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For 2008 :
Team Performance : 22/100
Franchise Value : 100/100
Profit Loss : 59/100
Difficulty : 70/100

YEAR END SCORE : 67

Demontti Dawson and Vinnie Testarverde are indutced in the Hall of Fame.
As we've signed a new 5-year television contract, the salary cap will rise $9,000,000 each year over the life of the contract.

DT Christian Peter retired.
Thanks to a great Job by Subby, 45 players are already signed for this upcoming season that means we only have 7 FA and no starters among them.
No franchise tag placed.

We receive trades for C Jeff Smith and T Jamie Nails (Eagles propose a FB + their 1st round pick) but both are rejected.
What we need is a Safety, a DT/DE and to prepare the future at FB because Bednarik is declining a little. Also, I'd like to go for another good WR : the ones we currently have are good (especially Wallace and Bushon) but none cracked the 60 catches mark and Wallace & Woodson are in their 10th year which is starting to be quite old for a WR.

We don't have that much cap room and we are for the most part already filled so we probably won't be very effective in Free Agency this year. I'd rather see fill our gaps thanks to the draft and with trades since we own this year 3 1st round picks (9th,10th and 23rd).

We Start off a trade with the Buffalo Bills for their 8th year Safety Lincoln Wright (98/95/86) who will be a starter right away, we give up one of our three 1st round picks (10th) this year + a 6th round pick in 2010 + former starting FB (-now clearly a backup- Laomont Evans).
A great trade since our scout rates Wright as the n°1 safety on the team with a current level of 92 (excellent) and a future at 91 (excellent).

Now we trade with the Baltimore Ravens :
we give up another 1st round pick (23rd) + Backup FB Sam Gerak for their n°1 FB, 3 time All-League Chester Tindale (8 year vet almost maxed out) who will be the future at the position since he is now clearly an updrade to Bednarik.

LB B.J Farmer was in his last year and agrees to renegociate a 3rd deal that saves us some cap room. Since he's a fan favourite and a long time starter it is better to keep him. With his new contract, his salary for 2009 drops from $5M to $3,600,000.
DT Mudget, also in his last year, signs a 4 year contract extension worth roughly the same salary per season (around $4M).
S J.R Quinn and CB B.J Carr also sign 3 year extension deals.

We are $17,310,00 under the cap before at the beginning of free agency.
Top FA Kicker Raymond Gardner from San Diego signs with us (93/95/69) and he's a big improvment on Corey Rollins' numbers (84/70/53). Rollins was here since 1999 (drafted by myself in the 3rd round) and he did a great job during this decade with the Browns but he's missed 10 FG last season and we needed someone more reliable for the future.
He is traded to the Chicago Bears for their 4th round pick this year (12th).

The 2009 NFL Draft :
With the 9th overall pick, nobody we really need. I try to trade down for a top DE but no team is willing to move so i settle for the best player available regarding our current roster : G Norbert Page which is not that bad actually since our top two guards Ruben Brown and Raleigh Roundtree are both in their 15th and 13th year, near the end.

Draft Report:

Rnd 1 - Norbert Page, G, North Texas (39/84 58/100 84)
Rnd 2 - Dustin Maloney, DT, Washington State (33/70 46/100 50)
Rnd 3 - Glenn Monroe, LB, Southwest Louisiana (34/80 39/96 30/77 94)

Not a very deep nor helpful draft for us actually. Still we got 3 interesting players. I'm not certain though they will all make the roster. we'll have to see that later.
I traded our two 4th round picks for a 3rd rounder next year.

Top pick Norbert Page is signed to a 5 year deal with a $6m signing bonus. He's currently ranked as our last G on the roster (54 good) but tops everyone with a future estimate at 100 (excellent). Clearly a good investment for the future, something we would have had to do anyways in the next couple of years.

2nd rounder DT Maloney is signed to a 3 year deal. He is listed as 4th DT on the roster. We badly needed a player at that position so his presence is fine.

3rd rounder LB Monroe is signed since his future estimate of 94 will be valuable someday. We then trade our 4th LB K.C Morton to the Eagles agains RB Wade Clinton (solid backup who will fight for the n°2 spot behing Sheen) and a 2nd rounder next year.

The Seattle Seahawks want to trade their 1st round pick in 2010 for BJ Mudgett
rejected of course.
The Packers propose a 4th rounder for starting TE Ronald Stark...rejected.

We sell 69,500 tickets out of 70,300.

