DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Browns open with Cowboys, Steelers

Really?
When we get in on Thursday evenings..I have to put my childern to bed..after they finish up their homework..thats not a freebie evening for me.

How the hell do you go 18-0 the previous season and get the easiest schedule the next year?!

Well, all but 2 of the games are determined by the divisions you play. That was set a few years ago.

j/c

The 2008 schedule: A breakdown
Jeff Walcoff, Staff Writer
04.15.2008
Dallas Cowboys

Date/Location: Sept. 7 at 4:15 p.m. at Cleveland Browns Stadium on FOX.

2007 Record: 13-3; lost to the New York Giants in the NFC Divisional Playoffs

Players to Watch: Where to begin? Tony Romo threw 36 touchdown passes in 2007, helped out by the combination of receiver Terrell Owens and tight end Jason Witten, who combined for 177 receptions and 22 scores. On defense, DeMarcus Ware and Greg Ellis each had more than a dozen sacks a piece and combined for 26.5 on the season.

Notable Stat: The Cowboys averaged 32 points per game during their 13 wins in 2007 but just 11 points in their three losses. They closed the '07 regular season with their three lowest point totals of the season, scoring 6 points a piece in two losses and 20 in a win over Carolina. They then managed only 17 points in their playoff loss to the Giants.

Key Storyline: Most of the storylines for this one are on the coaching staff. The game will be a homecoming for Cowboys assistant head coach and offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, who attended University School in Cleveland's eastern suburbs. Meanwhile, the Cowboys are now the home of two former Browns defensive coordinators in secondary coach Dave Campo and defensive line coach Todd Grantham.

Last Game vs. the Browns: The Cowboys beat the Browns, 19-12, on Sept. 19, 2004 at Texas Stadium in Dallas. During the game, Kellen Winslow's rookie season came to an end when he broke his fibula while trying to recover an onside kick during the fourth quarter.

All-time regular season series: Browns lead 15-10 overall and 9-3 in Cleveland.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Dates/Locations: Sept. 14 at 8:15 p.m. at Cleveland Browns Stadium on NBC; Dec. 28 at 1 p.m. at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh on CBS.

2007 Record: 10-6; Lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC Wild Card playoffs.

Player to Watch: Willie Parker notched a 1,300-yard season in '07, but it was quarterback Ben Roethlisbeger who bounced back from an injury-ridden season in '06 to qualify for his first Pro Bowl in '07, throwing 32 touchdowns to just 11 interceptions for a 104.1 passer rating.

Notable Stat: During the past seven seasons, the Steelers defense has ranked worse than third in the NFL against the run only once (12th in 2003). That includes finishing tops in rushing defense in 2001, '02 and '04. They finished third against the run in '07, while also finishing tops in the league in rushing offense.

Key Storyline: After 57 years, thanks to a season sweep for the Steelers in '07 and nine consecutive wins over the Browns overall, the all-time series between the Browns and Steelers is all knotted up at 55. But the real storyline here is the Steelers as a measuring stick for the Browns' improvement. The next challenge the team must overcome is beating their arch rival.

Last Game vs. the Browns: The Steelers beat the Browns, 31-28, on Nov. 11 at Heinz Field in a wild game the Browns nearly won.

All-time regular season series: Series tied 55-55. Browns lead 34-21 in Cleveland. Steelers lead 34-21 in Pittsburgh.

Baltimore Ravens

Dates/Locations: Sept. 21 at 4:15 p.m. at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on CBS; Nov. 2 at 1 p.m. at Cleveland Browns Stadium on CBS.

2007 Record: 5-11

Player to Watch: During a season in which just about everything bad that could happen to the Ravens happened, running back Willis McGahee rushed for 1,207 yards and 7 touchdowns in his first season with the club.

Notable Stat: In 2006, the Ravens marked 60 sacks and allowed only 17 for a +43 sack ratio. In '07, the club managed just 31 and allowed 38 for a ratio of -7. Their leader in sacks, Terrell Suggs, marked only 5.

Key storyline: The Ravens will definitely be looking for payback after the Browns swept them in the season series in '07 for the first time since 2002. Especially after the dramatic overtime win in their last meeting, no doubt the Ravens are hungry for victory against the rival Browns.

Last Game vs. the Browns: The Browns defeated the Ravens, 33-30, in overtime on Nov. 18 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

All-time regular season series: Ravens lead 11-7, 5-4 in Cleveland and 6-3 in Baltimore

Cincinnati Bengals

Dates/Locations: Sept. 28 at 1 p.m. at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati on CBS; Dec. 21 at 1 p.m. at Cleveland Browns Stadium on CBS.

