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Bengals 30 at Browns 0 (F)

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Canton

Shooting blanks in Battle of Ohio
Sunday, November 26, 2006
By STEVE DOERSCHUK


CLEVELAND It didn?t take the ?Battle of Ohio? long to resume its time-honored status as the Mr. Irrelevant of NFL rivalries.
The 5-5 Bengals, as likely to reach the Super Bowl in Miami as Jeff Garcia is to be mayor of Cleveland, limp in for a fight against the 3-7 Browns.
During a stroll amid Bengals tailgaters in September, fans were unanimous in saying nothing less than a run to the AFC final would do.
Who was Cincinnati kidding?
The Bengals are in a 2-5 skid. Head Coach Marvin Lewis has been lambasted for collecting too many bad boys. After a one-and-done playoff run, he has been lady-lucked out of any semblance of a team healthy enough to shovel out of the current mess.
Carson Palmer, Chad Johnson and Rudi Johnson can only do so much.
With a decimated offensive line and linebacker corps, the Bengals are in bad enough shape to make Browns fans think this should be a win at home.
But then, they always think twice about that.
The Browns are 1-4 at home this year and 19-42 in the expansion era.
?I?d like to win a lot of these last six games,? Browns quarterback Charlie Frye said. ?We?re gettin? real close. I feel the fans? pain.?
The nation mostly feels nothing about the ?Battle of Ohio.? The Bengals were among the NFL?s worst teams in the 1990s. The Browns have taken up that mantle this decade.
However, there has been enough local flavor to make the ?Battle? more than a joke locally:
n In 1999, Akili Smith trash-talked Tim Couch after winning a duel of draft stars, 18-17. Later that year, the teams played the last NFL game in what used to be called Riverfront Stadium.
n In 2000, the Browns won the first game at Paul Brown Stadium, named for the founding head coach of each franchise. ?I?ll take that to my grave,? Browns Coach Chris Palmer said at the time.
n In 2002, the Browns won on a cold day in Cincinnati during a surge to the playoffs.
n In 2003, Lee Suggs rushed for 186 yards to help the Browns end Cincinnati?s postseason hopes in the season finale.
n After a 58-48 loss at Cincinnati in 2004, Butch Davis quit.
n In 2005, the Bengals won their 10th game only after Chad Johnson got a gift pass interference call against Leigh Bodden.
n In 2006, ?Ocho Cinco? got knocked into outer space on a hit by Browns safety Brian Russell.
Russell?s hit came back into focus this week when his teammate Braylon Edwards called it ?bull(bleep).?
Edwards? mind might be drifting even though he is coming off a career-best 137-yard game against Pittsburgh.
His thoughts on the offense hitting a groove against a Bengals? defense ranked last in the league, allowing 377.6 yards a game:
?Who knows at this point? We can prepare all week. We can come out and do good.
?But we?re not playing the Bengals during the week. Looking at their defense, we definitely can score points. We definitely can make plays. The big thing is, are we gonna consistently do what we can do? Or are we gonna do what we?ve been doing??
The Browns rank 25th in the league in scoring and 31st in net yards.
Thus, this is a classic encounter of the movable object and the resistible force.
The Browns will play in 1957 throwback uniforms, with all-orange helmets that have numbers on both sides. The Bengals weren?t born until 1968, but they?re the more respected of the Ohio teams at this point.
This is reflected in the Carson Palmer quote that got a lot of talk-radio play during the week:
?People don?t think very highly of Cleveland around this league, but offensively as a unit we think extremely highly of this team. They?re a very physical group. I?ve said to a number of guys in this locker room that the Cleveland Browns are a couple of players away from being a contender.?
The Palmer-Chad Johnson connection gives Cincinnati at least faint hope of being a playoff contender in 2006. It has produced 450 yards the last two weeks.
Yet, Head Coach Romeo Crennel gets feisty upon the suggestion that his team?s only hope is to win a shootout against Cincinnati?s No. 5-ranked scoring offense.
Throwback uniform day deserves a throwback theme.
?They put their pants on one leg at a time, just like we do,? Crennel huffed.
True that ... but they?re not the same pants, say, the Bears and Chargers are sporting this fall. Reach Repository sports writer Steve Doerschuk at (330) 580-8347 or e-mail [email protected].
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Canton

