.

But they did, as a Lake Erie tidal wave of turnovers and sacks doomed the Browns. Not to mention a less-than-stellar run defense and somewhat questionable offensive play calling.

Now, they must travel to Cincinnati. The Browns haven't beaten the Bengals since the first part of the 2004 season, but in their last three losses they have at least been reasonably competitive with their instate rivals. Last December in the Queen City only a last second field goal from Shayne Graham enabled the Bengals to escape with a victory.

The Browns still have some players capable of helping EF owners. It's time to evaluate what happened in Week One and offer some thoughts on the coming week:

QB Charlie Frye has value as at least a back-up QB. If the offensive line doesn't improve Frye may wind up on the sidelines, but until then he should be somewhat productive. He has chemistry with Kellen Winslow and he has proven he's a good scrambler. He produced a touchdown run and a TD pass to Winslow. He also connected with Braylon Edwards on a big play that was called back by a penalty. Frye made some mistakes, but overall the Browns continue to seem comfortable with him as the starter. You don't have to worry about Frye getting benched, especially when the bullpen consists of Ken Dorsey and Derek Anderson.

On the other hand, RB Reuben Droughns was benched at numerous stages of Sunday's game with the Saints, and if you have Droughns you have to have some questions and some frustration after Sunday. Droughns was only given the ball 11 times. He didn't make the most of a lot of those carries, but most backs get better with work. Look at how Minnesota utilized Chester Taylor on Monday. Even with a better line, Taylor still had a lot of short gains until the fourth quarter. It was one thing to take out Droughns in passing situations for shifty rookie Jerome Harrison, it was another to pull him for Lawrence Vickers in short yardage mode. Droughns rushed for over a thousand yards the past couple of seasons and he's being taken out for a rookie fullback?

Kellen Winslow looks like the real deal and could definitely offer some nice numbers to EF owners. Braylon Edwards had the touchdown catch that was called back by a penalty, but he also tipped a pass late in the game that led to a New Orleans interception that sealed the fate of the Browns. Edwards should have some productive days this season. Joe Jurevicius will miss time with a rib injury, leading to more playing time for Dennis "Butterfingers" Northcutt and Joshua Cribbs. Neither one of those guys should be on your squads, unless you go back to 1980 in a time machine and remember that Cribbs was a pretty good running back for the Buffalo Bills. Wait, that was Joe Cribbs.

On defense, Andra Davis led the team with 9 solo tackles and second round draft pick D'Qwell Jackson was next in line with 7 solo stops. Both backers look like good plays again this week with Cincinnati likely to give a healthy dose of carries to Rudi Johnson after Deuce McAllister and Reggie Bush both ran well against Cleveland in week one.

Leigh Bodden, Gary Baxter, Brian Russell, and Sean Jones all made some contributions in week one. Against Cincinnati this quartet of defensive backs could again make some plays, either stopping Rudi after he breaks lose or trying to keep Chad Johnson from celebrating.

At this point, there are lots of decent plays on the Browns defense, because they'll likely be on the field quite a bit. On offense, Winslow may be the only Brown that's a must play every week.

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