Last Sunday afternoon’s Indians-Kansas City game drew a solid 8.4 rating on FSN Ohio – yet it nearly was tripled in the local ratings by the Browns-Indianapolis contest, being played at the same time. The Browns game drew a 23 rating on Channel 19.
When the Browns finally do contend again, it will make Tribe fever look like a mild sniffle.
So what should the Browns do in their bye week? Here’s a to-do list.
1. Get ready for the Bears Oct. 9. Nothing would make the bye week look productive more than beating the Bears. These guys are totally beatable, in fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Browns end up being favored. We got ’em here in Cleveland, we should beat ’em.
2. Focus on defense. The Browns gave up an average of 403 yards a game in the first 3, good enough for dead last in the AFC. The team has 3 total sacks in three games. Much is made of Peyton Manning being shut down last Sunday, but I don’t buy it. Carson Palmer torched us in the Bengals game. Brett Favre moved the ball in crunch time with ease. We are still, as usual, very vulnerable to the run, giving up 125 yards a game.
3. Run blocking. The offensive line has only allowed 4 sacks in three games, all of them on Sunday vs. the Colts. But the run blocking is no where near as good. The team averages 75 yards rushing a game, which is half the AFC leading San Diego chargers. It’s probably why Indy got the sacks…no real need to respect the run.
4. Fine tune a very good passing game. Really. Believe it or not, this team ranks higher than the Bengals in passing offense in the AFC – we’re fourth in the league with 274 yards passing per game. Trent Dilfer is having a very good start to the season. They need to work Braylon Edwards into the offense a bit more, and a bye week is a good chance for him to make up for that hold out.
5. Get ready for the Bears. Again. Winning fixes everything.
An unnamed scout or player personnel director at ESPN warns Len Pasquarelli…
“The Browns need to keep [veteran wide receiver] Antonio Bryant away from the kid, [first-round wideout] Braylon Edwards. Bryant has become a good player but he’s still immature and he and Edwards both drew [taunting] flags Sunday that really hurt the offense. If Bryant ever grows up, he could be a good player, but he does [stupid] stuff, and you don’t want it rubbing off on Edwards, believe me.”
Oh, so THAT’S why both of them acted like ASSES yesterday. This is so NOT Crennel’s style, and if I were those two guys, I’d be avoiding Romeo right about now.
Tribe loses because Grady Sizemore loses a ball in the sun in the 9th. Browns lose. Terrible way to start the week.
FINAL – Colts 13, Browns 6. TIM’s TAKE? Tough loss. Browns were right there every step of the way, but outclassed in the end, and got some raw deals from the officials. Nice play calling on offense again, on defense, we desperately miss a pass rush. Solid play from Dilfer. Droughns looked solid, too. Hard to complain about this loss. See the liveblog below.
© 2026 Cleveland Teams at ClevelandTeams.com
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