You can make a lot of money betting against the Browns. They rarely cover the spread. Yesterday, for instance, the Browns were 13-point underdogs and they lost by 24 to the mediocre Chicago Bears. No number is too big for our Browns.

Last week a wise old head in a newsroom which will not be identified suggested that the best time to bet against the Browns is when they're at home because the oddsmakers automatically allow three points for home field advantage. The Browns have no home field advantage. They're equally pitiful home or away.

Keep that in mind in two weeks when the Browns come off the bye week and play Baltimore here at home. While that's the best time, remember that there is no bad time.

By the way, speaking of numbers, I'll post the official line on every high school playoff game in the state Thursday morning. For conversational purposes only.

MORE NUMBERS. Two schools missed the playoffs on tie-breakers. Level three points were the difference as Canton McKinley edged Hudson in Division I and also gave Pemberville the nod over Clearview in Division IV.

In 14 other instances less than one computer point was the difference between eighth and ninth places.

(On what his kids are going to be for Halloween)- “Let’s see, we have Puss in Boots from Shrek. Yoda, that’s the one year old and Luke Skywalker, that’s Luke. Luke loves Luke Skywalker. The two oldest, they are big Star Wars fans. Jake is Han Solo and Luke is Luke Skywalker. I am usually either Darth Vader or the Emperor. It’s great. I have a Darth Vader mask in my office. I am sure the players are wondering what that is for. [It’s for] when I Skype with them, I hope nobody ever walks in when that is happening. It’s fun. I know the Star Wars Symphony is coming to Cleveland. I had to watch that documentary last Friday about the making of. Good times, good times.”

(Opening statement)- “Good morning everybody. How are we doing? One piece of housekeeping, David Bowens, who missed yesterday for personal reasons, he had a little boy, David Jr. It happened late Tuesday night, so he’s back with us. Everybody’s happy and healthy, so that’s good news. In terms of today, what we’re going to be working on is our third down package, offensively and defensively. We spend a lot of time on this, trying to make sure that we have a plan in place that: 1) is going to be effective against what they do and 2) emphasizes the things that we think we can really improve on and carry over, not just this week but week-to-week.

“I thought yesterday overall was a good start to the week. We added some tackling drills to continue to emphasize that. We’ll do that again today. [We are] just continually focusing on fundamentals and improving those things to make sure that even after we execute the scheme or there’s a completion or whatever it is, that we’re doing things fundamentally sound to either limit the production or to maximize the production offensively.”

Wide Receiver Joshua Cribbs (On if he gets motivated by playing another team that is known for its special teams play)- “I love going against a good special teams unit. This is a great special teams unit, if not one of the best in the league. We are all up for this one on [special] teams to matchup against a good football team.”

(On if it is a goal to break Brian Mitchell’s touchdown return record)- “Definitely. I grew up watching Brian Mitchell return kicks and play running back. That’s one of my idols in the NFL. I’m chasing the same goal.”

(On if Devin Hester developing from a special teams player to a wide receiver is an inspiration to him)- “It definitely is an inspiration. Everything about his play is an inspiration to me. He’s knocked down a lot of doors for the return game, special teams players becoming outstanding offensive players. He’s knocking down a lot of doors and letting coaches know that [special] teams players can be core players.”

(Opening statement)- “Good morning everybody. How are we doing? In getting ready for Chicago, some of the things we talked about, even in the preseason, anytime you play one of Lovie’s (Smith) teams, he’s led the NFL in turnovers. In terms of being able to create turnovers since he’s been there, 30 percent of their points have come off of turnovers. You know that they work on it consistently, because you see it. Whether it’s the defenders who are sacking the quarterback, their awareness of the football, the guys down the field making the tackle, their ability to not only identify the football, but get it out. It’s been something consistent since he’s been there and it’s helped them. The amount of points produced off those has won a lot of games for them. I think defensively, even though this is a different scheme than what we faced last week, they create some challenges in terms of the pressures that they use, like we saw last week. There’s some variation in what they do and who comes, so we’re going to have to do a good job identifying those things, being able to pick it up and then executing the pattern on the back end. Even in the running game, some of the movements, some of it could be purely off pressure, some of it could just be part of the overall scheme, but there is quite a bit of moment that you have to adjust to as an offensive line.

