For the second time
in 3 years, Browns Offensive Lineman Ross Verba has
torn the tendon in his right bicep and is out for the
year the team announced today. Verba came out in the
first quarter, had an examination and spent the
evening strolling the sidelines in a sling. Once
again, someone, (Barry Stokes, Paul Zukauskas, Melvin
Fowler or Joaquin Gonzalez?) has to step up to the
pump and protect the blind side of one Kelly Holcomb.
If none of these players makes the effort, it could be
a very long year of Browns QB’s picking themselves up
off the turf after every play…if they are able to do
so…
As for Thursday’s
game against the Vick-less Atlanta Falcons, Butch
Davis played Merlin as he opened up a bag of tricks
and sent the Falcons reeling, 20-9. It was the Browns
first victory of the preseason.
Cleveland opened
their first drive with a nifty 68 yd. Flea-Flicker
from Kelly Holcomb to Kevin Johnson. The pass was a
perfectly thrown ball, catching Johnson in full
stride. It was the longest pass of the preseason for
the Browns. Holcomb had a productive, workman-like
performance going 4-6 for 126 yds. in one quarter of
play. The yardage total makes one believe that the
prolific passing Holcomb put up against Pittsburgh in
the playoff game last year might not be fluke-ish.
Tim Couch also had a
good night, throwing for 144yds. on 7/8 passing with a
57 yd. TD pass to Denis Northcutt. The TD toss to
“D-Cutt” was as pretty of a spiral as I’ve ever seen.
Couch also competed a pass to Andre Davis of 32 yds.
Davis was retuning from injury and was seeing his
first action of the season. Couch finished with the
highest possible QB passer rating 138.5.
Of particular note
is that the defense finally came out of their
collective fog and make some solid tackles. Still
conducting a visibly “vanilla” defensive scheme, they
were much more crisp. Certainly, part of the
aggressive nature came due in no small part to the
fact that many were playing for their professional
lives, as the final cuts must be made by Sunday. Both
Courtney Brown and Gerard Warren showed marked
improvement, although Brown still seems a bit
tentative, and the defensive backfield welcomed back
Robert Griffith (broken finger), who had a monster hit
on Atlanta wide out Peerless Price, and played
solidly.
The Browns now have
9 days to prepare for Edjerin James, Marvin Harrison
and the rocket arm of Peyton Manning and the
Indianapolis Colts. The Colts visit Cleveland Browns
stadium for the third time in four years. Last season,
the Browns ran up a 16-0 halftime lead, only to blow
the game in the second half by playing retreat and
prevent on defense, which prevents nothing but gaining
a win. Let’s hope Butch and his staff learned this
lesson and trusts the defense enough to let them stay
aggressive the ENTIRE game. Does anyone recall seeing
the Tampa Bay Buc’s Defense play the prevent at all
last season? No? Me either, and it’s a big reason all
of them will be flashing Super Bowl rings this year.
