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Browns vs. Jets Tailgate Talk

It’s somewhat ironic that exactly one week after the Browns were victimized by the controversial “push out” play that ended last Sunday’s game against Arizona that they find themselves playing next the team they got the upper hand with the same play versus last year in the New York Jets.

What does all of this mean? Absolutely everything or nothing at all…you decide.

This battle in New Jersey may in fact be the Browns biggest game of the year to date. Then again, when you are in the midst of an NFL playoff chase every game pretty much will fall into that category from here out.

The Jets are coming into this game with a few things going for them. They have won one game in a row which was a 40-13 butt plugging of the 0 and 12 Dolphins. Hey, it was such a huge win for the Jets that starting running back/fantasy bust Thomas Jones even got his first rushing touchdown of the year!

However, the Jets will have a few things working against them as well this Sunday. They are in high spirits because they just beat the worst team in football. Are you kidding me? That’s like calling your buddies on a Sunday morning to brag because you went hogging at the bar the night before! Sure, it happens, but damn don’t go bragging about it and for god’s sake don’t give her your real name!

Also working against New York’s favor is the added security this season for the Jets games at the infamous Gate D area. This could seriously affect the fans moral which if for the better if you are a Browns fan…unless you are attending the game and can’t catch the fun of course.

As far as the Browns are concerned, this week has been business as usual aside from having to answer for last week’s controversy. Sure the loss to the Cardinals was extremely disappointing, but it may have been what the young team needed to come back down to earth and stop reading too much into their newfound national media praise of late. Sometimes young teams need that reality check that sets them a step back before taking two more forward.

One thing I’ve noticed is some conventional wisdom this Sunday is expecting to see much more of Jamal Lewis and backup Jason Wright running the football. It’s becoming more and more apparent that Derek Anderson isn’t exactly a road quarterback at this stage in his career so the offense will have to rely much more on the ground game.  However, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Browns offense try to challenge the Jets undersized starting corners early on.

Don’t forget the game is a 4pm kickoff. Yes, that means everyone in Cleveland can’t watch Pittspuke get hammered by the Patriots as it is another CBS 4pm game. Someday I’m gonna get DirecTV so I can sleep easier.

Prediction: Browns 27 - Jets 13

This entry was posted on Friday, December 7th, 2007 at 8:38 am and is filed under Columns, Game Previews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.