Tonight begins one of sports’ biggest scam for its fans: The NFL Preseason Games. Actually, the games started last weeking in Canton with the Hall of Fame Game, but this evening the Cleveland Browns take the field for the first time against someone other than themselves.
Paying full prices to see legitimate NFL players play for 15 minutes ranks as one of the biggest injustices in sports.
And tomorrow will start the over-reaction of fans and sports talk show hosts who will overanalyze most of the things that happen in the game. And if the Browns win, they will be considered a playoff team by some, and if they lose, people will forecast another dismal season by the orange and brown.
Don’t buy into anything you see from the team tonight. THE GAME MEANS NOTHING!!!!
What should you watch instead? Look at the performance of individual players. Check out how the rookies play. Safety T.J. Ward has been getting rave reviews in training camp, see if he merits that hype against a good offensive team like the Packers, or if the Browns’ front office is merely justifying a pick that many draft experts thought was a reach.
Check out how the secondary as a whole plays. GM Tom Heckert brought in three draft picks and veteran Sheldon Brown over the off-season to upgrade the unit. If Green Bay receivers are running free in the first half, that’s not a good sign.
Watch how the offense functions with Jake Delhomme at quarterback. Is he forcing balls into coverage like he had a tendency to do in his last season with Carolina? And are young wide receivers like Mohammed Massaquoi and Brian Robiske getting open and catching the ball?
Also, watch for the improvement of other second year guys like Alex Mack, Evan Moore, and Coye Francies. Mack showed signs he can be a stud, and can the latter two be contributors to the 2010 edition of the Browns.
Another thing, don’t pay much attention to the second half. This isn’t what the advertisers who are paying for time on tonight’s broadcast/telecast want to hear, but much of play after halftime will be done by players who will not be on NFL rosters come opening day. The one thing Browns’ fans will be anxious to see is the fourth quarter, when Colt McCoy will make his long awaited debut.
You also don’t know how the respective coaching staffs will play the game. Some coaches think it is important to win these games to develop a winning attitude. Others don’t want future opponents in the regular season to see game plans so they play it very vanilla. Remember, the Detroit Lions won all their exhibi…pre-season games two years ago, and then went 0-16 when it counted.
Oh, and one more thing. Hope there are no serious injuries. For both teams.
Enjoy the game, football is back, and that means a lot to this pigskin crazed city. Just don’t overreact. When the Browns take the field for their opener against Tampa Bay, they will be 0-0 for the season. No matter what happens tonight.
JD
Cleveland Sports Perspective 