Another Put-Down Before Last Tune-Up

Oh man, Sportsline is predicting 6-10 for the Brownies. I suspect we will see plenty of predictions like this, and they are not unreasonable either. Remember the Chiefs last year -- best player in the NFL in Priest Holmes and they were a .500 non-playoff team. We can't win without a half-way decent defense.

Tonight the Browns face an Atlanta team adjusting to the loss of their star QB. Doug Johnson will do okay this season, but in his first start it's a good opportunity for the Browns D to apply some pressure to a quarterback. They haven't really done it yet and now is the time -- remember, we're just ten days away from the opener vs the Colts and Manning/Harrison/James.

I'll be watching:

• Warren -- he's got to show something again and build off of last week.
  
• C Brown -- just play for a while, build some confidence. One nice pass rush would be nice.
  
• Bentley and Taylor -- these guys have been nearly invisible thusfar. I'll be looking for an indication that they're starting to get comfortable to make some plays.
  
• McCutheon and Henry -- adequate play would be fine. I don't want to see McCutheon miss a tackle or Henry be grossly out of position.
  
• The injured guys: Griffith just needs to get on the field, Jamel White needs to touch the ball a couple times, Andre Davis needs to run some routes and hopefully have a pass thrown his way.
  
• The backup DL -- McKinley, Word, Rogers, Claybrooks, etc. will have to contribute a lot this year. I'm not terrible concerned if these guys play the run well tonight; it'd be better to see them attack effetively on passing downs.