Aaron Feldstein - AccuScore Analyst

The Browns and the Bills battle on Monday Night in a rematch of last year’s Blizzard Bowl. The weather is forecasted to be much better this year and AccuScore projects a higher scoring game than last season’s 8-0 Cleveland victory. 

The Browns find themselves on Monday Night football for the second time this year. In their first game on Monday Night since November of 1995, Cleveland was able to beat the champion New York Giants.

Buffalo isn’t as confident a team as the New York Giants were a few weeks ago. Dick Jauron’s squad has lost three straight, four of their last five and went from a dominant first place in the AFC East to last place within those five weeks. The experts forecasted this team as a Super Bowl favorite, but now are picking the Bills to finish last in the division.

Either way, Monday Night’s game is huge for the Browns and the Bills. Both teams success will rest on the shoulders of their young quarterbacks. 

It was little over a week ago that Brady Quinn found himself starting his first game of the year. The Notre Dame alum faired well in the Browns loss, completing 23 of his 35 pass attempts for 239 yards and two touchdowns. The Browns defense spoiled Quinn’s debut, but it seems that Romeo Crennel made the right decision in switching his quarterback. But Quinn has big shoes to fill. In Derek Anderson’s second game last year, he threw for 328 yards and five touchdowns in the shootout with the Bengals. AccuScore projects a good day for Quinn, but nothing compared to Anderson’s. The Browns young quarterback is forecasted to throw for 197 yards and has a 74.3 percent chance of throwing one or more touchdowns.

Quinn will need help from one of his best receivers, Kellen Winslow. In the first half of the Browns game against Denver, Winslow’s first half was amazing catching two touchdowns. But when the game was on the line, the “solider” had a fumble, a penalty and a dropped pass on 4^th-and-1 to hand Denver the victory. This is a redemption game for Winslow, and AccuScore projects the tight end to catch for about 50 yards. 

The other field general in this game also has something to prove. Trent Edwards was hot at the beginning of the season, throwing six touchdowns and only two interceptions in the first six games of the year. But in the Bills three straight losses, he’s thrown two touchdowns and four interceptions. Edwards will need to find his favorite target Lee Evans, who hasn’t caught a touchdown since their last win against San Diego a month ago. AccuScore forecasts the duo to do just fine. Edwards is projected to throw for over 200 yards and at least one touchdown, while Evans is forecasted to receive around 72 yards and has a 37 percent chance of catching a touchdown.

AccuScore game simulations and the computer analysis shows that Buffalo will snap it’s three-game losing streak, but not cover the five point spread. Buffalo won 65 percent of the simulations by an average score of 23 to 18.2. That means there will be three teams tied for second in the AFC East with a record of 6-4, while the Browns continue to build for the future.

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