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Browns coach Crennel faces Belichick for first time

Oct 7, 2007 - 10:28 AM Cleveland (2-2) at New England (4-0), 1:00 pm EDT

FOXBORO, Massachusetts (Ticker) -- Romeo Crennel faces his former teacher - Bill Belichick - for the first time on Sunday, when the Cleveland Browns visit the New England Patriots.

It is a challenge Crennel might not be looking forward to.

Crennel was Belichick's defensive coordinator on all three of New England's Super Bowl-winning teams, but he will have his work cut out trying to devise a game plan to slow down the high-flying Patriots.

The Patriots rank second in the NFL in scoring (148 points) and total offense (431.8 yards per game), trailing only the Dallas Cowboys in both categories.

New England rolled over the Cincinnati Bengals, 34-13, on Monday night to remain one of four unbeaten teams in the NFL. The Patriots have scored at least 34 points in each of their four wins.

The combination of Tom Brady and Randy Moss has been unstoppable so far this season as the duo hooked up for two more scores against the Bengals. Moss leads the NFL with seven TD receptions.

Despite missing the entire preseason with a leg injury, the 30-year-old Moss has been spectacular, becoming the first player to crack the 100-yard receiving mark in each of his first three games with a new team before Monday.

The Bengals could not stop Moss as he made it four in a row with nine catches for 102 yards.

In his third season in Cleveland, Crennel is known as a defensive specialist, but the Browns rank second-to-last in total defense, yielding 427.5 yards per game.

Still, the Browns have showed signs of life under Derek Anderson, who became the starting quarterback when Charlie Frye was traded to the Seattle Seahawks.

Anderson has led Cleveland to wins over Cincinnati in Week Two and Baltimore last week, taking some of the heat off Crennel, whose job was considered to be in jeopardy at the start of the season.

A third-year player out of Oregon State, the 24-year-old Anderson has passed for 964 yards and nine touchdowns.

Cleveland leads the all-time series, 11-8, but has dropped three straight, including a 42-15 loss in the last meeting in 2004.