After training camp we sign FA WR Rufus Carlson (5th year former 1st round pick from Baltimore), starter the past 4 seasons with the Ravens where he caught last season 64 passes for 976 yards and 8 TDs. He sould be our 4th receiver on the depth chart this year.

We also sign two other FAs, a CB and a DT to provide some depth.
At the start of the Exhibition season we are $8,630,000 under the cap.

The Browns are "worth" $767,250,000 (1st NFL)
Stadium (41)
Roster (100)
Support (96)
Economy (53)

Pre-season :

We finish the preseason 3-1 (playing in convincing fashion).
We rested most of our starters and had some good surprises : FA Pickup RB Wade Clinton was awesome during those games, he's the n°2 back and looks like a very good deal. QB Chapman had a fine preseason until the 4th game where he threw 3 INTs but else than that, he looks ok to backup our future Hall of Famer Blaine Davies.

No major injury so far, WR Bushon has a dislocated shoulder (questionnable 3/5 weeks); CB Ross Dawson has a turf toe (questionnable 0-2 weeks) and WR Hardy Dougherty has a sprained knee (probable 0-2 weeks).

All in all this team, coming off a 7-9 season last year looks stable and i'm clearly ambitious at the start of the regular season.

Roster Cohesion :

passing (83)
Off Line (92)
Deff front (95)
secondary (61)

regular season 2009 starts :

Week 1 Browns Vs titans (titans were 9-7 last year) - 6pt fav : W 18-15
a defensive struggle...We are blown with 2 long TD passes (85 and 68 yards) and our offense moves the ball downfield but just can't score. our FA K Gardner misses two important kicks but delivers when it matters the most with a winning 36 yard FG with 8 seconds left.
Davies 24/48 357 yards
sheen 23 for 53 yards 1 TD but also 9 catches for 106 yards !
Woodson 7 catches 127 yards

Week 2 Browns (1-0) Vs Bills (1-0) - 8pt fav : L 17-34
We are down 0-17 at the end of the 1st quarter. Davis brings the team back and the score is tied at the half. the second half is terrible has Davies is intercepted twice in critical situations and once again we are blown with 40+ yards TDs.
Davies 17/35 286 yards 2 TDs 2 INTs
Sheen 12 for 52 yards
Carlson 4 catches for 77 yards 2 TDs

Week 3 Browns (1-1) @ Jaguars (1-1) - 1pt fav : W 21-17
another bad game...another rally. Again we're down 0-17 at the half and it is the Jaguars' backup QB playing. Again we comeback in the second half thanks to Davies and Sheen. for the 3rd straught week our secondary has been burnt for long gain. This is becoming a concern. Our offensive line, also, seems to be in difficulty and Sheen can't gain the yars he should to help set up the pass.
Davies 13/26 207 yards 1 TD
Sheen 19 for 88 yards 2 TDs
Woodson 3 catches for 46 yards
Swift, Ferderer and Carr all intercepted one pass

S Lincoln Wright has a hip pointer (questionnable 3-5 weeks)

Week 4 Browns (2-1) Vs Ravens (1-2) - 7pt fav : W 34-13
at last a great performance !
Blaine Davies is exceptionnal earning NFL Offensive player of the week honors. We lead the game from beginning to end and show former Browns QB Sieh (now Ravens starter) that he still has some work to do.
Davies 26/36 394 yards 3 TDs
Sheen 15 for 75 yards 1 TD (Sheen has yet to reach the 100 yard mark this year)
Wallace 7 catches for 135 yards 1 TD
Carr had 1 interception and Lincoln, Hixson and Champion all had a sack.

Ronald Stark, TE sprained ankle full strength in 3-5 Weeks
Christian Ferderer, CB - Dislocated Shoulder, full strength in 3-5 Weeks
Dale Hixson, DE - Shoulder Tendonitis, full strength in 3-5 Weeks

Week 5 Browns (3-1) @ Bengals (2-1-1) - 3pt underdog : L 26-47
another terrible game for the Browns, incapable of doing anything. The defense is once agains shredded for big yardage and tons of first downs...we just can't stop anybody at the moment.
Davies 10/23 146 yards 2 TDs 1 INT
Sheen 9 for 44 yards !
Woodson 2 catches for 57 Yards ! 2 TDs

Sheen is an absolute non-factor so far...We're 3-2 after 5 games and struggling much more than expected. Davies leads the NFL with 1390 passing yards and is 6th in QB Rating (89,6).
Sheen has only 312 yards so far.
We must have him regain his old form or we'll be in troubles.

