January 24
Cleveland Plain Dealer
columnist Bill Livingstone
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The New York Jets are playing for a spot in the Super Bowl Sunday against Indianapolis. On their roster is wide receiver Braylon Edwards, who deflected blame with the Browns the way he deflected passes that came his way. The Browns have defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, who is the brother of the Jets' much-praised head coach Rex Ryan. At the moment, they have no wide receiver with more drops than the 82nd Airborne. They also have no immediate Super Bowl prospects. They do have the Jets' old coach, however, in Eric Mangini. The Browns had a four-game winning streak when the season ended. Maybe the games didn't mean much, but victories might have been tougher to get than in the two games ..."
January 19
Akron Beacon Journal
columnist Patrick McManamon
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It's come to this in the NFL playoffs: The coach the Browns could have had is leading the quarterback the Browns should have had throwing to the wide receiver they did have. J-e-t-s. Jets, Jets, Jets. Those fast-flying planes are running on Browns fuel. On Sunday, they play in the AFC Championship Game, with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line. Meanwhile, the Browns remain one of five teams never to make the big game — a list that could shorten to four if the New Orleans Saints go this season. Do these things happen in other NFL cities? Fate, and the NFL gods, just cannot seem to leave the Browns alone. There's just no ignoring the reality that the team that fired the coach now employed ..."
January 18
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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There have been some whispers around the league, similar to last off-season, that the Seattle Seahawks could make the aging Matt Hasselbeck available in the right deal. Although new Head Coach Pete Carroll has praised Hasselbeck and said he looks forward to having a Quarterback with his experience, the new regime may want to completely blow up and start over. Even in a down year in a broken down offense, no running game, and back-to-back four-INT games, he still finished with the 17th best passer rating; ahead of 15 other starting QB's. If he has an offensive line in front of him, he can still be a top ten passer. I personally don't advocate dealing Hasselbeck, I think they have other more ..."