Browns-Bengals: Can Brady Quinn Light Up the Field Again?

As head coach Eric Mangini continues his “please don’t fire me” press tour across the America, let’s hope he’s saved some time to assess what went right with Brady Quinn last week in Detroit.

Quinn posted a 21-33 performance with four touchdowns, a 133.1 passer rating, and had no turnovers last week. Most of the production was in the first quarter, but let’s not quibble over details.

A lot of people, including myself, were quick to call for offensive coordinator Brian Daboll’s head this year as the offense continued to find new rock bottoms in which to sink to.

That hasn’t changed.

That being said, I hope Daboll has turned a corner and is finally starting to figure this job out because Mangini doesn’t look at all ready to fire him.

Going into Cincinnati, keeping the no-huddle offense seems to be a no-brainer. Quinn is a smart quarterback, even if you want to complain about certain physical characteristics, Quinn does better when you let him play football without restriction.

One characteristic of a no-huddle offense is the quick reads the defense has to make at the line since the ball is moving so fast. Quinn is smart enough to capitalize on defenses who don’t adapt fast enough.

While Quinn’s first stint as starter this year was not successful, in hindsight, it looks like Quinn was never given the “vote of confidence” from Mangini and that he was playing scared.

Daboll’s lack of creativity combined with the short leash Quinn was obviously on combined for 10 horrible quarters. Mangini appears to have learned from that mistake.

Speaking of Mangini, between his national interviews last week, and an actual local interview with the Cleveland Plain Dealer , it is possible Mangini finally looked in the mirror and realized his NFL career may be over if he doesn't start analyzing and changing things about himself.

Mangini always talks about getting players to hold themselves accountable for their actions and growing and improving as a result, yet it's been painfully obvious he does none of that himself, other than token gestures that prove nothing.

All of his interviews seem to carry the same message, that being: Please don't fire me, new Cleveland Browns Football Czar. I can get better if you give me a chance.

Anyway, I've found his sudden friendliness with the media interesting given the surrounding circumstances he finds himself in. Back to the game.

The Bengals have been a much better team this year, and everyone, including myself, is trying to figure out what the underlying reason is for the sudden change.

Granted, Carson Palmer is having one of his best seasons and the Bengals defense is giving up fewer points, but it’s such a drastic swing from last year that it’s hard to pinpoint “one” reason for the turnaround.

The Browns have had a grand total of one good week on offense, and their defense failed them last week when even a mediocre performance would’ve guaranteed a victory.

If Palmer is firing on all cylinders again, and Chad Ochocinco stays Chad Ochocinco, it could be a very long afternoon for Rob Ryan and the Browns.

But last week proved anything can happen on any given Sunday. So I’m quashing the cynic in me and predicting another very entertaining game. The Browns played the Bengals very close and lost in overtime in their last matchup this season.

Look for Quinn to have another productive day and for the defense to try and climb out of the cellar. It’s going to be another high-scoring affair with the Browns squeaking out their second win of the season to the delight of Steelers fans everywhere.

Browns 30, Bengals 27.