Linebacker Matt Roth is becoming the face of the Cleveland Browns defense -- tough, smart, nasty, and maybe even a little crazy.
View full sizeMatt Roth's fourth-quarter sack of QB Carson Palmer ended the Bengals' final scoring threat last Sunday. The Browns linebacker has created a reputation of being the team's most extroverted -- and dynamic -- defender. "He's an animal," said fullback Lawrence Vickers. "If I were to play defense, I'd play like Matt Roth." • Browns vs. Atlanta Falcons, Sunday, 1 p.m. TV: WJW Ch. 8
TONY GROSSI’S FOUR THINGS ON BROWNS VS. FALCONS
1. Power ball: This game could be over in less than three hours. Falcons like to mash the ball on offense and eat up the clock with possession time. Browns have settled on mashing the ball with Peyton Hillis and have steadily increased their possession time. Couple differences: The Falcons’ offense has much more diversity, and Browns’ defense more stout against the run.
2. Atlanta Superfecta: The best offensive teams have that really good trifecta of quarterback-running back-wide receiver. The Falcons take it one step further by throwing in a future Hall of Fame tight end. You might not find a better overall foursome than QB Matt Ryan, RB Michael Turner, WR Roddy White and TE Tony Gonzalez.
3. The place where kickers go to die: Atlanta kickoff specialist Mike Koenen is second in the NFL with nine touchbacks, which is a large reason why the Falcons hold opponents to the lowest average drive start after kickoffs at just a fraction past the 20-yard line. Three of Atlanta’s games have been played inside a dome. Koenen did register two touchbacks in Pittsburgh, however. We’ll see how he does here, where big-legged Mike Nugent barely kicked it to the 10 last week. Josh Cribbs is overdue.
4. Mo Mass: If Jake Delhomme indeed is back in the saddle, you’ve got to figure the happiest player to see it would be Mohamed Massaquoi. The receiver caught two passes from Delhomme in the season opener against Tampa Bay, one for a 41-yard TD. Over the next three games with Delhomme out with a high ankle sprain, Mohamed saw only eight passes targeted for him, and caught two.
— Tony Grossi
PLAIN DEALER PREDICTIONS
The line: Falcons by 3
Mary Kay Cabot (2-2)
Falcons 23, Browns 20: The Falcons' balanced attack, featuring Turner and White, prevails.
Tony Grossi (1-3)
Browns 20, Falcons 19: Falcons are still a little dicey away from their dome.
Bill Livingston (1-3)
Falcons 23, Browns 19: I just don’t think the Bengals, last week’s victim, are that good.
Terry Pluto (2-2)
Browns 17, Falcons 14: I have gone back and forth all week on this, and finally decided to go with the home team.
Bud Shaw (2-2)
Falcons 24, Browns 20: Atlanta somehow finds way to neutralize Browns’ wide receivers.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Matt Roth pumps his fists up towards his ears and then flexes his Popeye-sized biceps, one emblazoned with flames. Then, he screws his face up into a nasty scowl to the roar of the crowd.
It's a quintessential Roth moment, and more often than not, there's a quarterback or tight end crumpled to the ground when it happens. The latest victim was Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer, who was drilled by the Browns' linebacker at the end of last week's victory and never got his offense back on the field.
Bam! Game almost over. Biceps a'poppin.
"He's a good friend and even I'm afraid of him on the field," said left tackle Joe Thomas with a laugh.
Roth, claimed off waivers from Miami last November, is becoming the face of the Browns' defense: tough, smart, relentless. Maybe even a little ornery and nasty.
"I love him," said defensive coordinator Rob Ryan. "I don't think there's a tougher guy -- a genuine tough guy -- in football. There's no question he's not pretty. He's smart, he's tough, he's so physical. I don't think there's a guy in the league that he'd back up to."
Roth (6-4, 275 pounds) is hoping to unleash some of the same wrath on the Falcons Sunday as he did on the Bengals: a career-high two sacks, three tackles for a loss, three quarterbacks hits and six tackles, second-best on the team.
"He had a great game," said coach Eric Mangini. "He had the two sacks, but he had another rush where he blew up a guard. He had another play against one of their tight ends where he threw him off. It's attrition with him. There are the ones that he gets and then there's the other hits that happen over the course of the game which establishes a presence.
"He's hard to block with a tight end, he can challenge any tackle that they put out there and he's just angry. It's a good angry."
Thomas pities the tight end that has to confront Roth.
"The tackles can't even block him, so there's no way a tight end could," he said. "Kellen [Winslow] was running away from him in Tampa."
"I don't think there's a tougher guy -- a genuine tough guy -- in football," says Browns defensive coordinator Rob Ryan about linebacker Matt Roth.Just ask Browns tight end Evan Moore, who tried to block Roth every day in training camp.
"I asked him what I was doing wrong," said Moore. "He said, 'you're not doing anything wrong. No tight end will ever block me.' I said, 'well you can't guard me, so I guess we're even.'"
Has there been one who could handle Roth?
"I haven't see him, but you know, that's my deal," said Roth. "It's a mismatch every week. I go to the tight end side and rough those guys up. That's who I am. My whole philosophy is knock 'em on the ground I don't got to cover 'em."
The task Sunday will go to Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez, whom Scott Fujita calls "without a doubt the best tight in the history of the NFL."
"He's mostly going out for routes, so he doesn't block and I don't expect him to try and block me," said Roth. "That's one aspect of my game I need to keep working on, because it's hard to cover these tight ends in this league."
Said Gonzalez, who's faced Roth four times, "He doesn't have too many moves -- just bull-rushing and a guy that likes to get after it. He has a high motor. He's one of those guys you better be prepared for or he'll embarrass you."
Roth's teammates love that he's a little crazy, both on and off the field.
"If you told Matt there'd be some benefit in running into a brick wall head first, he'd do it," said linebacker David Bowens, who also played with Roth in Miami. "He doesn't care. He has no fear."
Said Fujita: "He's one of a kind. I've only know him for a few months now, but he's got uncanny strength. I don't know where it comes from. He's not a big weight room guy. It must be his experience as a wrestler. He's so strong he can almost take over one side of the line. There's something about him. You put someone in front of him and he just destroys the guy."
An undefeated state wrestling champ in high school, Roth attributes some of his success to that.
"It helps a lot," he said. "It helps with your hips, it helps you be explosive and helps you be able to throw off. That's one thing being low, it helps a lot at outside linebacker."
Roth has endeared himself to the offensive players as well as the defensive ones.
"He's an animal," said fullback Lawrence Vickers. "If I were to play defense, I'd play like Matt Roth. And everything that comes out of his mouth is funny. I don't know if he means to be or not. But he's got the whole package: he's good, he's funny and he's ugly."
Roth isn't exactly sure why everyone describes him as crazy.
"That's just how they perceive me," he said. "I'm not chewing on the end of my locker. I think I'm just a regular ol' guy."
But the mad dog rap has served him well.
"My mom won't [like it], but I'll take it," he said.
Now, about that flex.
"We made fun of him," said Thomas. "I told him he's got to come up with another sack dance, because that's pretty weak. We're going to be seeing more sacks from him."