2007 Record: 7-9

Players to Watch: The key to this team is still in the passing game, where T.J. Houshmandzadeh tied for the AFC lead in receptions with 112 in 2007 to go with 1,175 yards and 8 touchdowns. Meanwhile, Carson Palmer threw every pass for the Bengals last season.

Notable Stat: The usually powerful Bengals offense had six games in '07 where they scored less than 20 points. The Bengals were 2-4 in those games.

Key storyline: The Browns will undoubtedly be looking for payback in '08 after their loss to the Bengals on Dec. 23 threw a big wrench in the gears of the Browns' playoff hopes.

Last Game vs. the Browns: The Bengals beat the Browns, 19-14, at Paul Brown Stadium on Dec. 23.

All-time regular season series: Bengals lead 35-34. Browns lead 21-13 in Cleveland. Bengals lead 22-13 in Cincinnati.

New York Giants

Date/Location: Oct. 13 at 8:30 p.m. at Cleveland Browns Stadium on ESPN.

2007 Record: 10-6; Defeated the New England Patriots, 17-14, in Super Bowl XLII.

Player to Watch: The Browns get both Manning brothers in 2008 and with them, the last two Super Bowl MVPs. Manning didn't have a great regular season in '07, compiling just a 73.9 passer rating, but he was money in the playoffs, throwing 6 touchdowns and just 1 interception for a 95.7 rating.

Notable Stat: Paced by defensive end Osi Umenyiora and his 13 sacks, the Giants defense led the NFL in sacks per pass attempt in '07, bringing down opposing quarterbacks 10.1 percent of the time they dropped back to throw. Overall, the Giants recorded 52 sacks in '07, meanwhile surrendering only 27 themselves.

Key Storyline: It's always a story when the defending Super Bowl champs come to town, but this game's real story will be the Browns' return to Monday Night, where they got everything started 38 years ago against the Jets and Municipal Stadium. Meanwhile, it'll be Romeo Crennel's first game against the team he helped coach to two Super Bowl championships.

Last Game vs. the Browns: The Giants beat the Browns, 27-10, on Sept. 26, 2004 at Giants Stadium. The Browns have lost four consecutive games to the Giants and haven't beaten them since 1985. The Browns haven't beaten the Giants in Cleveland since 1973.

All-time regular season series: Browns lead 25-19-2 overall and 13-10 in Cleveland.

Washington Redskins

Date/Location: Oct. 19 at 4:15 p.m. at FedEx Field in Washington D.C. on CBS.

2007 Record: 9-7

Player to Watch: Redskins running back Clinton Portis has recorded at least 1,200 yards in five of his six NFL seasons. In 2007, he marked 1,262 yards with 11 touchdowns.

Notable Stat: The Redskins outscored their opponents 173 to 101 in the first half last season but were outscored 199 to 155 in the second half.

Key Storyline: The Browns won 31 of the first 37 meetings between the two teams, with the series dating back to when the Browns joined the NFL in 1950. But the Redskins have won four of the last six meetings dating back to 1975.

Last Game vs. the Browns: The Browns defeated the Redskins, 17-13, on Oct. 3, 2004 at Cleveland Browns Stadium.

All-time regular season series: Browns lead 33-9-1 overall and 16-3-1 in Washington.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Date/Location: Oct. 26 at 4:05 p.m. at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium on CBS.

2007 Record: 11-5; Lost to the New England Patriots, 31-20, in the AFC Divisional Playoffs

Player to Watch: David Garrard doesn't throw the ball 40 times per game, but when he does pass, he's efficient. He had only 325 pass attempts in 2007 but completed 64 percent of them. His turnover to interception radio was also outstanding, throwing 18 scores and only 3 picks for a 102.2 passer rating.

Notable Stat: The Jaguars did most of their damage in the running game in '07 (their top receiver Reggie Williams had only 629 yards). Fred Taylor, who qualified for the first Pro Bowl in his long career, and Maurice Jones-Drew combined for 1,970 yards on 390 attempts for an average of 5.1 yards per carry.

Key Storyline: The storyline for this one might be a little tougher to come by save for maybe that it's two up-and-coming AFC teams facing off at a pivotal time of year. It also will be receiver Dennis Northcutt's first game against his long-time former team.

Last Game vs. the Browns: The Jaguars beat the Browns, 20-14, on Dec. 4, 2005 at Cleveland Browns Stadium. Overall, the Browns are just 2-8 against the Jaguars.

