Browns look for second straight upset at home; Browns vs. Falcons preview
The Cleveland Browns are coming off a huge divisional victory over the Cincinnati Bengals while the Atlanta Falcons narrowly escaped a desperate San Francisco team last week. The Falcons will look to maintain their division lead, while the Browns look for their
second straight win before they have to travel to Pittsburgh next week.
The Falcons can look at film from last week when Carson Palmer and Terrell Owens lit up the Browns’ secondary. Matt Ryan should be able to have a big game and will look to Roddy White to have a game similar to Owens’ last week. White is Ryan’s favourite deep
threat so look for Atlanta to take some shots down-field. As always, Ryan has a safety blanket in Tony Gonzalez at tight end if the Browns look to play off the receivers.
Atlanta’s bread and butter is still running the football though, and look for the Falcons to establish Michael Turner and their running game early. Turner is yet to find his stride this season but Jason Snelling has become an excellent second option in the
ground game. The Falcons are fourth in the NFL in rushing, averaging 144.8 yards per game while the Browns are a respectable 17th against the run, allowing 108 yards per game. Against the pass they are ranked 24th with 235 yards allowed per game. If the Falcons
force the Browns to stack up the box against the run, Ryan will be able to have a big day.
The Browns offence has shown improvement from last year, their running game in particular. Peyton Hillis has rushed for 322 yards in 66 carries and has four touchdowns. He is the spark plug of the offence and the Browns will rely heavily on him to collect yards
and control the clock.
Jake Delhomme has not played since Week 1, but Seneca Wallace has done a pretty good job in Delhomme’s absence. While he has not lit up defences, he has managed games well and has avoided turnovers. His favourite target has been Benjamin Watson who is proving
to be a good off-season acquisition for Cleveland.
Cleveland’s biggest test will be linebacker Sean Weatherspoon who is blossoming into a great pass-rusher. He’s showing why the Falcons took him in the first round of this year’s draft. He’ll look to pressure Wallace and shut down Hillis.
The Browns’ defence will need to be stingy against the Falcons as the Cleveland offence is still not capable of winning games on their own. The Browns have given up 19.2 points per game, 14th in the league, but their offence has only scored over 20 points once
this season.
This game could be close because the Browns typically play better at home. In the end though, the Browns just don’t have as many weapons as the Falcons do. While the Falcons are a run team first, they’ve shown they can win with the passing game too, unlike
the Browns. The Browns need their running game at its best because Wallace won’t be able to rally them from behind. The Falcons should get the win on the road and roll to their fourth straight victory.
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