In the upcoming weeks, look for the Ohio teams to battle in the Central Division. Who will win more games this season the Browns or the Bengals?

By JAMES W. WADE III
Staff Reporter

The Browns will have their last pre season game facing the Chicago Bears this Thursday night at home. Coming off a loss the team will focus on getting back on track and hopefully come out as a 3 and 1 team at the end of the preseason.

On September 9, the Browns will open their season against the Philadelphia Eagles at Cleveland Stadium at 1 p.m.

The  Browns lost their first pre season game at home against the Philadelphia Eagles 27 to 10, without the help of Eagles star quarterback Michael Vick. The Browns struggled throughout the entire game and were plagued with several turnovers.

Browns quarterback Brandon Weeden showed his fans that he can throw the ball down field and should not be counted out due to his age. “I thought Brandon Weeden stood in there and did some good things,” said Browns Head Coach Pat Shurmur.

Weeden looked good coming out and connecting on his first four passes, especially a nice sideline pass to Josh Gordon. While the stands were not full, fans were cheering and yelling for the Browns to win another game before everything went wrong.

Weeden was sacked three times and he also fumbled twice which became a turnover.

“Obviously we talked about it after week one of the preseason. The first fumble was a screen play and I tried to get my eyes around, however, the defensive lineman was right on top of me to make the play. I will have to watch for that more carefully; because I didn’t have good feel for what was going on during the play. The second turnover was my fault; I have to take care of the football. I understand the importance of ball security, it’s a weakness of mine and I have to continue to work on it,” said Weeden.

The Browns three turnovers and a blocked punt were converted by the Eagles into 17 points. Thanks to the arm of Colt McCoy, who connected with tight end Evan Moore for a touchdown in the third quarter, the Brown finally made it into the end zone.

The fans hope to look forward to a lot of plays between Weeden and Gordon, who had three catches for 50 yards Friday night. “It’s a big difference. I feel more comfortable with the plays and being able to pick out the defensive schemes. I’m trying to go out there and make the plays I can. The fact that we could connect a couple times, does help on the field,” said Gordon.

“The Eagles defensive line is very quick and talented, so having good protection is key, so if I get the ball down the field, we can have success. I was very accurate with the majority of my passes tonight. I was able to read the Eagles defensive scheme many times, however I wish I could have some of those throws back. Overall, (wide receivers) Mohamed (Massaquoi) and Greg (Little) and I just need to get on the same page,” said Weeden.

Despite all the confusion between defensive back Joe Haden and coach Shurmur, Haden was on fire in the secondary. Haden got his first interception of the preseason to increase the team’s total to six this year. The Browns’ six interceptions are tied for the most in the league this preseason. hey have to come in playing better than they did against the Eagles. The Bears are riding on a win from the New York Giants. Both teams enter the contest with 2 – 1 records. Thursday’s contest marks the ninth consecutive season that the two teams meet in the preseason finale. During that span, the series is tied at 4-4, whileClevelandholds a 17-10 all-time edge in the preseason series.

In the upcoming weeks, look for theOhioteams to battle in the Central Division. Who will win more games this season the Browns or the Bengals?