Bill Belichick Hearts Joshua Cribbs

Filed under: Browns, Patriots, AFC East, AFC North

The Browns and the Patriots will have a little get together this weekend, and you know what? New England might actually have more pressure on them in this game than any that preceded it this season. For starters, Cleveland is playing inspired football, having won two of their first four games, both in the division.

For the Pats, there’s also the “trap game” phenomenon, and Sunday’s game seems like a prime example. If the Browns were 0-4 or 1-3, I don’t think anybody would be worried. But at 2-2 (and let’s be honest, they could very easily be 3-1 if not for the late-game implosion in Oakland), they’re not good enough to call a playoff team (or even a .500 team over the course of 17 weeks), but they’re no longer patsies either.

That said, Bill Belichick is a master motivator, and will surely find a way to keep his peeps focused. The Browns’ best chance might not come on offense or defense, but on special teams. Specifically, return dude Joshua Cribbs. And Belichick understands as much:

“One of the most impressive players that I’ve seen in a while is Cribbs,” Belichick told reporters … “This guy is really good. “He has them every week - punts and kickoff returns. He also plays for them on the coverage teams, and they use him some as a specialty guy on offense with some gadget plays and formations and stuff like that. He’s a pretty impressive player.”

High praise from the Unabomber. I’m sure he’ll come with some hair-brained scheme to stop Cribbs — Belichick has a knack for taking away what opponents do well — and then it’ll be up to Derek Anderson and the defense. Let’s hope Cribbs has a big day.

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