Week 6 Browns (3-2) Vs Spangles (2-3) - 3pt fav : W 38-10
at last Sheen has his breakthrough game ! 2 big TD rushes boost his total of the day to a season best 203 yards on only 11 carries ! Sheen is named NFL Offensive player of the week. Davies is not as poised as usual but the running game was there and it is a relief to everyone.
Davies 16/32 222 yards 1 TD 3 INTs
Sheen 11 for 203 yards 2 TDs
Bushon 5 cathes for 112 yards.
McElroy and Dawson each had an interception and Champion had 3.5 sacks !

Week 7 OPEN

Week 8 Browns (4-2) Vs Redskins (3-3) - 7pt fav : W 37-9
For the second week in a row the Browns play a great and complete game both on offense and defense and this time it is QB Davies who steals the show. Davies is named NFL offensive player of the week for the 2nd time this season.
Davies 25/36 320 yards 3 TDs (he was replaced after 3 quarters ! ala Kurt Warner)
Sheen 18 for 59 yards and 7 catches for 71 yards
Wallace 4 catches for 61 yards and 2 TDs
Duke intercepted one pass and returned it 77 yards for a score

B.J. Bushon, WR - Sprained Back, full strength in time for the playoffs

Week 9 Browns (5-2) @ Giants (0-7) - 8pt fav : W 24-21
ouch.
almost the upset of the year against the winless Giants who now drop their record to 0-8.
In this game we seem out of sync very unlike the previous two weeks were we were in total control. But these are the Giants, winless, and we were able despite an average game to hold on to the win.
Davies 16/29 194 yards 1 TD 1 INT
Sheen 26 for 109 yards for 1 TD
Woodson 5 catches for 65 yards 1 TD
James and Pieper each had 1.5 sacks.

Mid-season report :
With this win (3rd in a row) we improve to 6-2 1st place AFC Central (The Steelers are 2nd at 5-3 having lost their last 3).

QB Blaine Davies is 2nd in the NFL with 2126 yards, 4th in TD passes (13) and 5th in QB rating (87,0).
RB Donnie Sheen is 5th in the NFL with 683 yards and 2nd with 7 rushing TDs. he averages 5.1 yard per carry. Sheen is also the receiving leader of the team so far with 35 catches.
The first Brown receiver ranked is Willie Woodson with 31 catches for 471 yards 4 TDs.
On defense, the only player worth looking at so far is Duke Rufus with his 57 tackles (12th in the NFL)

Hopefully we will get more consistent during the 2nd half and our defense, which has been struggling so far, will improve.
We have a big game coming up Vs 2nd place Pittsburgh Steelers.
Starting S Lincoln Wright is doubtful with a broken hand and will be kept out of the game.

Week 10 Browns (6-2) @ Steelers (5-3) -2pt fav : L 21-24
We blow a 14-0 half time lead.
B.J Mudgett, coming off an injury showed why he was a dominant force, preventing the Steelers from moving the ball but he re-injured himself early in the 2nd half and from that point, once again the opposing team started pilling 1st downs...
this loss puts the Steelers back in 1st place in the division. a bad loss.
Davies 17/32 262 yards 3 TDs 1 INT
Sheen 20 for 42 yards...
Wallace 5 catches for 73 yards 1 TD
Swift had an interception and Duke, Hixson and James each had a sack.

Week 11 Browns (6-3) Vs Jaguars (3-5-1) -8pt fav : W 37-34 OT
AWESOME win in overtime !!!
we take an early 10-0 lead...but the Jags come back and score 24 unanswered points to lead us 24-10. then they add a FG : 27-10.
We come back in the game and even take a 31-27 lead. But with 2 minutes left to play, Jacksonville scores another TD to regain the lead 34-31.
Davies moves the ball well downfield, and with 6 seconds left, a 40 yard FG sends the game on OT.
We start off with the ball but on are stopped on our own 40 yards, the punt is bad and the Jags recover on their own 45 yards...and then...FUMBLE !
recovered by the Browns...Davies moves the ball well once again and a 25 yard FG gives us this incredible and precious win.
Davies 23/47 321 yards 1 TD 2 INTs
Sheen 21 for 40 yards (same old story...)
Wallace 7 catches for 94 yards
Duke 7 tackles and 1 interception returned for a TD. Roose and Taylor each had 1 sack.

The Steelers lost at home 21-20 to the Cowboys this afternoon so we, Browns, regain the AFC Central lead. What a WE !

