Key(s) to Victory: Week 1 Dallas Cowboys
Source: mvn.com
Like Smooth wrote a little bit ago, the 2008 regular season is finally here. It is now time to see how accurate our excitement and expectations are for the Browns this season. What makes week 1 even more intriguing is that it features one of the Browns’ biggest tests in the brutal 2008 campaign. The Cowboys are an established Superbowl contender and certainly have the talent to back it up. The Browns on the other hand, as we all know, are an up and coming Superbowl contender that has most of the talent to back that up.
So what it is then that is the difference between these two potential playoff teams, you ask. The answer is fairly simple, injuries. The Browns completed a sub-par pre-season due mainly to key injuries and have little game experience as a complete unit this season. This leads to the most general influence of the injuries and that is on the readiness of the team as a whole.
This is seen most on the offensive end with the absence of QB Derek Anderson, RBs Jamal Lewis and Lawrence Vickers, and WR Braylon Edwards for the majority of the pre-season. It will be key for the Browns to be crisp against the strong defense of the Cowboys if they intend to score enough to stay in the game. This will be seen mainly in the passing game with the timing and continuity between DA and the receivers. With the injury to Braylon and the addition of Stallworth, DA will have some quick catching up to do in order to be effective against the Dallas D.
On the defensive end this will again be seen in the passing game. Three key players to the Browns pass D either have been or are currently affected by injuries. First, up front for the Browns, Corey Williams spent a good deal of his first Browns training camp on the sidelines. This is not a long term problem as far as his physical performance or durability, but in the development time he lost early on in the Browns system.
Williams has played DT in a 4-3 type defense almost exclusively during his career. However, upon arriving in Cleveland he was forced to move to the outside and learn to play DE in Romeo Crennel’s 3-4 D. I am not one to make a huge deal of this sort of thing as great athletes will usually make big plays no matter how they are used, but with the expectations on the rebuilt d-line nothing too small can be discounted.
Another, much greater loss, is the injury to Antwan Peek. It would have been a similar issue to Corey Williams had he only missed the pre-season and played on Sunday. However, Peek was injured again this week and is out for the season. On the surface losing the 5th linebacker is not usually the end of the world. Although upon further review no one will miss Peek more than his opposite, Kamerion Wimbley. Peek is an effective rush end and forces defenses from focusing exclusively on defending Wimbley, something that undoubtedly limited him to 5 sacks all of last season.
The burden will now likely fall into the hands of talented rookie LB Alex Hall. Hall was a DE in college and has shown much promise this pre-season as a pass rusher. If he is able to step up and accept the challenge, the Browns could be better off both now and in the future.
The final injury concern for the pass defense is the concussion to FS Brodney Pool last month. It is still uncertain whether or not he will be suited up for tomorrow’s game, leading to the potential for an even shallower defensive backfield against the Cowboys. It will be imperative for the FS, whoever it is, to provide effective support to Brandon McDonald in an attempt to contain TO. It is unclear who is more effective, Mike Adams or a rusty/injured Brodney Pool, but one thing is clear and that is that I would much rather have a healthy Pool.
To recap the Browns’ pass rush will be somewhat limited due to the early injury to Corey Williams and the season ending one to Peek. Also, the concussion to Pool could leave the help coverage a bit lacking against TO and the Dallas Cowboys passing attack.
The final key area affected by injuries is the running game. RB Jamal Lewis will reportedly be a game time decision and he along with FB Lawrence Vickers have missed considerable time this pre-season. Beyond that we will also likely be without either of the two potential starting right guards in Rex Hadnot and Ryan Tucker who like Lewis will be game time decisions. If the Browns are going to be able to control the game on Sunday they will have to do it on the ground. The talent is certainly there for this to happen, but it is unlikely to what degree the injuries will affect that talent.
So there you have it. The key to tomorrow’s game against the Cowboys is the performance or even appearance of the many key players that have been injured so far the pre-season. However, as you can see it is certainly not as easy an answer as it seems.
In the end if the Browns’ get what they can from their key players this should be all its cracked up to be and a potentially thrilling game. But at the same time a weak performance from the key injured players and this could be a long afternoon for the 2008 Cleveland Browns.
