Our day will come Denver...someday. (AP)
Saturday the Browns will kick off their third preseason game in Denver to take on the Broncos. Oh, the fond memories. It really seems like yesterday that living nightmare simply known as “
The Fumble” took place in that city (thank you very much NFL Films for not letting us Clevelanders ever forget!). Thankfully, the third installment of the Denver AFC Championship game trilogy was such a blowout that it didn’t earn a catchy nickname to help preserve our painful memories.
Why am I even going there you wonder? I guess part of me wonders if Denver even cares about what they’ve done to us. Are they more concerned with their even more embarrassing Super Bowl blowout losses in the 80’s than when they just used us for such opportunities? Doesn’t the city of Denver realize Cleveland has been stewing like a betrayed Glenn Close from the movie
Fatal Attraction now for over two decades now?
Denver, we will not be ignored!
At least some karma
finally kicked in four years ago when we won the LeBron James lottery while you got stuck with Carmelo Anthony. Sure, ‘Melo is a great scorer, but so were Dominique Wilkins and Bernard King. Did they ever win anything, much less a conference title? I didn’t think so.
Then again, football is the sport that really matters in this town, so the skirmish must continue.
ANYWAY, there is a football game going on. I suppose I will mention it for the sake of the blog. However, I must mention this is usually the game in which the starters play for the entire first half of the game before resting the fourth week. In other words, this game could be ugly to watch for Browns fans.
A few things I’ll be looking out for:1. More QB confusion. I don’t know if anyone has talked about this at all lately, but the Browns have a dar humdinger of a competition going on. Is Saturday finally the night someone finally backs into the luxurious task of “keeping the seat warm” for Brady Quinn until he’s ready? Based on what we’ve seen so far, I doubt it.
2. Secondary will be tested. Jay Cutler is the first passer the Browns will face so far that can legitimately stretch the field with his passing ability. It will be interesting to see how the Browns react if Broncos coach Mike Shannahan really decide to test them.
3. Run Defense? With or without Travis Henry, the Broncos seem to always run the ball well no matter who is in the backfield. It will be interesting to see what kind of fight the Browns defensive line can put up against Denver’s zone blocking scheme.
Prediction: Denver 24 – Cleveland 16
To tell the truth, I really don’t care about the score in preseason. I just post it for the chicks. A moral victory would be there if the first team offense can actually manage a passing touchdown…a first in the preseason.
Read the complete post at http://kidcleveland.blogspot.com/2007/08/browns-vs-broncos-tailgate-talk.html