Benching Quinn Is the Right Move

I've read a few fan blogs from around the NFL lately and something thing that jumps out at me is the assumption that Brady Quinn is getting screwed by the Browns and that's why he put his house up for sale and that he obviously wants out of Cleveland. After all, he was benched for a guy that just went 2 for 17 against Buffalo, right?

I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that these "experts" didn't have the "pleasure" of watching Brady Quinn's performances in those first 3 games of the season. It's awfully easy for an outsider to say that Brady Quinn didn't get a fair shake while Derek Anderson can complete just two passes in a game and somehow keep his job. Obviously Brady Quinn should still be the Browns starter, right?

Wrong.

With the exception of the first half of the season opener at home vs. Minnesota the Browns offense under Brady Quinn was quite possibly the worst offense of all time. He held on to the ball too long, checked down too fast, didn't allow his WR's to run their routes and took too many sacks. There were times during the Denver and Baltimore games when the Browns weren't even threatening to complete a first down. Comparisons to the Tim Couch Era in Cleveland were drawn up but the conclusion was "at least the Browns could score with Tim Couch and a cast of nobodies". Leaving Brady Quinn in at that point would have been very damaging to his confidence, the entire organization and a fan base that was quickly losing hope that the Browns would improve under Mangini this season.

Say what you will about Derek Anderson but he has given the offense the spark they were looking for. He looked somewhat good against Cincy in a game the Browns could have won. Everybody is quick to jump on Anderson after the Buffalo game but keep in mind he was throwing into 40 mph winds for most of the game. The last time he played in a game with those kinds of gusts was in Cincy in 2007 and he threw 5 INT's and cost the Browns a playoff berth. Jamal Lewis went for over 100 yards in Buffalo so that tells you how much the Browns tried to throw the ball. They played conservative on offense and managed the game without committing a bunch of stupid turnovers and that's why they won the game. It wasn't pretty but it was something to build on moving forward.

Speaking of stupid turnovers, the Bills were flagged for more false starts in that game than some teams commit in an entire month. Much criticism has been thrown at the Browns this week but for the first time in a while they weren't the team that played undisciplined, careless football. That could bode well heading into Pittsburgh.

As a Browns fan I'm very disappointed because I had high hopes for Brady Quinn going into this season and I'm sad to see him go down like this but starting Derek Anderson is the right move, right now. What that said, if Derek Anderson is the opening day starter next season then we're probably in trouble.