How Much Worse Can It Get?

After four stellar weeks of preseason action and a magnificent home opener, my Browns will this week face off against our biggest and most hated rival, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Can we win? Ah, the audacity of hope!

It was clear against the Dallas Cowboys last week that Braylon Edwards was rusty. Three weeks of missing practices and preseason games showed in his four drops. Derek Anderson was rusty too, though for a guy who is typically about as mobile as a sequoia, he was remarkably agile. I have faith that both of them can come out better this week.

But our defense as a whole and our offensive line play have clearly deteriorated. I could have covered T.O. as well as our defensive backs, we're not blocking, we're making arm tackles, and we are flat-out beaten on speed. Our offensive line, which was our primary strength last season, seems to be asleep on the field. We sucked so bad, the Dallas cheerleaders could have scored on us. So now what?

Coach Romeo Crennel's assessment of our home opener opponent was that Dallas is "pretty good." This from the coach who simply wanted us to "look decent" in our last preseason game. Crennel seems to be the poster boy for understatements and low expectations. That attitude will get us killed for the 10th straight time by the Steelers. It could even be a worse shellacking than last year.

So, my prediction: Browns 28, Steelers 24. Ever faithful. We have nowhere to go but up.