Fresh off the heels of yesterday's Saturday's firing of GM Phil Savage, the Cleveland Browns have confirmed that Head Coach Romeo Crennel has been given a pink slip of his own.

Crennel went 24-40 in his four years as coach of the Browns, including a disgusting 0-fer against the Steelers.

Rumors have been swirling for weeks around Berea that former Steelers coach, Bill Cowher would be first on the list of those being considered as the next front-man for the Browns. However, owner Randy Lerner has stated that he has been in contact with Cowher and was turned down.

Currently being mentioned for GM consideration is Patriots Executive VP Scott Pioli.

As for coaches, Lerner seems interested in now-deposed Jets coach, Eric Mangini and New York Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.

Well, the housecleaning has officially begun in Berea with the firing of Cleveland Browns GM Phil Savage. The news isn't exactly surprising, considering Phil's short list of accomplishments and long list of short-comings.

Among the positives are drafting Joe Thomas, signing then-undrafted Josh Cribbs, and snagging QB Derek Anderson off Baltimore's waiver wire.

However, Savage has also whiffed in the later rounds of the draft, traded spots with the Ravens - allowing them to pick up NT Haloti Ngata and the Browns to take Kamerion Wimbley, who dropped off the face of the earth after his rookie season, mishandled several in-house situations (Kellen Winslow's staph infection, etc.), and replied to a fan's email with, "F--k you, go root for Buffalo."

Gee, who saw this move coming??

EDIT: It was confirmed on WKNR Monday morning that Phil Savage was actually fired on Saturday, before the game.

It wasn't the prettiest of victories, but the Browns will take it as they remain in playoff contention and move past the Jets 24-18 yesterday at Giants' Stadium.

Despite a few hiccups, Cleveland's defense was able to bear down in clutch moments - including a heart (and Jet) stopping goal line stand to start the second quarter that was capped off by a Sean Jones interception in the end zone.

Jamal Lewis put the proverbial "nail in the coffin" with a 31-yard rumble, shedding several Jets defenders on his way to the end zone, and Joe Jurevicius was able to recover 2 of 3 onside kicks for the Browns to hang on.

That's all for now, but be sure to check in later, as I'll be posting my full review of the action this evening.

EDIT (12/11/07): I was unable to post my review last night. I'll get that taken care of this evening. Sorry!

Now that I've wiped a bit of egg from my face in picking the Browns to handily (based on the score) beat the Cardinals, here's the game in review:

1st Quarter:

The game began with a miscue, when Derek Anderson - unpressured - threw the ball away to the left side. He was called for intentional grounding, and the Browns had already set off on the wrong foot. After what appeared to be the beginnings of a nice drive, Anderson threw a pick-6, and then aborted a snap shortly thereafter.

I couldn't find a pic of "the boot," so I guess a picture of Leigh Bodden getting burned will do.

On the Cardinals' ensuing drive, Kurt Warner threw an incomplete pass that would have brought up fourth down and four - that is, if Leigh Bodden didn't decide to do his best "Phil Dawson" and boot the ball into the bench. Bodden was called for Deglay of Game, and the five yards assessed were enough to give the Cards a first down. Warner and Edgerrin James continued to carry the Cards downfield and capped off the drive with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Leonard Pope.

Definitely a tough first ten minutes to watch...

Penalties, turnovers and overall mistakes cost the Browns today, as they lost to the Arizona Cardinals in Glendale, Ariz.

Special teams wasn't exactly a highlight this week, and Leigh Bodden is starting to make mistakes that can no longer be explained by an ailing back - or much else, for that matter. Anderson threw two picks (one returned for a TD) and mishandled a snap, but also threw for 300-plus yards and brought the Browns from their own 18 to within inches of victory - with the help of Jason Wright and Kellen Winslow.

Winslow made a great catch in the end zone during the last play, but was ruled out of bounds. The call was upheld after the replay assistant called for a review. I'll have more later!

This week, the Cleveland Browns (7-4) head to Arizona this week to take on the Cardinals (5-6). Coming off a strong win at home, the Browns look to narrow the AFC North lead, held by the Steelers. Arizona is coming off a tough overtime loss to a bad 49er team. Despite their record, last weeks loss, and the team's injury problems, home field advantage gave them 1 point the last time I checked.

That must be one hell of a field. I'm not saying that the Browns are going to beat the Cards like rented mules, but that's a lot to overcome.

That being said, let's take a look at the matchups:

Cleveland Browns' running back Jamal Lewis and rookie corner Brandon McDonald were both nominated for Week 12 awards.

Lewis' 134 yards and TD during the Browns victory over the Texans earned him a nomination for the FedEx Ground Player of the Week. Other nominees for the honor are Oakland's Justin Fargas (22 car, 139 yds, 1 TD) and San Fancisco's Frank Gore (21 car, 116 yds, 2 TD).

You can place your vote for Jamal by clicking here.

Brandon McDonald went from "who?" to "who is this guy?" in a three-hour period, and is up for Rookie of the Week. His step-up performance included 1 solo tackle, 4 pass defenses (effectively shutting down a Pro Bowl-calliber receiver) and 1 INT in the fourth quarter to help seal the deal against Houston.

Vote for Brandon McDonald Here.

A few things you might have learned about the Browns as well as myself during the 27-17 whooping the Browns handed to the Houston Texans:

#1 - Apparently, I cannot spell the word "recover" on a Treo to save my life. I was previously unaware, but the club section's bar doesn't have to stop serving until after the game is over...probably not a good idea to blog there in the future. Less Drinking, More Blogging - Check.

#2 - Give Jamal Lewis 25-plus carries, and in return, you will get 100-plus yards. This man is truly punishing defenders, and quieting those who said he no longer had what it takes to be a feature back in the NFL. His 134 yards places him just outside of the top ten backs in the league, and if he keeps running as hard as he has been the past couple weeks, he could finish with his sixth 1,000 yard season.

#3 - It seems not only does Brandon McDonald dance, he plays a little bit of Defense, too. The rookie cornerback was bumped up into the Browns' Nickel package after Eric Wright's knee injury, and man did he play well. McDonald finished the game with 4 pass defenses and an interception, his first as a pro. Good to see the young guys step up in a time of need. Good game, Brandon.

I come to you live in the North club bar at Cleveland Browns Stadium. I'll be fighting through the buzz and the trouble of typing through my brother-in-law's Treo to bring you my observations as I see them.

Nothing too special to report at the end if the first. wide open TD for Houston. Offense is a little lackluster..DQ just intercepted a pass...brb

TD Edwards. Had single coverage and the safety didn't reciver in time. 7-7...

Anderson lobs one up for grabs. Underthrown toEdwards and INT'd. Is Nick Sorensen that bad that our depleted DBs are still better than having him on the field? At least they missed the FG. 10-7

It's to the point where I'm not too sure what we're doing ...but we did just reciver a fumble...Beyonce's pretty hot in that boomarang commercial

If I'.m not mistaken we won...and it was a pretty good game . We'll have real updates soon.

Acquitted murderer returns an INT for a touchdown: 6 pts
Kicker kicks go-ahead field goal: 3 pts
Said kicker being told mid-interview by the other team's QB that the game's not over and seeing his reaction: freaking priceless...

By the way...something else I just find hilarious... Ya think Ozzie Newsome would like to take that little waiver from 2 years ago back? He pissed away the best QB on the team! Not saying anyone knew it at the time, but man, he's gotta be kicking himself in the ass about now.