Bengals at Browns

Sunday, November 26, 2006


Kickoff 1 p.m., Cleveland Browns Stadium, capacity 73,200, grass.
TV CBS (Channel 19) with Kevin Harlan and Rich Gannon.
Line Bengals by 3.
AFC North Ravens 8-2, Bengals 5-5, Steelers 4-6, Browns 3-7.
Bengals in 2006 Won at Kansas City 23-10, beat Cleveland 34-17, won at Pittsburgh 28-20, lost to New England 38-13, lost at Tampa Bay 14-13, beat Carolina 17-14, lost to Atlanta 29-27, lost at Baltimore 26-20, lost to San Diego 41-19, won at New Orleans 31-16.
Battle of Ohio Both the Browns and Bengals have won 33 games in the series between teams whose founding head coach was Massillon legend Paul Brown.
Series slump The Browns won four of five games against Cincinnati in one stretch from 2001-04, but have lost the last four games. The 17-point spread in Cincinnati?s 34-17 win on Sept. 17 was the Bengals? largest against Cleveland in the expansion era.
In the beginning Signs of red-zone woes that would dog the Browns all season were evident at Cincinnati in September. Carson Palmer carved up the Browns with an early 75-yard drive, but the game was still young when linebacker Andra Davis intercepted Palmer to set up the Browns at the Cincinnati 17. Reuben Droughns ran for short gains on first and second downs, then Charlie Frye threw away a third-down pass. The Browns settled for a field goal. Palmer quickly led a 92-yard touchdown drive. The rout was on.
Inside the numbers In the Sept. 17 game, Frye finished with 244 passing yards, but had only 122 after three quarters before throwing heavily into prevent schemes. Droughns rushed 14 times for 32 yards and was slowed by a shoulder injury caused when he slammed into linebacker David Pollack, who fractured a vertebra. Palmer had 330 of his 352 passing yards through three quarters, at which point Chris Henry had 109 receiving yards. Rudi Johnson rushed for 73 of his 145 yards in the fourth quarter.
Browns vs. Bengals No. 30 run offense (83.0 yards a game) vs. No. 21 run defense (123.2); No. 25 pass offense (173.9) vs. No. 32 pass defense (254.4).
Bengals vs. Browns No. 23 run offense (101.2) vs. No. 28 run defense (136.9); No. 6 pass offense (241.3) vs. No. 7 pass defense (190.8).
Wrecking ball The Bengals are 25-0, 4-0 this year, when Rudi Johnson runs at least 25 times. Johnson ran 26 times for 145 yards Sept. 17 against Cleveland and 27 times for 111 yards last Sunday against the Saints. Johnson has rushed for 642 yards (5.9 average) in his last four games against Cleveland. In three games against Cincinnati, Droughns has rushed for 184 yards (3.9 average).
Palmer vs. Frye Fourth-quarter passing is one way to measure the gap between Palmer and Frye. Palmer is 46 of 76 for 706 yards, with a 106.6 rating. Frye is 58 of 99 for 598 yards, with a 57.6 rating.
Five and out The Browns will face Kansas City next Sunday in Cleveland before playing a Thursday night game at Pittsburgh, followed by Sunday games at Baltimore, home against Tampa Bay and at Houston. Steve Doerschuk
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Move this fucking team.

The OL is shit. Charlie Frye is below shit. Edwards sucks. No one can stay healthy. The defense is slow and old.

All year our best fucking offensive play is a kickoff return... and they get called back everytime too.


EDIT: Another missed kick by Dawson... hes shit too.
 
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We need to trade Braylon for some offensive lineman. We don't need one of those TO, Chad Johnson attitude-type receivers on this team, especially one that can't catch the fucking ball. Trade him and lets protect the QB.
 
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