(On if Michael Gaines’ catch opened up his eyes at all)- “I think Gaines did a great job just coming in and picking things up and being a football player. [He’s] not out there worrying about things, just understanding and reacting to things. He’s played in the league for some time, it’s not like he’s a rookie out there. He knew what to do. I told him before the game, I said, ‘Just have fun and relax. I’ll try and help you if you have any questions, but just go play.’ He did a great job.”

(On Jay Cutler)- “I like the way he plays. He’s aggressive, [has a] really strong arm, just kind of gets it to his guys and lets them make plays.”

(On the offensive line’s protection)- “I think for the most part we get to the right spots. We had a couple of instances where we didn’t, the back saved us or we didn’t get saved. Communicating with the line, the backs, everybody and pick it up.”

(On the number of sacks compared to last year)- “I don’t know. I don’t really, honestly, look at the numbers and compare and contrast. That’s not my job.”

(Opening statement)- “Good afternoon everybody. After watching the tape and looking at the things that we didn’t do very well in the game, there are plenty of things from an execution standpoint that I thought we could do much better. What I really wanted to see is if a play doesn’t go the way that we want it to go, being able to limit the gain, especially defensively, to what it should be and I don’t think that we tackled very well. Plays that may have been a 15 yard hit or a 10 yard hit ended up going for much longer than they should have. That’s something that we’ve talked about, defensively. That’s something that we’ve worked on, defensively, and we need to continue to work on it, defensively. We have to be able to minimize the amount of damage any given play does and that comes with sound execution in tackling, good job of leveraging the football and forcing the ball back to where your help is coming from, and things along those lines.

Former Cleveland Browns wide receiver Braylon Edwards has been charged with misdemeanor assualt following a fight downtown in which he injured a friend of LeBron James. If convicted, Edwards faces up up to a $1,000 fine and 180 days in jail. That is probably the least of the worries of Edwards new team the New York Jets. The NFL may suspend the receiver because of their player conduct policy.

The arraignment for Edwards has been set for November 17th.

In losing to a very ordinary Green Bay team, 31-3, Sunday the Browns reached their lowest level of futility since returning as an expansion team in 1999, which means it's the saddest moment in the history of pro football in Cleveland. I echo what Reggie Rucker said on Channel 5 Sunday night. "Embarrassing," he said.

"Shameful," I say.

Anyone who shows up at Browns Stadium the rest of the year should have a big brown "S" stamped on his or her forehead identifying that person as Stupid, a Sap, and a Sucker.

Please, do not buy tickets for the remaining games unless you purchase them on e-bay or Craig's List or even on the streets for less than face value. Many people will be happy to unload their tickets for whatever they can salvage. They've already done their duty. They financed Donte Stallworth's $4 million roster bonus. Donte was injury prone, slow to heal and no good. Quite a trifecta. And they gave him the $4 million anyway. Meanwhile, Josh Cribbs wonders why they won't sweeten his deal. Don't we all.

LB David Bowens

(On today’s game)-“We have to find a way to win no matter who it is, what their job is, what their role is; we have to come in collectively and find the win.”

(On not making excuses)- “Whoever showed up with a uniform on today was able to play and able to contribute. They just beat us. We can’t hang this loss on excuses. If you suited it up, you are able to play and make a difference. We can make that an excuse, but I am not going to accept it.”

(On the team perhaps taking a step back)- “I don’t know. We just lost. We have to figure out what happened. One thing is I’m not going to jump ship on this team. We are all together. We win, we lose together. We are going to do a good job this week of figuring out what we need to do to win, how we need to beat teams and how we need to prevent those big plays.”

WR Brian Robiskie

(On the team’s situation)- “We’re going to do what it takes to win. If we have to throw, we’ll throw. If we have to run, we’ll run, but our biggest concern is winning.”