I still wouldn’t be surprised to see a sack from Harrison. The problem for the O-line is one slip up all game can easily mean a sack. Mario still got around Smith who by all accounts did a damn fine job on him.

Hopefully Woodley continues his ‘coming out party’ and put DA on his back on Sunday.

more of Big Snack plowing up the middle like he did a few times last game. That is a thing of beauty to see.

Admittedly, I’m no scout MVT. That being said, I can’t argue much with what the Scouts, Inc guys said. Schaffer certainly can be beat by both the speed and power rush. In the end, however, the most telling stat about the Browns’ pass protection is that they allowed DA to be sacked only 14 times all of last year. Regardless of whether or not we faced a tandem as talented as Harrison/Woodley, that stat emphasizes how well the entire line pass protects as a group. When you’ve got Thomas and Steinbach usually able to go one on one in their match ups, it really helps cover up deficiencies on the right side.

Another factor is DA himself. He really has as much to do with the sack numbers as the line. This guy gets rid of the ball, which is good, but he does it so much so as to almost be a fault. I’ve read a lot about him reviewing tape of passes he let fly quickly, and noticing that if he had let the play develop a little longer a more attractive opening was there on another route. Sort of a double edged sword, if you will.

Finally, the line seemed to play below their level in the preseason, and that carried over a bit in the Cowboys game. This is what Keith Kidd, a Scouts Inc guy, said after reviewing tape of Week 1

After looking at the tape, the missed time in the preseason and the lack of continuity with his receivers affected the way Derek Anderson performed on Sunday. With that said, the offensive line was a huge disappointment too. Anderson is a prototype drop-back passer who has the arm strength to attack all levels in the passing game. But he’s not real accurate as a passer and didn’t seem real confident when attacking the pocket. His eyes and shoulder level was not real consistent and he looked to throw with a stiff front leg, which affected his accuracy. I can’t seem to get the Cincinnati Bengals game out of my mind from a year ago in late December. However, he is still a young player that lacks experience at a critical position. This week against the Steelers he needs to make better decisions while getting a better grasp of the game plan against a very complex Steelers defense under Dick LeBeau.

Also, I had been meaning to post this over here a while back, but I had trouble getting the link to work. It’s a thorough and insightful inside look at the Browns’ offseason. I think it would be of interest to any football fan, really, especially the lowdown on the Shaun Rogers trade.

http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1144912/1/index.htm