All-time regular season series: Jaguars lead 8-2 overall and 3-2 in Jacksonville.

Denver Broncos

Date/Location: Nov. 6 at 8:15 p.m. at Cleveland Browns Stadium on NFL Network.

2007 Record: 7-9

Player to Watch: Former Louisville sack machine Elvis Dumervil marked 12.5 QB takedowns in 2007 to go with the 8.5 his rookie year. He had 3 against the Browns when the teams squared off in 2006.

Notable Stat: Long known for their defensive prowess, the Broncos struggled against the run in '07, allowing 142.6 yards per game to rank 30th in the NFL in the stat. The team allowed 30 or more points six times during the season.

Key Storyline: It's always a big game for Browns fans when the Broncos come to town, but this time the Browns are looking to snap a seven-game losing streak against the club. Overall, the Browns are just 5-19 all-time against the Broncos including the playoffs.

Last Game vs. the Browns: The Broncos beat the Browns, 17-7, on Oct. 22, 2006 at Cleveland Browns Stadium.

All-time regular season series: Broncos lead 16-5 overall and 8-2 in Cleveland.

Buffalo Bills

Date/Location: Nov. 17 at 8:30 p.m. at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo on ESPN.

2007 Record: 7-9

Player to Watch: We'll give the nod to Marshawn Lynch, who rushed for 1,115 yards as a rookie in '07. Let's also give a mention to Roscoe Parrish, who led the league in punt returns, averaging 16.3 yards per return.

Notable Stat: In addition to leading the NFL in yards per punt return (15.4), the club also led the NFL in yards allowed per punt return (5.3). In scrimmage situations, the team wasn't nearly as good, however, finishing 30th in the league in yards per game (277.1) and 31st in the league in yards allowed per game (362.9).

Key Storyline: After last year's blizzard in Cleveland the weather should be cold again for this Monday Night matchup. Only a few hours separated on I-90, it's always a fierce game when these two teams face off.

Last Game vs. the Browns: The Browns defeated the Bills, 8-0, in a blizzard on Dec. 16 at Cleveland Browns Stadium.

All-time regular season series: Browns lead 7-5 overall and 3-2 in Buffalo.

Houston Texans

Date/Location: Nov. 23 at 1 p.m. at Cleveland Browns Stadium on CBS.

2007 Record: 8-8

Player to Watch: After taking a year to adjust to the NFL game, No. 1 overall pick Mario Williams finally was the player he promised he'd be in 2007, registering 14 sacks to go with 59 tackles and 2 forced fumbles.

Notable Stat: The Texans finished tied for last in the league in 2007 with only 11 interceptions on the year. The club was led by rookie Fred Bennett with 3.

Key Storyline: The Browns and Texans have developed a mini rivalry in recent years. The coming season will mark the fifth consecutive year the teams will face of with the team's splitting the battle 2-2 so far (the Browns lead the all-time series 3-2). The Browns won the final game of the 2004 campaign at Houston spoiling what would have been the Texans' first .500 season in club history. In '05, the 0-6 Texans scored one of only two victories on the season against the Browns in Houston. Then in '06, the clubs met again in the season finale with offseason momentum on the line. The Texans beat the Browns, 14-6, to improve to 6-10 and deny Cleveland of their fifth win.

Last Game vs. the Browns: The Browns beat the Texans, 27-17, on Nov. 25 at Cleveland Browns Stadium.

All-time regular season series: Browns lead 3-2 overall and 2-0 in Cleveland.

Indianapolis Colts

Date/Location: Nov. 30 at 1 p.m. at Cleveland Browns Stadium on CBS.

2007 Record: 13-3; Lost to the San Diego Chargers in the AFC Divisional Playoffs

Player to Watch: Reggie Wayne led the NFL with 1,510 yards receiving in 2007, but it's ultimately Peyton Manning that's the star of the show in Indy. Manning had what actually could've been described as a down year in 2007. After finishing first in the NFL in passer rating for three consecutive years from 2004-06, Manning finished fourth in the stat in '07 -- his lowest finish since 2002. But then again, fourth in the league is still pretty good.

Notable Stat: It's the Indianapolis offense that gets most of the credit (no one converted a higher percentage of third downs [49.3 percent] than the Colts offense in '07), but the defense was impressive as well in 2007. The unit finished first in the NFL in points allowed per game (16.4).

