Switching Derek Anderson for Brady Quinn Is Not the Answer in Cleveland

Week Nine of the NFL season saw a myriad of big-time matchups around the league: Dallas and New York, New England and Indianapolis, and Pittsburgh and Washington, just to name a few. All had big playoff implications, and the results of each contest could loom large all the way down until the final gun sounds on Week 17.

But just because the physical, hard-hitting contest between the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens wasn't on Sunday night, Monday night, or after 4 PM Eastern didn't mean that it wasn't just as important as the others—if not more.

In fact, it may have shaken up an entire franchise.

The struggling Browns offense wasn't getting any favors from their defense, quickly getting down 10-0 in the first quarter. But special-teams play had the Browns tied with Baltimore at halftime, 13-13, as Pro Bowl return man Joshua Cribbs got the Browns back into it with a kick-return touchdown before Phil Dawson nailed a career-long 54-yard field goal to end the half.

After that, the swagger was back for the Browns, who were looking to get their high-powered offense off the mat and stuff the Ravens to get back to .500.

Or so we thought.

Quarterback Derek Anderson made the big plays needed against a vaunted Ravens defense—a team that Anderson helped the Browns sweep in 2007. A touchdown pass to Braylon Edwards made it 20-13. Another to Jason Wright made it 27-13. The rout was supposed to be on.

What happened after this point had nothing to do with either Anderson or his backup, Brady Quinn, which makes the Browns' shift to Quinn for this Thursday's game against Denver even more baffling.

Cleveland's defense simply could not get off the field, and the fact that it was against the Ravens' offense was even more inexplicable. Over the years, Baltimore's offense has been just as much of an eyesore as its defense has been spectacular, and that's saying quite a bit. Rookie quarterback Joe Flacco—an afterthought on draft day—looked John Elway-ish in driving down the field in Cleveland and tying the game at 27.

On the ensuing drive, Anderson had Edwards open for what could have been a sure touchdown. At the very least, it could have set up a go-ahead field goal early in the fourth quarter. Anderson put it right on the money, and the Pro Bowl wide receiver had a big time play right on his fingertips.

Except he dropped it.

And benching Anderson for Quinn is supposed to make this stop?

The Browns lost to the Ravens, 37-27, as their season evaporated before their eyes. The defense made the Ravens look like the Colts and couldn't keep a two-touchdown lead against a traditionally porous offense.

Baltimore running backs LaRon Landry and Ray Rice—second and third stringers behind injured starter Willis McGahee—looked like a one-two punch of Jim Brown and Walter Payton in shredding Head Coach Romeo Crennel's defense at will.

Cleveland's defense ranks 28th against the run this season and has given up an average of 148 yards per game on the ground. As far as total defense goes, the Browns are 25th  in the NFL, giving up an astonishing 348.1 yards per game.

Those numbers shouldn't surprise you if you're a Browns fan. Cleveland has been one of the worst-ranked defenses in the league for the past decade. In fact, since their rebirth in 1999, the Browns have never fielded a respectable defense and have always been one of the easiest defenses to run against.

Just ask their own running back, Jamal Lewis, who predicted that he would break the single-game rushing record on the Browns in 2003 when he played for the Ravens. Lewis delivered on his pledge by dropping an eye-popping 295 yards on Cleveland and a total of 500 yards in two games against the team, the main reason for his 2,000-yard campaign that season.

Kelly Holcomb was the quarterback back then after taking the job from Tim Couch in training camp. Since then, the Browns have had Luke McCown, Jeff Garcia, Trent Dilfer, and Charlie Frye start for them at quarterback. And in a league where it's not easy to find a Pro Bowl quarterback, they found one in Derek Anderson.

Yet, when the defense couldn't keep a lead, and Braylon Edwards continued to add to his league-leading total of dropped passes (14 and counting), it was Anderson who got the plug pulled.

In a season of high expectations, the Browns have been more successful making headlines with what happens off the field than what has happened on it. The Kellen Winslow fiasco regarding the Pro Bowl tight end's staph infection tore apart the locker room and made headlines for all the wrong reasons. Now the Browns have misdiagnosed their problems and fanned the fires of a raging quarterback controversy.

If Crennel and GM Phil Savage want to compete on an annual basis, getting a defense that can at least be average against the run would be a good start. Teaching Braylon Edwards how to catch again would be nice, as well.

But if the Browns think that Brady Quinn is the answer to their woes, then they're about to get what they deserve.

And it's not going to be pretty.