Browns Stumble Versus Vikings

(Photo by David Silverman/Getty Images)

Everyone who is standing on the ledge right now needs to take a collective step back.

While the game started out pleasant enough, the afternoon quickly went downhill at Cleveland Browns Stadium on Sunday with the Browns losing 34-20.

Where to begin? Let’s start with coaching, because let’s face it, bad play aside, the coaching was atrocious, especially on offense.

My sights are set firmly on rookie offensive coordinator Brian Daboll. His play calling was nothing short of inept. He looked like a rookie.

After watching him abandon the running game for no good reason, we were forced to endure third down plays that went nowhere from the moment they were called, and the Flash package from the two yard line twice.

I’m not excusing Brady Quinn, who played poorly, or Braylon Edwards, who still dropped a crucial pass, but they weren’t getting a lot of help from the sidelines.

I’m officially excusing the defense in the fourth quarter because it was quite apparent they ran out of gas halfway through the third quarter. How could they not? They’d only been on the field for about 12 hours at that point.

The Vikings actually had the ball more than seven minutes longer than the Browns did. It’s no surprise to me the Browns’ defense was gassed halfway through the third quarter with those kind of numbers.

Given the lack of talent on this roster, I didn’t expect much and invoked the “Any Given Sunday” mantra going into the game. The defense looked much better than I thought in the first half, including sacks from safeties Abram Elam and Brodney Poole.

Head coach Eric Mangini sagely observed that the team played “just a half of football.”

Thank you Romeo Crennel Mangini. It might have helped if you would’ve smacked Daboll on the back of the head and went back to the running game since neither Quinn nor any of his receivers seemed to be on the same page.

While Daboll needs a “come to God” moment with his play calling, Quinn needs to relax.

Quinn looked like he was wound up as tight as a drum the whole game, like he was just waiting for Mangini to pull him. The lack of chemistry between Quinn and Edwards was nothing short of disgusting.

But once again, that’s coaching. I’ll admit it may be splitting hairs, but maybe Mangini should have settled on his quarterback a week earlier and let the receivers get equal reps with Quinn and smooth out the timing issues.

The bottom line is Quinn needs to play better. The fumble was inexcusable, and he proved all his critics right in the second half with his uneven play and poor throws.

Before all the members of the Derek Anderson fan club start marching, remember Anderson had quite a few bad games of his own, so I’m not ready to give up on Quinn yet. He’s earned a few more weeks.

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