Cleveland Browns Show Signs Of Life in OT Loss

I guess losing by three points in overtime can be considered progress in Cleveland.

If nothing else, I’m eating a ton of crow right now because Derek Anderson only threw one interception in yesterday’s game. Whatever, I’ll take it.

Looking at the game, I think it’s best to take a “glass half full” approach since the Browns looked alive and engaged in the game until overtime. Once overtime hit, the team reverted back to its timid offensive ways and lost 23-20.

Starting with the quarterback, it’s obvious Derek Anderson looked much better than Brady Quinn for the first three-and-a-half quarters. But as is typical with Anderson, he pretty much shut down in the last few minutes of the game. Not entirely his fault, but I’ll get more into that later.

Anderson’s play was nothing spectacular, 26-48, 269 yards with one touchdown and one interception, but it’s what we’ve come to expect from him. Anderson is streaky and there’s nothing any head coach can do at this point to change it. Anderson will throw for 1,000 yards one minute, and then throw the ball anywhere but where his receivers are the next.

That being said, Quinn’s time as a starter in Cleveland is over unless Anderson gets injured. Why Quinn could not bring himself to throw downfield is a question that may never be answered.

The sad part of the whole quarterback situation is how mismanaged it was. It seems like Quinn was never given a real chance. It’s not clear whether or not he would’ve ever developed into a solid NFL starter, but the process was horribly flawed and now we’ll probably never know.

I point that out because the only thing I’m reasonably sure of at this point is our future starting quarterback for the long haul is not on the roster at this time. While Anderson looked better than Quinn, he’s not the long-term solution.

However, it is worth noting head coach Eric Mangini decided to end the Joshua Cribbs experiment at wide receiver after remembering he drafted a person who has actually played the position in Mohamed Massaquoi.

Massaquoi gained 148 yards on eight receptions and announced his presence to the NFL yesterday.

This brings up a few questions, namely why he wasn’t being used as much before? Mangini wasn’t lining him up as often as he did yesterday. The coaching errors in this regard just became more evident with Massaquoi’s success yesterday.

Other questions to consider are: Was Quinn checking down from Massaquoi too soon? Were the Bengals just not respecting him, therefore leaving him open? Did Anderson just decide to throw to him more because of coverage patterns, or because Braylon Edwards still can’t catch a ball?

I’d love to sit down and review the coaches’ tape to see the coverage patterns yesterday because those are all good questions.

Either way, Massaquoi had a great game, and all we can hope for is that this is the start of something good.

Turning to other positive aspects of the game, all Cribbs did on Sunday is remind the league why he’s one of the best return men in the business, running for 212 yards on special teams.

That kind of yardage on special teams is just ridiculous. Cribbs said he wanted a new contract prior to this season and all he’s done so far is prove why he deserves it. He made the Bengals special teams look like they didn’t even belong on the same field.

Shaun Rogers single-handedly almost caused the first tie game for the Browns since 1989 versus the Chiefs by blocking a field goal and a point after with his giant meathooks. The game-winning kick barely squeaked through the uprights as Bengals kicker Shayne Graham did everything he could to avoid Rogers’ hands.

Lost in the quarterback discussion was Jerome Harrison running for 121 yards on 29 touches. The fact we established a running game allowed the passing game to flourish as the defense had to come in to try and stop it.

Since the criticism has been out there about Mangini, it was very nice to see him show some life on the sidelines, congratulating Anderson and Massaquoi after good performances in the first half and generally not looking like a giant pile of garbage rotting on the sideline.

After the game, Mangini went out of his way to accentuate the positives and Edwards noted the “approach” during the week’s practice had been a little different.

While it’s doubtful Mangini pays all that much attention to what is being said in the media and Internet blogs some of it obviously filtered back to him, either that or he might have noticed the team quit the last few weeks.

Either way, it was a different Eric Mangini on the sidelines Sunday, and the team was better for it.

One thing that is worth berating the coaching staff about, and one of the main reasons I feel the Browns ended up losing, is the play calling. Offensive coordinator Brian Daboll once again did no favors for his quarterback or team.

While Anderson did a much better job than Quinn of looking downfield, the fourth quarter and overtime offensive schemes felt like the same ol’, same ol’ that we’ve come to expect from Daboll.

Why Daboll went back into his shell, and why Mangini allowed it, becomes yet another mystery and single biggest reason this team is 0-4.

There are no moral victories in the NFL, and a loss is a loss is a loss, but the fact that this team didn’t quit and wasn’t blown out is the single biggest victory they’ve had in almost a year.

I guess it’s better than nothing.