Cleveland Browns/Denver Broncos: Quitting Already

(Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

That game just sucked all the life out of the season for me.

                                                CUE ORCHESTRA

A man sits on his porch, enjoying a beautiful late summer day. The sun is shining, birds are singing and the man sits back with a comfortable sigh. Then some clouds roll in and a bird poops on his head.

Yep, that’s about how the day felt for me.

It was no surprise to me, given the way the offense played in the first half, that the defense would once again be physically exhausted by the end of the third quarter. What I didn’t expect was to see the team just flat out quit in the fourth quarter.

The Browns had no life on either side of the ball during the last quarter and, frankly, I’m a little upset about it. The 27-6 loss hurt.

Let’s start with the offense, which was putrid. I don’t know why, but Brady Quinn has played the first two games like someone just waiting to be benched. It seems to me that Quinn is afraid to make any mistakes, fearful that he’ll be benched immediately.

I know this can’t be coming from head coach Eric Mangini because, when asked, Mangini gave a flat denial that he even thought about inserting Derek Anderson. I speak a little Mangini, and flat denials translate pretty evenly into English.

Also, if you paid any kind of attention to the game, which, unfortunately, I did, you would’ve noticed the frequent camera cuts to Anderson every time Quinn ran off the field after a three-and-out.

Where was Anderson? Was he by the coaches, headset on, involving himself in the game?

Nope, Anderson was over in the corner doing his best “Nobody Loves Me!!” routine.

Besides, if you think Anderson is the answer to the problems on offense, please refrain from commenting. In fact, I don’t even want to know what the color of the sky is in your world.

Offensive coordinator Brian Daboll’s game plans so far this year have brought to mind two words: Boring and inept. I’m just not sure which way it’s leaning from week-to-week.

Quinn’s performance not withstanding, it would be nice to see Daboll call a play that actually moves the chains on third down. Better yet, how about throwing a pass into the end zone when you’re on the goal line?

All other things being equal, if I were the Browns owner, I would be bringing Daboll into my office this week and officially putting him on notice. The play calling wasn’t just bad, it hardly qualified as professional.

That’s also on Mangini. I said last week this is Mangini’s first real test as a head coach. Romeo Crennel refused to move on from offensive coordinator Maurice Cauthon, even though Cauthon was clearly in over his head. Mangini must not make the same mistake.

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