Key Storyline: While it might be a bigger deal to the fans than the teams themselves, this will be the chance for the Browns to get some payback after the Colts held out their starters and lost to the Tennessee Titans, 16-10, in the season finale to keep the Browns from qualifying for the playoffs. Browns head coach Romeo Crennel said he doesn't blame Colts coach Tony Dungy for removing his first team.

Last Game vs. the Browns: The Colts beat the Browns, 13-6, in a surprisingly low-scoring affair on Sept. 25, 2005 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis.

All-time regular season series: Browns lead 14-11 overall. Colts lead 6-5 in Cleveland.

Tennessee Titans

Date/Location: Dec. 7 at 1 p.m. atLP Field in Nashville on CBS.

2007 Record: 10-6; Lost to the San Diego Chargers, 17-6, in the AFC Wild Card playoffs.

Players to Watch: Titans quarterback Vince Young had a rough year in 2007, so we'll give this one to Albert Haynesworth and Kyle Vanden Bosch, both Pro Bowl participants and leaders of the league's fifth-ranked defense in '07. The Titans D was fifth in the league against the run and fourth in first downs allowed.

Notable Stat: The Titans offense didn't do a whole lot well in '07, but they did rank fifth in the NFL in rushing, averaging 131.8 yards per game. That helped them rank fourth in the league in time of possession, holding the ball for an average of 31:38 each contest.

Key Storyline: Just like the matchup against the Colts, the Browns have their chance at payback in terms of last seasons' playoff debacle. The Titans beat the resting Colts in the season finale last season, sending the Titans to the playoffs. But even the Browns have to think they'd have put up a better fight in San Diego, where the Titans scored only 6 points in an 11-point loss.

Last Game vs. the Browns: The Browns beat the Titans, 20-14, on Nov. 6, 2005. The Browns have won three consecutive games against the Titans, including two consecutive in Tennessee.

All-time regular season series: Browns lead 33-26 overall against the Titans and Houston Oilers. Series tied 2-2 in Tennessee.

Philadelphia Eagles

Date/Location: Dec. 15 at 8:45 p.m. at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on ESPN.

2007 Record: 8-8

Player to Watch: Donovan McNabb is the veteran leader of the club, but it's running back Brian Westbrook that has emerged in recent years as the player that paces the team on offense. In 2007, Westbrook finished third in the league with 1,333 rushing yards with 7 touchdowns and also caught 90 passes for 771 yards and 5 scores.

Notable Stat: The Eagles had the best red zone defense in the NFL in 2007, allowing a touchdown only 36.4 percent of the time. Meanwhile, they were second in the league in defending goal-to-go situations, allowing a touchdown only 46.7 percent of the time.

Key Storyline: Former division rivals dating back to the Browns' first year in the NFL in 1950, the Browns and Eagles have faced one another 46 times in history with the Browns winning 31 of those matchups, the Eagles winning 14, and one tie. The Browns won 12 of 14 matchups between 1963 and 1979 but have lost four of the last six games dating back to 1982.

Last Game vs. the Browns: The Eagles defeated the Browns, 34-31, in overtime at Cleveland Browns Stadium on Oct. 24, 2004.

All-time regular season series: Browns lead 31-14-1 overall and 14-8 in Philadelphia.

Click to view the entire 2008 schedule.


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I agree 'Peen. I'm not a big drinker (I get rowdy enough without alcohol), but it just seems like your whole day is shot. But, so it goes. If we keep winning, I won't care what time the games are.

Right now looks like our Toughest home game will be Indy and the toughest road game will be Jacksonville.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T
FINALLY!! and well deserved.
Show'em who we are, Browns and where we come from!

Holy crap, 5 games? 3 on MNF? Wow, I'm very pleasantly surprised. I figured about 3 primetime games.

That's awesome.

I'll be using a lot of PTO to take 4 nights off during the week.

5 Primetimes, 3 MONDAY NIGHTERS! I can't wait till next year. Plus it looks like the vast majority of Browns games will be on here in Cincinnati. I'm hoping to make it up for the Colts game and one of the night games. And this might just be the toughest schedule of all time. It's put up or shut up time.

2008 Cleveland Browns are Super Bowl Bound!

What a tease, I wish it was the end of August now.

