Brady Quinn: Now the Decision Should be Easy

Yesterday I thought that in the Tennessee game that nothing would be resolved in the quarterback competition. The reason is that I thought that neither Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson would be able to produce much against that Titan defense. They are among the league's best defenses and clearly outmatch the Browns offense on paper.

Fortunately,the game is not played on paper. I was pleasantly surprised to see that both Quinn and Anderson performed well against the Titans. Quinn was 11-15 for 128 yards and 1 touchdown. Anderson was 7-11 for 77 yards. Even Richard Bartel was 3-3 for 40 yards. It was a very good night for all the quarterbacks.

Since all the quarterbacks did well, Eric Mangini will still have trouble naming a starter, right? Wrong, although all have done well Quinn really outperfomed Anderson last night and has put up more consistent numbers in the Preseason.

For the whole pre season Quinn is 21-31 (67.7%) for 225 yards. He has 1 TD, 1 INT and a rating of 86.08. The offense has produced 13 points with him at the helm. We all know that his numbers should be even better if not for a dropped TD and penalties in the Detoit game.

Here is what Quinn's stats should be, 24-34 for about 250 yards with 2 TDs and 0 INTs. That leaves very little to complain about for Quinn. He was consistent and solid throughout the whole preseason.

Although Anderson was solid last night, he has not shown the same consistency. The Green Bay game was ugly. Against Detroit he started strong but threw a bad pick at the end that gave the Lions points. His numbers for the whole pre season are 15-26 for 207 yards. He has 0 TD passes, 2 INTs and a rating of 51.28.

Even looking beyond the numbers, Quinn was just terrific on that first half drive. Mangini wants a ball control offense. Well, Quinn and the offense started deep in their own territory and moved it down the field for a score. The best part was that they took 7 minutes off the clock. You don't get much more ball control than that.

Also, you have to remember that this wasn't the Lions. The Titans are one of the premier defenses in the league. Granted they did lose Albert Haynesworth, but he was just one player on a really good defense. That 7 minute drive came against the ones.

His touchdown pass came when many of the twos were filtering in, but it was an impressive throw. He hit Braylon Edwards in stride with a strike.

So now I really don't see how starting Derek Anderson is even an option. I will say that he made Quinn work for it and he will be a good back up if he is needed at any point.

Some may still feel that Anderson gives the Browns the best chance to win because he is more experienced. Generally, a more experienced guy gives a team the best chance to win. I don't think that is the case here but I will humor myself for a minute.

The Browns could acquire Tom Brady tomorrow and they won't win more than 8 or 9 games. The reason is that the defense is still horrible. They might(and I stress the word might) have stud linebackers in Kamerion Wimbley and D'Qwell Jackson. They don't have a great pass rusher or a legitimate shutdown corner.

The reality is that this defense can't stop anybody. They showed that against the Packers and last night were very lucky that it was only 7-3 at halftime. Anybody who watched the game knows that. A blocked field goal and a blown oppotunity for a touchdown kept points off the boards for the Titans.

Since this defense still has too many holes for the Browns to win, they might as well go with Quinn on offense and let him grow and develop. He will have his struggles like any other young quarterback, but if the Browns stick with him he will grow into a quality Quarterback.