Are You Drinking the Kool Aid Again?
Oct 28, 2008
Author: DawgBones.com

The 2008 season continues its strange course for the Cleveland Browns. After their hard fought win in Jacksonville this past Sunday the Browns are now 3-4 with a chance to get back to .500 with a win at home Sunday. Too many that don't watch the team regularly that may not seems like a big deal, but this is a team that was left for dead after starting the year 0-3.

Many Browns fans had began drinking the kool aid many months before the season even started. The team went 10-6 in 2007 and looked ready to make the next step which would include a 2008 playoff birth. Even the NFL and the networks began drinking the kool aid as they scheduled five prime time games for the Browns in 2008.

After the teams slow start many were no longer drinking the kool aid, hell they weren't even holding the glass. Some how the Browns have rallied back and done so in impressive style. In their last four games the team is 3-1 and could very easily have beaten the Washington Redskins as well, the only team they have lost to in over a month.

The teams list of wins over the past month is very impressive. Two of their wins came on the road, which in and of itself is no small task, one of those against a 2007 playoff team in the Jaguars. The other win was at home under the bright lights and big stage of Monday night football against the once beaten New York Giants. The Giants one loss came at the hands of these same Browns.

So with a win at home Sunday against the Ravens the Browns are squarely back into the playoff picture and very much alive in the hunt for the AFC North title. A win would get fans and media alike lifting their glasses once again and sipping the kool aid they had put down not all that long ago.

So what has changed in a month?

The first thing you can point your finger at or raise your glass to is the defense. They have become one of the stingiest in the NFL in giving up points. In their last four games the Browns have yielded just 12, 14, 14 and 17 points. Much of that can be attributed to the play of DT Shaun Rogers and the Browns secondary. Rogers has been exactly what the Browns hoped he would be, a dominant nose tackle that eats blockers and sacks quarterbacks. The scary thing for opponents is Rogers has only played in seven games in the 3-4 scheme and looks to be getting better every game. The young duo of Eric Wright and Brandon McDonald have become very solid cornerbacks and have complemented a quartet of safety's in Sean Jones, Mike Adams, Brodney Pool and Nick Sorenson as defensive playmakers.

Offensively the team has made more of a commitment to run the ball with future Hall of Famer Jamal Lewis. In the past four games he has carried the ball 85 times and amassed 328 yards and two touchdowns. Not coincidentally the team has also scored 22 point per game in that stretch. Lewis is 4th in the AFC in rushing yards through seven games.

With Lewis running the ball so effectively the load on QB Derek Anderson has been reduced and he has played better. Anderson has not thrown an interception in over 100 pass attempts and the team has not had a turnover in the past three games. The offensive line has only given up three sacks in the last four games as well.

So with all things pointing north are you ready to pick up your glass again? If you never put it down are you ready to start drinking again? If you have been drinking all along are you ready to start guzzling? Clearly the Browns are playing better and with a win Sunday it may just be time to pick up those glasses and do a toast because the season will be renewed again and the 0-3 start will be mostly forgotten.

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