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The Cleveland Browns officially have arrived.
The team that will be everyone’s trendy pick to win the AFC North (and cure polio) in 2008 will get lots of national exposure, with three games on ESPN’s Monday Night Football.
The Browns host the Giants on Monday, October 13, visit the Bills on Monday, November 17, and travel to Philly on Monday, December 15.
The Browns also host the Steelers on a Sunday night in September, and the Broncos on a Thursday night in November.
The end result is even more pressure on the organization to produce after an unexpected 10-6 mark in 2007. And that makes it even more important for the Browns to get off to a good start.
They’ve got four games and then a bye, with the Cowboys and the Browns’ three AFC North rivals starting things off. Anything worse than 2-2 would set the wrong tone for a team that the league apparently believes to be on the cusp of big things.
April 15th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Cure polio?
Shouldn’t they be working on a cure for staph infections?
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Rating: 4.55 / 5 with 9 rating(s)
April 15th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
Cure polio, huh. Come talk to me when they can keep the MRSA out of the locker room.
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Rating: 2 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
April 15th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
The NFL must hate America to subject us to this.
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Rating: 2.65 / 5 with 8 rating(s)
April 15th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Forget curing polio! They need to figure out how to cure staph infections!
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Rating: 1.65 / 5 with 6 rating(s)
April 15th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
They really need to cure staph infections if they want to improve, not polio
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
April 15th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
before polio, the team needs to learn to cure staph
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
April 15th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Hasn’t polio already been cured?
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
April 15th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
Lucky Lucy will yank the rug out once again on the Clowns. They are finally getting some return on 8 years of top 5 draft picks, but I doubt they handle succes, or taste the playoffs.
The offense has a chance to be good, but just like the Bungles will tell you, it still takes some defense to win games in December.
Perhaps Stallworth can play CB, and he was not a stupid signing. What about Josh Cribbs? I like the whole offense on paper, but who is going to sit and who is going to get some coverage on anyone? Jamal never trains or runs as hard after getting a contract, and the Dark side of DA is still there. He was a cut 6th rounder for a reason. He may be a decent player, but don’t get too happy about your QB situation. It can go from good to god awful in one snap.
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Rating: 1.5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
April 15th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
well, that was exciting. congrats to the Browns getting some national exposure in 2008.
the schedule announcement officially distracted me one whole hour from draft talk, lol.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
April 15th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
If they’re pretenders, this should expose them.
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
April 15th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
yea right the Brownies are still a joke and are just going to embarrass OHio on those 5 games…bottom line they got lucky last season. Even with all the offseason moves they are still the browns. no one can take the Seriously, and if you do i really gotta question you fanhood!
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Rating: 2.35 / 5 with 6 rating(s)
April 15th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
The same thing that happened to the 49ers last year is going to happen to the Browns. Everyone will pick the Browns to have a great season and make the playoffs. Almost the same as the 49ers last season, the Browns will have a disappointing season because their schedule is too tough and no draft picks on the first day of the draft.
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Rating: 1.8 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
April 15th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
bernie kosar isn’t the qb of this team. the cleveland steamers, i mean browns are going to get flushed down the toilet…as usual.
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Rating: 2.5 / 5 with 8 rating(s)
April 15th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Let’s hope they start off better than the Saints did last year. I have a feeling they will though. Similar situation: a team does reasonably well and surprises people with players they haven’t seen perform well, and then they fall off the map. Bush was expected to have a much better year, and he was garbage. Who will be Cleveland’s Reggie Bush this year?
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Rating: 2.65 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
April 15th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Awesome schedule…if they want in the playoffs, they are going to have to earn it…unlike the Patriots whose opponents have a less than .400 winning percentage
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Rating: 3.65 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
April 15th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
The Browns deserve some primetime games. The NFL has been giving these games to bad teams like the Raiders, 49ers, & Dolphins for years, the least they could do is give Cleveland a few games. Also like how you can’t seem to handle any positive Browns press without sneaking in a snide or sarcastic remark.
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Rating: 3.7 / 5 with 7 rating(s)
April 15th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
There went any likelihood of the Browns being good.
Call it the ESPN Monday Night Curse.
Like all the hype about Aaron Brooks going to Oakland before their 2-14 season where we had to sit through them getting shut out on MNF twice in one season, or all the underachieving Monday night matchups last year like the Arizona/San Fran snoozer, San Fran vs Pit, the fantastic Miami/Pittsburgh game, only famous for the lawndart punt
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Rating: 3.5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
April 15th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Damn.
The Rule of Inverse Expectations™ means the Browns are gonna have a rough year. Oh well. Maybe the Browns will shake off this Hex and win the AFC North. Just would feel a lot better about it if the Browns weren’t playing so many playoff teams.
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
April 15th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
Ahhhh the Cleveland Browns got screwed last year.
But anyway, something is important to point out. Sometimes, when a team does something unexpected the previous year, the expectations are too high. What if the Browns go back to sucking? Then, the games on TV will be duds. Maybe five prime-time games was too many to give. We shall see.
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Rating: Not yet rated
April 15th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
I was pretty stoked that my Packers got four primetime games until I heard this. I feel jobbed now. If the Browns get five I don’t see how EVERY patriot game shouldn’t be primetime.
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Rating: 2 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
April 15th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
The NFL gave the Browns 5 prime-time games so everybody can see how bad they suck.
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
April 15th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
The Browns better be DARN good this year or its bye bye Romeo, Savage, etc. They mortgaged their drafting future in last year’s draft, then committed a TON of money to above-average players this offseason. Anything less than 12 wins and a division would be a failure, I would think. I predict 9-7, w/ no playoffs. That division will still belong to PIT.
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Rating: 3.65 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
April 15th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
They deserve it. They appear to have come a long way, at least on offense. That being said, it’s a lot harder to win when you are expected to. They aren’t going to sneak up on people this year. Weren’t the Ravens picked by everyone last year to win the AFC Norris Division?
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
April 15th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Reply to the schedule as a fan - wow
Reply to the schedule after about 30 seconds - Holy cow this is hard.
Well, we’ll see how the Brownies do now.
Oh, and hey, thanks to all the above for the kind words and comments about the Browns. Sure glad to see the creative juices still flow in the same general vent.
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
April 15th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Even before today they were my pick to be biggest team disappointment of 2008, not because they will underachieve, but because they are overrated, have a tough schedule, and unrealistic expectations. ESPN will regret signing them up for multiple MNF dates.
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Rating: 2.35 / 5 with 3 rating(s)