Cleveland, Ohio -- Yeah, it's a teensy bit premature. Also optimistic, fantastic and darn near ludicrous. But stranger things have happened. Julia Roberts married Lyle Lovett. William Hung got a record deal. Buster Douglas beat Mike Tyson. Brett Favre retired and stayed that way. Oh, well. Three out of four ain't bad. But let's play the what-if game. The...
View full sizeColt McCoy is likely to draw his first NFL start as quarterback of the Cleveland Browns against the Pittsburgh Steelers. What if lightning strikes and he wins?Oh, well. Three out of four ain't bad.
But let's play the what-if game. The Browns have 11 games remaining on the regular season schedule. The ankle injuries to starter Jake Delhomme and backup Seneca Wallace are pretty darn severe, and of the ilk that usually means a four- to six-week hiatus. Delhomme, 35, could be hobbled even longer; sadly, Starting Blocks is of the age to know that a few more rings in the tree trunk mean healing takes a bit longer.
McCoy's task isn't made any easier by the strained quad bulldog back Peyton Hillis suffered in practice last week and aggravated in the loss to the Falcons. Or the fact that this is Ben Roethlisberger's first action after serving a four-game suspension for violating the league's personal conduct policy. Or that the Steelers are still hacked over the Browns essentially driving the final nail in their playoff hopes last year with a 13-6 win in a blizzard here in Cleveland.
But let's just say the kid pulls it off. After all, he came from a big-time college program, set records for completions and accuracy and pretty much grew up with a football in his hand. Aside from quaffing a few celebratory Lone Star beers (which, SB, being a Texas native can tell you, is only slightly better than the legendary Pride of Cleveland), what does the Browns brass do?
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