A View From the Forest: Browns vs. Jets
Dec 6, 2007
Author: Tree
It was a tough loss last week. Much has been debated about it, stats have been sifted, fingers pointed. None of that matters now. We have a game to play against the J-E-T-S….JETS…JETS…JETS!
I'm not going to get into a lot of stats, or rankings or give you a step by step breakdown on this game. I am merely going to tell you that the Jets have played the AFC North tough. They may be underachieving, but lately they've been a scrappy bunch, and they aren't about to lay down for anyone, let alone the Browns. The lowly Jets, if they play a solid game, can still give you a contest. Ask the Steelers who found themselves going home with a loss after playing the Jets in a 19-16 hard hitting over time contest not more than 3 weeks ago. Ask the Bengals how hard Old Joe Namath's team will play you when they barely escaped humiliation in October by narrowly winning its contest with the Jets 38 to 31.
The Jets are a team in disarray, but they are playing for pride. A lot of their losses were by narrow margins, and turned on small mistakes, often snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Their offense has struggled this year, but of late, has had a slight resurgence when they swapped out Pennington for Clemmons after a 1 and 7 start. Since Clemmons took the helm, the Jets have narrowly lost to Washington in OT, beaten Pittsburgh, and have gone 2-2. Clemmons and the Jets will look to improve on that mark on their home turf this Sunday, and the rowdy fans will be there in full force shirts, blouses or not to cheer them on.
The Browns story has been much different than the New York franchise. No one had expected Cleveland to do much of anything this year. They've surprised a few critics, and their game often consists of a heavy dose of probably the best special teams unit in the NFL, and a sometimes explosive and opportunistic offense. Coming off of a mistake ridden loss that could possibly threaten a potential wild card berth, the Browns will need to bounce back this Sunday to stay in the post season hunt. One look at their season will tell that it's been mainly up and down, like their record, and the play of their QB. It should be noted though that neither Derek Anderson nor his Browns to date have lost back to back games. The Browns have an uncanny ability to pick themselves up after a tough loss or a bad play. Expect nothing different this Sunday.
Derek Anderson will need to bounce back in this game, and I suspect he will in dramatic fashion. The Browns will also take heed to take care of the ball this Sunday more so than they did last week. The Browns haven't faired all that well on road games, so to hedge against that trend we may see more of a rushing attack, and a more simplified offense. The Browns might start out with some more fundamental plays and attempt to build on them to gain momentum, and will attempt to control the ball and the clock as good teams often do late in the season.