Cleveland Browns

Going into last season, Cleveland Browns coach Romeo Crennel was a candidate to become the first Bill Belichick protege to get a head job elsewhere, and then get fired. In its first three seasons under Crennel, Cleveland had won four, six and four games, and simply had not progressed.

But last year, using the No. 3 QB on the preseason depth chart and playing one of the weaker schedules in the league, the Browns came out of nowhere to win 10 games and come within a whisker of making the playoffs. Only a disastrous second quarter in that painful loss to rival Cincinnati in Week 16 kept Cleveland from its second playoff berth in the nine seasons since the revival of the team.

A revitalized offense, paced by the passing of that overachieving third-stringer Derek Anderson, ranked 8^th overall at 351 YPG, and a rejuvenated Jamal Lewis helped the Browns rank 10^th in rushing at 118 YPG. The Cleveland defense, though, was very generous at times last year, ranking 30^th overall at 360 YPG and 27^th vs. the run at 130 YPG. The Browns also ranked 20^th in the league in total yardage at -9 per game, and 23^rd in time-of-possession at -1:00 per game.

The Browns over-performed nicely against the NFL betting lines, going 12-4 vs. the point spreads to rank second in the league behind only Green Bay. However, that particular statistic has a habit of reversing itself from season to season due in part to heightened expectations on the heels of success.

Previously a nobody out of the Pacific Northwest, Anderson had a great year as the surprise starter at QB. He did, however, show some inexperience by throwing 19 INTs including four alone in that crucial loss to the Bengals. Lewis ran for 1,300 yards last year, but for a 29-year-old he's a running back with some serious mileage on him. And WR Braylon Edwards and TE Kellen Winslow each caught 80 balls for over 1,100 yards.

The defense under-performed last year, so the Browns bolstered the middle by bringing in DTs Shaun Rogers and Corey Williams over the offseason. And they added WR Donte Stallworth back on the other side of the ball. All of which was needed, in part, because Cleveland didn't have a pick in the first three rounds of the draft.

The Browns only played four games last year against teams that eventually made the playoffs. This season, Cleveland will play eight games vs. postseason qualifiers of last year. And the Browns are now expected to contend, as reflected in their current NFL odds; no more sneaking up on the unsuspecting. For those reasons, and others, the Browns should be considered candidates to regress this season.