It’s a great time to be a sports fan in Cleveland (unless you’re LeBron James shifting uncomfortably in your Jacobs Field seat while your “favorite team” gets smoked by the Indians).
The Indians are two wins away from the ALCS, the Cavaliers are prepping for their season after spending last June in the NBA Finals, and Romeo Crennel may have saved his job thanks to the Tom Brady-like emergence of one Derek Anderson.
It’s swell that the Browns are 2-2, and coming off a demolition of the Baltimore Ravens, a team that apparently isn’t nearly as good as we all thought. It’s nice to see Crennel finally finding a bit of success in his first head coaching gig and even nicer not to hear Browns fans whine about Brady Quinn’s playing status.
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So, Anderson hasn’t exactly taken the NFL by storm, but he does have nine touchdown passes in a season in which Charlie Frye lined up behind center in Cleveland’s first game of the season. Behind him, the Browns convincingly beat the Ravens, got into a slug-fest with the Bengals, and lost to the Raiders only on a missed field goal attempt. They could end up going 8-8, and in the AFC where the Patriots and Colts could very well be a combined 28-4, that might be good enough for a postseason berth.
That’s all good news for Cleveland. As is the fact that the Indians and Yankees play at 6:30 on Sunday night, which should at least help take some of the sting away from the destruction scheduled for 1 p.m. at Foxborough.
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Because like ESPN’s Emmitt Smith says, the Patriots are a very good “golf club.”
Our roundup of how writers around the country are picking Sunday’s Patriots-Browns contest:
Jim McCabe, Boston Globe: Patriots. “Rest assured, you’ll have pregame and postgame handshakes between these head coaches.”
Boston Globe: Only Jim McBride picks the Browns to cover the 16-1/2-point spread.
Peter King, Sports Illustrated: Patriots 38, Browns 14. “HBO poohbah Jason Cohen, the biggest Browns fan east of Steubenville, e-mailed me excitedly the other day, talking smack about the Browns having a chance this week. I agree — but only if Tom and Gisele spend the weekend in Bora Bora and Randy Moss gets lost on I-495 on the way to the game.”
Mike Tanier, Football Outsiders.com: Patriots. “Trying to analyze the Patriots right now is like trying to precisely explain and classify the pain of getting hit in the skull with an aluminum bat. It’s futile and pointless. Bottom line, the bat hurts bad. Bottom line, the Patriots kick butt. Tune in when they face the Cowboys. Then we’ll get all scientific. “
Pete Prisco, CBS Sports.com: Patriots 28, Browns 21: “The Browns are playing well, but the Patriots are on another level. Even so, don’t you think the Pats will be looking ahead to Dallas a little? The Browns will hang around.”
Jeff Zillgitt, USA Today: Patriots 34, Browns 17. “Not sure a Pro Bowl team can beat the Patriots right now. So while the Browns have been an early surprise with victories over preseason AFC North contenders Baltimore and Cincinnati, going to New England and winning is not foreseeable.”
King Kaufman, Salon.com: Browns. “By a 3-2 vote of the executive committee, the International What the Heck™ Society has ruled that it’s early enough in the season for the Browns to be eligible as a What the Heck™ Pick of the week despite their .500 record.”
Gerry Dulac, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Patriots, 34-14. “The Browns would really be convincing if they beat the Patriots. But you can’t beat the way Tom Brady is throwing.”
Joel Magarci, Newark Star-Ledger: Patriots. “What to expect: Okay, this is too easy. The Patriots are just too good. Something has to give. Maybe Randy Moss will get bored with the lack of competition and take a few plays off. Maybe Tom Brady will have another baby crisis. It’s getting ridiculous. We know Bill Belichick’s favorite Christmas show had to be ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas.’ But much like the Grinch, deep, deep, deep down inside, Belichick has a heart. And he couldn’t possibly run up the score on old friend Romeo Crennel, could he?”
Greg Cote, Miami Herald: Patriots 27, Browns 16. “Cleves coach Romeo Crennel and back-from-injury linebacker Willie McGinest face their former Pats for first time, and English will have one eye (at least) on next week’s Armageddon of Unbeatens at Dallas. Won’t spell outright shocker. But Earthtones-with-points a good hunch.”
Our pick: Patriots 44, Browns 21. Apparently Dallas “looms” for the Patriots. Here’s what you need to know about the Cowboys hype: On two different network pregame shows last week, the topic was breached whether Tony Romo might be as good as Troy Aikman or Brett Favre. The man has started 14 games in the NFL. Let’s all relax.
But we can’t wait to see how Belichick makes him look next week.
