Capitol Dawg Pound

Since the NFL has gone to their rotating conference scheduling method a few years ago, before the 2006 NFL schedule last week was announced there was only really one unknown.

How would games be assigned across the 17-week schedule?

Because the Browns finished last in the AFC North, they were destined to play the last place teams in the AFC South and the AFC East. Enter Texas and the Jets, who finished last in their respective divisions with a combined 6-26 record, and short of Reggie Bush neither appear to much improved this year (I will ignore the fact we handed Texas one of their 2 wins). By comparision, marginal AFC North winners Cincy drew New England and Indianapolis....sucks to be them.

By the way, the Texans are getting 101-1 odds to win the 2007 Super Bowl (longest odds in the league). The Browns are getting 81-1. As soon as I-80 clears up I may have to make a day trip to Reno.

The Browns open at home against New Orleans, which is a good opportunity to start the season with a solid win. Ending at the Texans, that could make for a good bookended season. The only really tough stretch I see is weeks 11-14 which goes Pittsburgh/Cinci/KC/Pittsburgh. Other than that there is a pretty good mix-up of tough versus weaker teams. Also, I think a week 6 bye is one of the better positions to be in, particular with two home games right behind it.

And the NFL again graced us with one nationally televised game against the Steelers on Thursday, December 7th. Am I wrong, or do we always get only one game per year, and always against the Steelers?

And of course, the Browns make two (count 'em - TWO!) trips to the Golden State this year. Bad for jet-lag, good for the Capitol Dawg Pound.

San Diego on November 5th and back to Oakland on October 1st. Last year it rained in Oakland which prompted most Parole Officers to order various felons to stay home, making crowd fairly tame. This year, with the possibility that potential Nobel Prize laureate Vince Young will be playing QB for the Raiders, the crowd might not be so friendly to my Brown and Orange.