IF we play well and can be 3-1 at the Bye Week IMHO the season could get very interesting....How we deal with the pressure of our increased National exposure will Definitrely be the key to our season ....The Cowboys , Giants , Redskins and Jaguars....Ideally/Realistically we go 3-1 in October....November is the Most Critical part of the as we are put under the spotlight we go 4-1....with wins against the Ravens , Broncos , a Loss against the Bills , followed by wins against the Texans and Colts....In December we are @ TENN , PHIL , home vs the Bengals and @ PTTS....Hopefully we go 3-1 , personally I see us losing to the Eagles on 12/15.... It's a Long Season and this is the Run To The Playoffs scenario that I'm sure will test the Browns as a Franchise.....Since of course this is just my wishful thinking of a Browns Fan who probably be focusing more on the Indians at this point....

Not that I want the end of summer to be here too fast, but I agree. Especially with so few draft picks, I haven't paid attention one bit to the draft. It's not like years past when I had that time to divert my attention.

At least we've got the Indians. Otherwise, I'd go

Off topic question:

When do tickets go on sale?

I keep looking at the schedule, the prime time home games, the prime time away games, and it just makes damn glad that I'm a PSL holder. All the years we've went home.... dam... maybe next game... maybe next year... maybe....
LOOK AT US NOW!!!
Besides the home games, [gotta love them] Looking at going to Detroit for the dress rehersal... (only freakin reason I'd waste my money on Ford field), The Bengals, and the Bills for away games.
Probably going to be one of the toughest SCHEDULES we will ever encounter, and OMG!!!!!
I CAN'T WAIT

The best thing about this schedule is that it will allow "Out-of-Towners" like myself to see our Brownies in more Nationally Televised Game!!! JMHO Go Brownies!!!!

5 toughest home games:

Browns
Browns
Browns
Browns
Browns

5 toughest away games:

Browns
Browns
Browns
Browns
Browns

I'm adopting the mindset that we're the only team that can beat us.

In that case, you're missing six key games.

Including Pre-Season, that would be 4 MNF games wouldn't it?

Don't we play the Giants on MNF in Preseason Week 2?

That sucks though.... I *HATE* MNF since ESPN crapped all over it with Tony Cornholer and his mindless gibberrish shouting matches.

I think this is very exciting.

The Browns are a team on the rise and the country is really starting to notice. We have a very exciting team. Our offense is fun to watch. We have a big-play QB and two big-time receivers. We have a tough RB who is fun to watch and can grind it out when he needs to. We are certainly one of the more exciting teams in the league.

Our defense is pretty putrid and the combination of a very good O and a poor D leads to many exciting games that aren't decided until the very end of the game. Now, I am hoping the D improves some and that we can become more conservative on O like we did at the end of last year, and win games by the score of 24 to 10. But, I'm not sure that will happen.

I do know that our offense is fun to watch. We've got a great combination of a strong armed QB who can burn you deep, two exciting receivers, a OL who is very good at pass blocking, and a RB who is a real force when he gets to the second level.

I still can't believe that more people on this board don't see that. I do.........and apparently, so our the networks and the NFL.

Vers we all know that we have a play-making offense and a big-armed quarterback. No one on here will deny that.

Don't see what, that we have an exciting offense?

No kidding. We scored over 40 twice in the season last year. The NFL loves offense, and we have the potential to give it to 'em. I'm surprised that we have a total of 6 prime time games, if you include the preseason. It was obvious we'd have the opportunity to play in primetime, but I thought we'd have about 3, probably one on Thurs, one on Sun nite (my favorite), and one on Mon nite.

But hey, I'll take all of 'em. I gotta burn some PTO time at work for these. The Browns earned these games last year, and I pray they make the most of it. I hope the team takes notice and it fires them up instead of inflating their heads.

The other nice thing about prime time games is they are in HD, not the crappy practically out of color CBS broadcasts. And while some don't like the ESPN crew, they are still major upgrades over Randy Jackson and the CBS air-heads.

And like you said Ammo, ESPN has updates constantly and it's fun to watch SC all evening anticipating the game.

Can't wait to play the Cowboys, Braylon and Kellen vs. T.O. and Patrick Crayton......might be interesting week or so before the game.

I don't think I have ever seen you this optimistic about a season, Vers. I know it must feel good for a change, considering where the team has come from. And while I certainly feel good about where we're headed, I think expectations are too high this year. Hopefully I'm wrong, maybe I'm just afraid of success. Everything you posted is true in terms of talent, my hesitancy stems from what I perceive to be an inability to dominate. I don't mean physically, I see this as more of an attitude or of an emotional quality, a will to win deficiency that needs to be there every play of every down and includes both players and coaches. I know this is an esoteric concept, hard to quantify, but it's something I feel this team needs to overcome none-the-less. I hope I'm completely wrong or if I'm not, maybe this is the year they do it.

You're wrong.