Looking ahead to tomorrow’s game at New England:

— Tim Couch will probably start. Smart not to risk further injury to Holcomb, who I’ll bet will be ready for the first game after the bye, at Kansas City, whose defense he shredded in the infamous Rudd-helmet-toss game last season. (Of course, the Chiefs are a much different team since then, but it will be exciting nonetheless.)

— William Green, back in his old stomping grounds, will probably not start and may not play due to his shoulder injury. James Jackson would get his first start since 2001. Apparently it’s not Coach Davis but JJ who has found “his damn mind” in the meantime.

— No matter which backs play, they’ll have quite a challenge against Bill Belichick’s mystifying Patriot defense. They have allowed only 32.3% of third down conversions, fourth best in the league. They’re 7th against the rush. In pass defense, they tend to give up yards but not the big plays: only 3 TDs via the air. They’ve also picked off 11 passes, third most in the NFL.

— Given the sorry state of the offensive line, the Browns may find that just surviving will be a noble fight. The probable starters, from left to right: Gonzalez, Beasley, Fowler, Zukauskas, and Tucker. Even Tucker, the only remaining constant, is banged up with a chest injury. God forbid anyone else goes down. None of the backups has so much as a snap’s worth of regular season NFL experience. Couch and the runners had better be decisive, because they won’t get many second looks.

— All that said, the Browns are in the perfect position to go for broke. Few expect them to win this game. The Patriots may be due for a letdown between last week’s OT win at Miami and next week’s trip to Denver. So it’s a game worth watching, of course. Plus, we’ll get two of the very best TV announcers calling the game: Dick Enberg and Dan Dierdorf. It might even be enough to get me to turn down the radio once in a while.