FanHouse Cleveland Browns

Once Jamal Lewis returned to his hometown of Atlanta on Wednesday night, things looked the same from afar. Yes, he is retiring after this season. No, it was not an instant decision based on the Cleveland Browns' 30-6 loss at the Chicago Bears last Sunday -- after which Lewis announced his NFL exit plans.

He left the University of Tennessee after three seasons and the Baltimore Ravens after a Super Bowl XXXV championship and seven seasons. This third season with the Browns gives him 10 full NFL years.

Cleveland is 1-7, but Lewis said his choice would be the same if his team was 7-1.

And though the Browns have a bye this week and Lewis, 30, has quiet time to reconsider, he said he will not.

In case you hadn't noticed, sports these days are all about Goliath. In 2009, the Steelers, Lakers, North Carolina Tar Heels and now the Yankees have all won titles in their respective sports. Cinderella is yesterday's news. The teams that win these days are the teams that always win, and if you think that's boring, well, tough. You can kiss one of Derek Jeter's five World Series rings.

So with that in mind, we need to be really careful about overlooking the Dallas Cowboys.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. All you ever hear about the Cowboys is what's wrong with them. Terrell Owens was a pain. Roy Williams is a loudmouth, too, and isn't good enough to replace T.O. Tony Romo's too concerned with his golf game and his high-wattage love life to ever attain his potential. The new stadium is ridiculous...

Braylon Edwards has been charged with misdemeanor assault after an investigation into an incident outside a Cleveland nightclub, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported.

Early on the morning of Oct. 5, Edwards was allegedly involved in a disagreement with Edward Givens, a Cleveland-area promoter. According to Givens, Edwards punched him in the face because "Braylon has a problem with LeBron [James]" and Givens is James' friend.

The Plain Dealer also reported that the Browns contacted the FBI following the incident because of alleged threats being made to Edwards.

CLEVELAND -- If one play defined the Browns' opening day defeat Sunday on their home turf, it was when Vikings All-Pro running back Adrian Peterson sliced through Cleveland's defense with maddening ease on a 64-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

Peterson tore through six Browns tackles, eluded several more and exposed Cleveland's revamped 3-4 scheme under new defensive coordinator Rob Ryan as a true work in progress.

Amid all these NFL predictions flooding the web this week there are few certainties. But if recent history is any indication, we know for sure that at least one of this year's division winners will be a team that finished in last place a year ago. At least one team has turned the trick every year since the NFL went to the current eight-division format -- 10 teams total in six seasons. The Dolphins did it last year, the Buccaneers the year before, and the Eagles and Saints the year before that.

The reasons for this phenomenon are obvious -- overall parity, four-team divisions, a scheduling system that (basically) makes life easier for the teams at the bottom and tougher for the teams at the top. The only question as the 2009 season dawns is which of last year's last-place finishers will be among this year's division winners. We ranked all eight of them in order of their chances to continue the trend:

Byron Leftwich will be the starting quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, coach Raheem Morris has informed his team. Leftwich beat out Luke McCown in one of the least inspiring QB battles in recent memory, and will direct a Tampa Bay team of which little is expected through a likely rebuilding season.

Morris' decision leaves only two NFL teams -- the Cleveland Browns and the Detroit Lions -- undecided about their starting quarterbacks as the third week of the preseason hits its climax. (That is, unless you count the Patriots.) Daunte Culpepper gets the start for Detroit this afternoon against the Colts and at this point looks like the favorite to open the season as the Lions' starter over rookie Matthew Stafford. Meanwhile, true to frustrating form, Browns coach Eric Mangini isn't saying who will start tonight's game against the Titans, though the thought in Cleveland seems to be that a decision will be made today on whether Brady Quinn or Derek Anderson will be the regular-season starter.

NEW YORK -- Looks like the Cleveland Browns really didn't like this year's first round. And the Tampa Bay Buccaneers really like Josh Freeman.

Tampa Bay traded up two spots, from No. 19 overall to No. 17 overall, and selected Freeman with the a pick that changed hands twice today. (The Jets dealt it to Cleveland, and Cleveland dealt it to the Bucs). Tampa Bay must have believed the Broncos were planning to take Freeman at No. 18, or else why not just wait and take Freeman at 19?

NEW YORK -- The announcement that the Browns had traded the No. 5 pick to the Jets was greeted with loud cheers from the notoriously negative Jets fans here at Radio City. The roars grew louder when ESPN showed shots of Mark Sanchez, live from his California home, taking a phone call and pumping his fist. They grew louder still, with some "J-E-T-S" chants mixed in, when Sanchez slid a Jets cap onto his head as commissioner Roger Goodell was striding to the podium. And when Goodell announced that the Jets had picked Sanchez, the place felt like it was going to fall down.

Finally, at long last, Jets fans had come to Radio City on draft day and seen their team do something truly bold, moving up to pick a guy who could be a franchise quarterback. The USC star they all knew from watching him on TV every Saturday would now be flinging the ball for them on Sundays.

Then the terms of the deal were announced. And the Jets fans realized just how bold their team had been. And then they started to seem annoyed.