Written by Jesse Lamovsky

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Kansas City Chiefs @ Cleveland Browns

Time: 1:00 pm, Sunday, September 19, 2010

Location: Cleveland Browns Stadium

Network, Announcers- CBS: Don Criqui and Steve Beuerlein

Line: Browns -2

Team W/L Records: Cleveland is 0-1; Kansas City is 1-0

Coaches: Eric Mangini is 28-37 overall, 5-12 in his second season with the Browns; Todd Haley is 5-12 in his second season with the Chiefs.

 

Last Week for the Browns: Blew a 14-3 second-quarter lead and lost in Tampa Bay, 17-14. It was the twelfth time in thirteen games dating back to 1995 that the Browns had lost their season opener.   

Last Week for the Chiefs: Upset the Chargers in their Monday Night lid-lifter, 21-14. It was Kansas City’s first win in a season opener since 2005.  

All-Time Series: Browns lead, 10-9-2.

Last Meeting- December 20, 2009: Josh Cribbs returned two kickoffs for touchdowns and Jerome Harrison ran for a franchise-record 286 yards with three scores as the Browns outgunned the Chiefs in Arrowhead Stadium, 41-34. Cleveland overcame a sensational offensive performance by Kansas City: Matt Cassel threw for 331 yards and two scores, Jamaal Charles ran for 154 yards and a score and Chris Chambers had 114 receiving yards and a score. The teams combined for 908 total yards.  

Out, Doubtful or Questionable for Kansas City: DE Tyson Jackson (knee), LB Tamba Hali (foot) and T Ryan O’Callaghan (groin) are questionable.  

Out, Doubtful or Questionable for Cleveland: G Shaun Lauvao (ankle) and LB D’Qwell Jackson (chest) are out; QB Jake Delhomme (ankle) and CB Derrick Roberson (hip) are doubtful; DT Shaun Rogers (ankle) is questionable.

What to watch for the Browns: You have to be a pretty good team to give away seven points to the opponent, take away at least six points from your side of the ledger, and still win on the road in the NFL. The Browns are not “pretty good” and that giveaway/takeaway is exactly what they did last week at Tampa Bay. Had it not been for Jake Delhomme’s interception at the end of the first half and Peyton Hillis’s fumble at the beginning of the second Cleveland would have been leading by at least 20-3 in the third period, and the game would have effectively been won.

Predictably, the loss has triggered a meltdown. Some of the same fans who before the season were saying things like, “I won’t be unhappy with five or six wins so long as they’re competitive” and “I just want them to look like an NFL team” are now talking about an 0-9 start, a three-win season “at best,” Eric Mangini fired by the bye week, Jake Locker with the first overall pick and so on and so forth. Well, guess what- this is what a five-or-six-win team looks like when it turns the ball over and gives away free touchdowns on the road. There’s no need to revise those already-modest expectations downward. The Browns are who we thought they were.

It’s as simple as it was last week: if the Browns take care of the football and don’t make killer mistakes that cost them points and give points to the Chiefs, they’ll win this game. Kansas City wasn’t exactly dominant in its win over the Chargers, getting out-gained 389-197 and going 1-of-11 on third downs. Cleveland will have every opportunity to be 1-1 at the end of the weekend. But they don’t have the margin for error against anyone to self-destruct and get away with it.

What to watch for the Chiefs: Kansas City’s offense in its win over the Chargers basically consisted of one big play and very little of anything else. The Chiefs had three drives of longer than three plays, no drive taking more than eight plays and, aside from Jamaal Charles’s 56-yard touchdown sprint, ran 48 plays for 133 yards- a Lilliputian 2.8 yards per play. San Diego ran 70 plays to Kansas City’s 49 and held the ball for more than 37 minutes. Granted, the weather was a factor and after taking a two-touchdown lead at halftime the Chiefs “went Republican” on offense. But with a pedestrian offensive line and a mediocre quarterback this isn’t a team that will grind out the chains on any opponent. It’s a team that needs big plays and turnovers.

That’s exactly what the Chiefs got last week. Their three touchdowns consisted of the aforementioned Jamaal Charles 56-yard burst, rookie Dexter McCluster’s 94-yard punt return and a Cassel-to-Tony Moeaki pass that finished off a 12-yard drive set up by a fumble recovery. Aside from those plays they did next to nothing.

And they’ll be facing a Cleveland defense that played well enough to win last week. The longest drive for the Bucs was just 47 yards and they only had to go a total of 50 yards to score their two touchdowns. I really don’t think Kansas City’s offense is capable of manhandling the Browns and putting together repeated 10-and-12-play drives. The Chiefs will need those explosive plays out of Charles, or Thomas Jones, or MxCluster and Javier Arenas in the return game. If they don’t get them the Browns should win- going away.  

Next Week for Both Teams: Cleveland visits Baltimore; Kansas City hosts the 49ers.

Trivia: The first of Seneca Wallace’s fourteen career starts came against Kansas City on October 29, 2006; he completed 15-of-30 passes for 198 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions and added 21 yards rushing on three carries in Seattle’s 35-28 loss to the Chiefs.