Week 12 Browns (7-3) @ Ravens (2-8) - 6pt fav : L 0-27
what to say ? well probably the worst game in Browns history.
Davies and Sheen I'm amlost certain, never had such awful games :
Davies 15/42 135 yards 3 INTS
Sheen 10 for 19 yards 2 fumbles
Carlson 3 catches for 24 yards.
a total disaster...unbelievable.
Maybe last week's emotional OT win has something to do with this debacle. Anyways, i can't wait to see how the team will respond for the next game Vs our nemesis New England Patriots

Week 13 Browns (7-4) @ Patriots (7-4) -2pt underdog : L 6-29
For the second straight week, no TD.
Davies 12/38 176 yards 1 INT
Sheen is out of the game in the 1st quarter
Clinton 12 for 4 yards !
Woodson 4 catches for 97 yards

G Raleig Roundtree and WR Bushon are both out until next year. they will be placed on IR.
We have too many injuries to key players both on offense and defense and as crazy as it seems...our offense (usually a force) has been going 3 and out for the last 2 games.
We have lost 2 in a row and 3 of our past 4.
There are 4 games left on the schedule and everything is still possible.

Week 14 Browns (7-5) @ Eagles (8-4) -2pt underdog : W 26-14
That wasn't pretty again but still it is a win, and against a solid team which should make the playoffs again this year.
We really have concerns with our punting. Since the very beginning of the year, too many 20-25 yar punts put us in terrible position. This is something that will have to be stressed in the offseason.
Davis 20/34 259 yards 1 TD
Sheen 23 for 95 yards 1 TD
Wallace 4 catches for 71 yards 1 TD
Quinn and Wright each had an interception.

Week 15 Browns (8-5) @ Titans (5-8) -3pt fav : W 36-10
Blaine Davies goes 2 for 2 for 35 yards before spraining his knee.
His replacement, Chapman, fires 2 TD passes on his first two attempts and brings the team to an all important lead before being injured as well. 3rd stringer Donovan Hemphill comes in and doesn't make to many mistakes but the true hero is WR Harvey Wallace who, at last, has a game to show for his stats ! the Browns win this one : fresh air !
Chapman 12/24 177 yards 2 TDs
Hemphill 9/20 101 yards 1 INT
Sheen 19 for 90 yards
Wallace 8 catches for 131 yards 2 TDs
Carr and Ferderer each had an interception.

Harvey Wallace, WR - Hyperextended Knee, full strength in 3-5 Weeks
bad news since he's our n°1 receiver and was just coming from his best game of the year.

Cory Corbett, G - Deep Thigh Bruise, full strength in 3-5 Weeks
Too injured, must stay away from the next game.

Week 16 Browns (9-5) Vs Steelers (7-7) -6pt fav : W 24-20
The Steelers, since a 5-0 start, have lost 7 of their past 9 games and find themselves in 3rd place in the division fighting for a playoff birth.
Down early in the 4th quarter, QB Davies goes wild and fires at will. The result is yet another great comeback and a 3rd straight win for the Browns who win their 10th of the season.
Davies 19/34 254 yards 1 TD 1 INT
Sheen 14 for 89 yards 1 TD
Dougherty 7 catches for 102
Wright and Dawson each had an interception ; Champion and James both had 1 sack.

Freddie Kobeski, LB - Broken Ankle, full strength in 2010, to be placed on IR

The season finale is for the AFC Central title : 1st place Bengals Vs 2nd place Browns
Though both teams are already qualified for the Playoffs, the winner wins the division.

Week 17 Browns (10-5) Vs Bengals (10-4-1) -4pt fav : W 24-20
Yeahaaaa
4th win in a row that gives us an 11-5 record and the AFC Central Title !!!
Down 14 zip the Browns came back strong thanks to 2 TD passes from Blaine Davies and a good game from Donnie Sheen.
Davies 18/31 273 yards 2 TDs
Sheen 24 for 92 yards 1 TD also 5 catches for 41 yards.
champion had 1.5 sacks.

At 11-5 the Browns win the AFC Central and have a 1st round playoff bye.

Playoff teams :
AFC
Raiders (13-3)
Browns (11-5)
Patriots (10-6)
Bengals (10-5-1)
Broncos (10-6)
Seahawks (9-7)

NFC
Panthers (12-3-1)
Eagles (11-5)
Buccaneers (10-6)
Rams (11-5)
Cowboys (11-5)
Lions (10-6)

Wild-card games :
Broncos @ Bengals 16-41
Cowboys @ Rams 16-21
Lions @ Bucs 10-38
Seahawks @ Patriots 14-41

Divisional Playoffs
Rams @ Panthers 16-26
Bengals @ Raiders 28-31
Bucs @ Eagles 27-7

The Patriots beat us 26-9 in W13 earlier this season...

