(Delayed) Reaction to Browns-Lions

Photo: Jon Fobes/Cleveland.com

Some thoughts that I have after watching the Browns' much improved effort Saturday night against the Lions.

-Derek Anderson was in danger of falling behind in the quarterback competition by enough that he may not have had time to make up ground before Eric Mangini made his decision. Instead, rocket-armed DA showed up and the Browns showed flashes of the '07 look as Anderson connected on several medium-deep passes. In turn, the running game was much more balanced as the safeties weren't allowed to "cheat up" at the line of scrimmage as often. Anderson connected on 8 of his 13 passes for 130 yards, but his weaknesses were still apparent. He continues to miss on the short screen passes, and that led to his costly interception that prevented the Browns from shutting out the Lions in the first half. The fact that he had 49 seconds to work with and an already-spectacular evening under his belt, Anderson still chose to go for broke. DA's screen pass to RB James Davis sailed off the outstretches arms of Davis and was an easy pick for the Lions, who used the turnover to setup a 51-yard field goal as the second quarter clock expired. It's still the classic give-and-take with Anderson: do you deal with the poor clock management, inaccuracy on short passes, and awful decision making at times in exchange for the rocket-arm and deep ball threat?

-Meanwhile, Brady Quinn didn't really do much to hurt himself in the two-man race. Much like Anderson's playing time last week, as the backup, Quinn's action was limited. He connected on 3-of-5 throws for 29 yards. For some reason, Mangini wanted to let Quinn start the second quarter mid-drive on a 3rd and 1. On that play, Eric Steinbach missed a block coming from left to right across the line and Quinn didn't have a chance to find a receiver deep. Quinn continues to show me a better presence than Anderson. In other words, I feel more comfortable with him under center. Does that mean he's more talented or he's a better quarterback right now? Quite honestly, no I don't think it means that, but what goes on inside the head of Derek Anderson terrifies me at times. I try to ignore the visions I see of Anderson losing us several games this season in the final two minutes.  However, I believe Anderson was near the top of his game tonight.