Fortunately, my power came back on in time to watch last night’s game. Unfortunately, I was too tired to make it past the third quarter. I liked what I saw from both quarterbacks and the offense in general, but the defense is outright scary. Unless that D turns into a ball-hawking unit that forces turnovers, this season we’ll see lots of 15-play drives followed by opportunities to return kickoffs.

Based on my keen intuition (a.k.a. “utter lack of inside information”), here are my not-so-bold predictions:

— Tim Couch will be named the starting quarterback.

— Kelly Holcomb — one way or another — will get plenty of playing time this season and will in fact have a higher QB rating than Couch.

— Holcomb will be traded before the 2004 draft and perhaps much sooner than that.

— Wide receiver Andre Davis will not play until October at the earliest due to the knee injury that is suddenly a hush-hush topic.

— 2003 is the last year in a Browns uniform for Dennis Northcutt, Aaron Shea, Daylon McCutcheon, Brant Boyer, Andre King, and James Jackson.

— Courtney Brown will have more tackles this year than Gerard Warren.

— Neither will have as many as Orpheus Roye.

— William Green will have at least 5 plays of 50 or more yards.

— For the first time Chris Gardocki will have a punt blocked, probably due to a bad snap from rookie Ryan Pontbriand.

— Nonetheless, either Gardocki or kicker Phil Dawson will make the Pro Bowl.

— The Browns will rank in the top five in both “points scored” and “yards allowed”.

— Some time this season, a Cleveland-area sportswriter will call for Butch Davis to be fired.

— After another season of exciting finishes, disastrous calls by the officials, and internal controversy, the team will finish 8-8 and miss the playoffs. Carmen Policy will express “disappointment” but “full confidence” in the direction Butch Davis is taking the team.