Cleveland Browns (11-5) Vs New England Patriots (11-6) -5pt fav : W 24-10
A great effort and a huge win over our perennial nemesis Patriots. Blaine Davis is offensive player of the week as he leads the Browns to another appearance in the AFC championship game.
The game was not an easy one obviously but we controled the clock though Donnie Sheen had to leave early in the 2nd quarter, we then relied on Clinton but it is 3rd string RB Tom Battle who cleared the way with a 22 yard TD run late in the game.
Davies 23/37 305 yards 2 TDs 2 INTs
Battle 4 for 59 yards 1 TD
Carlson 6 catches for 84 yards 1 TD
Wright had 1 interception

Championship Weekend

NFC Championship Game :
Bucs @ Panthers : 17-31

AFC Championship game
Browns (12-5) @ Raiders (14-3) -5pt underdog : W 41-23
1st play from scrimmage and Donnie Sheen has his longest run of the year : an 80 yard TD run !
That would give the tempo for the rest of the game.
The Raiders QB was intercepted 3 times and Sheen had a career day. Actually, this Championship game was a total mismatch ever since Donnie sheen broke furiously for the 80 yard score. The rest is history and the Browns are going back to the Super Bowl !
Davies 22/37 218 yards 1 TD 1 INT
Sheen 15 for 210 yards 4 TDs !!!!! offensive player of the week
Woodson 6 catches for 69 yards 1 TD
Wright, Carr and Quinn each had an interception

SuperBowl 2009 :
AFC Champions Cleveland Browns Vs NFC Champions Carolina Panthers -5pt underdog
Down 17-6 at the half things don't seem too good. The offense struggles a bit and Carolina pushes hard. But early in the 3rd quarter, Davies throws a 5yard TD pass to Woodson and the 2pt conversion is good so both teams are tied at 14. Then Panthers and Browns exchange Field-goals to make it 17-17 and with 1:06 to play, The Browns have one last chance with the ball on their own 34. Superstar QB Blaine Davies throws the deep bomb and that sets up a 34 yard FA attempt with 5 seconds left in the game..it is good !
Cleveland wins the SuperBowl 20-17 !
Davies 19/31 278 yards 1 TD 1 INT
Sheen 16 for 29 yards
Woodson 8 catches for 150 yards 1 TD (SuperBowl MVP)
Champion had 1 sack.

For the 2nd time in 3 years and 3 time in 5 years, Cleveland Browns had won a World Championship.
We can be proud of our 2009 journey since it came after a 7-9 season in 2008.

The team went back to the big game and took home the Lombardi trophee once again.
Browns forever !

2009 Awards :
WR Willie Woodson is SuperBowl MVP
RB Donnie Sheen is All-League 1st team RB and Offensive Player of the Year
LB Rufus Duke is All-League 1st team LB

2009 Stats
QB Blaine Davies 16/16 273/525 52.0 3841 yards 21 TDs 15 INTs Rating : 77,3 (13th NFL)
RB Donnie Sheen 16/16 265 carries for 1149 yards 4.3/c 10 TDs (8th NFL)
Sheen is also the team's n° receiver this year with 56 catches for 543 yards 1 TD.

WR Willie Woodson 54 catches 905 yards 5 TDs
WR Harvey Wallace 52 catches 799 yards 8 TDs (was injured most of the 2nd half of the year)
LB Rufus Duke 108 tackles
DE Matt Champion 8.0 sacks
CB B.J Carr 3 interceptions

Offense
Passing : 260,8 yds/g (1st)
Rushing : 111 yds/g (19th)

Deffense
Passing : 201,4 yds/g (10th)
Rushing : 141,3 yds/g (31st)

Blaine Davies, 2 years removed from an NFL MVP season had a rough statistical year though he finished 2nd in the league with almost 3900 yards. But still led the team to a 3 SuperBowl title.
He started all 16 games which ends speculation regarding his durability.

Donnie Sheen was not unfortunately a major running threat as he had way too many 60-yds-minus games. His Offensive player of the year honor is mainly due to his great catching abilities (ala Marshall Faulk).
But he had a career game when it mattered the most in the AFC Championship and that was great.

Our defense had not been good, this is something that will have to be worked on, especially the defense Vs the run which is terrible (next to last NFL).

All in all, the season had highs ans lows but we have winners on this team and they always find a way to get themselves out of trouble and never forget the stakes.