Like Smooth wrote a little bit ago, the 2008 regular season is finally here. It is now time to see how accurate our excitement and expectations are for the Browns this season. What makes week 1 even more intriguing is that it features one of the Browns’ biggest tests in the brutal 2008 campaign. The Cowboys are an established Superbowl contender and certainly have the talent to back it up. The Browns on the other hand, as we all know, are an up and coming Superbowl contender that has most of the talent to back that up.
So what it is then that is the difference between these two potential playoff teams, you ask. The answer is fairly simple, injuries. The Browns completed a sub-par pre-season due mainly to key injuries and have little game experience as a complete unit this season. This leads to the most general influence of the injuries and that is on the readiness of the team as a whole.
This is seen most on the offensive end with the absence of QB Derek Anderson, RBs Jamal Lewis and Lawrence Vickers, and WR Braylon Edwards for the majority of the pre-season. It will be key for the Browns to be crisp against the strong defense of the Cowboys if they intend to score enough to stay in the game. This will be seen mainly in the passing game with the timing and continuity between DA and the receivers. With the injury to Braylon and the addition of Stallworth, DA will have some quick catching up to do in order to be effective against the Dallas D.
On the defensive end this will again be seen in the passing game. Three key players to the Browns pass D either have been or are currently affected by injuries. First, up front for the Browns, Corey Williams spent a good deal of his first Browns training camp on the sidelines. This is not a long term problem as far as his physical performance or durability, but in the development time he lost early on in the Browns system.
Williams has played DT in a 4-3 type defense almost exclusively during his career. However, upon arriving in Cleveland he was forced to move to the outside and learn to play DE in Romeo Crennel’s 3-4 D. I am not one to make a huge deal of this sort of thing as great athletes will usually make big plays no matter how they are used, but with the expectations on the rebuilt d-line nothing too small can be discounted.
Another, much greater loss, is the injury to Antwan Peek. It would have been a similar issue to Corey Williams had he only missed the pre-season and played on Sunday. However, Peek was injured again this week and is out for the season. On the surface losing the 5th linebacker is not usually the end of the world. Although upon further review no one will miss Peek more than his opposite, Kamerion Wimbley. Peek is an effective rush end and forces defenses from focusing exclusively on defending Wimbley, something that undoubtedly limited him to 5 sacks all of last season.
The burden will now likely fall into the hands of talented rookie LB Alex Hall. Hall was a DE in college and has shown much promise this pre-season as a pass rusher. If he is able to step up and accept the challenge, the Browns could be better off both now and in the future.
The final injury concern for the pass defense is the concussion to FS Brodney Pool last month. It is still uncertain whether or not he will be suited up for tomorrow’s game, leading to the potential for an even shallower defensive backfield against the Cowboys. It will be imperative for the FS, whoever it is, to provide effective support to Brandon McDonald in an attempt to contain TO. It is unclear who is more effective, Mike Adams or a rusty/injured Brodney Pool, but one thing is clear and that is that I would much rather have a healthy Pool.
To recap the Browns’ pass rush will be somewhat limited due to the early injury to Corey Williams and the season ending one to Peek. Also, the concussion to Pool could leave the help coverage a bit lacking against TO and the Dallas Cowboys passing attack.
The final key area affected by injuries is the running game. RB Jamal Lewis will reportedly be a game time decision and he along with FB Lawrence Vickers have missed considerable time this pre-season. Beyond that we will also likely be without either of the two potential starting right guards in Rex Hadnot and Ryan Tucker who like Lewis will be game time decisions. If the Browns are going to be able to control the game on Sunday they will have to do it on the ground. The talent is certainly there for this to happen, but it is unlikely to what degree the injuries will affect that talent.
So there you have it. The key to tomorrow’s game against the Cowboys is the performance or even appearance of the many key players that have been injured so far the pre-season. However, as you can see it is certainly not as easy an answer as it seems.
In the end if the Browns’ get what they can from their key players this should be all its cracked up to be and a potentially thrilling game. But at the same time a weak performance from the key injured players and this could be a long afternoon for the 2008 Cleveland Browns.
posted by The Gryphon at 9:37 AM
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