I was a fan of Derek Anderson throughout the entire process this year. Despite his late interception against the Baltimore Ravens, there’s no way I would put the blame all on Anderson for that loss. Right now, though, facts are facts: Anderson for two years cannot get off to great starts on the road, he only completes about 50% of his passes, and he throws a high percentage of interceptions.

Right now, we’re sitting with a 3-5 record with virtually no shot at the postseason unless we run the table (give or take a loss or two). Now, whether Anderson “deserved” to be benched or not goes out the window, because Brady Quinn, through the entire process, was still considered the future of the Browns, and was our projected starter already for next season. Therefore, keeping Anderson in really doesn’t do much except increase his trade value for next season. But, Cleveland has some very passionate fans who won’t stand through that. We wanted Quinn, and we got him.

Overall, I’m fine with the switch. But I would’ve been fine with sticking with Anderson for a little bit longer as well.

That’s tough to say, because you probably know all of our big-name players on offense, and our defense doesn’t have one person in particular that you’ll need to watch out for except Shaun Rogers.

I’ll go with a common answer if you’re a Clevelander: backup running back Jerome Harrison. Every time we put the guy in, he makes a tremendous play either on a reverse, screen, or carry. The problem is, he is not being involved in the gameplan enough. From Week 4 to Week 7 he was finally included more often, but the coaches have basically sat him the past two weeks for God knows what reason. His main drawback is that his blocking ability is nothing worth bragging about — he’s a small guy though.

It seems kind of silly to me, because all the Broncos really did was save them from 3 horrific thrashings in the Super Bowl. Browns fans don’t know this, yet, but we all do. It hurts much, much more to lose a Super Bowl than it does to lose an AFC Championship Game.

I wear a Broncos hat often around here, and I get plenty of dirty looks.

I don’t hate the Broncos, but a lot of fans do. It’d be better if I deferred to one of them to give more of an answer you’re looking for.

With Quinn, offensive strengths can change now. So, on offense, I’ll be a little more general now.

Offense (Strengths)
-Throwing the ball deep down the field to Edwards
-Putting Cribbs in the Flash package (what we called it before the Wildcat)
-Getting backup TE Steve Heiden several catches over the middle
-Building a lead and running with Jamal Lewis — this only applies to below-average run defenses
-3rd-and-short handoffs to our fullback

Offense (Weaknesses)
-Third down possession receiver — we lost him in Joe Jurevicius
-Running any form of a screen pass, but again, that may have been since Anderson rockets screen passes
-Goal line offense — before last game, we were 1-of-12 from the 1-yard line over a span of two weeks. We don’t have enough to muster it in, but maybe Quinn on an option provides better options now

Defense (Strengths)
-Shaun Rogers in the middle. Don’t. Test. Him. Just, Don’t.
-Not giving up big plays in the passing game. This wasn’t true last week, but that appeared to be because our starting safety was playing with a bad knee.
-Stopping screen plays…not great at it, but not a weakness.
-Safety blitzes. Nice.

Defense (Weaknesses)
-Linebackers can’t tackle. Wimbley will spring around your LT all game but never reach the QB because that’s his only move. D’Qwell Jackson, our best LB, will be in position for plays but not make the Pro Bowl type of tackles.
-Blitzes up the middle from linebackers. If you see this, expect a Cutler TD on the play.
-Our corners give a cushion on certain drives.
-Line up in shotgun and run the draw play to the RB. Guaranteed 100+ yard rushing running back.

Edwards: I’d love to use that as an excuse (his preseason injury). But, I don’t see how missing three weeks of practice causes you to drop 14 critical passes. Something else is wrong with him — either eye sight of concentration; can’t blame the cut-foot injury anymore.

Stallworth: When he’s in, our offense has been better than at any other point this season. He may not have the # of catches, but he’s always in motion before the snap, and he takes away pressure from other players on their routes. However, due to his injuries, he’s probably been a mistake — then again, what other free agent receiver was available for us to spend cash on?

Winslow: I wouldn’t say he’s gone just yet. If Quinn develops a solid chemistry with him, they can’t just toss that aside. Things will be patched up. Now, if we go 4-12 or something, maybe it’ll be a different story.

Edwards is just in his own head. He is projecting confidence but he doesn’t have it. Unless it is something like an eyesight thing.

Stallworth has been great when he has been healthy. Our only mistake was relying on him and not simply accepting anything he could contribute as a bonus. We need WRs.

Winslow and the Browns have said everything is behind them. He is under contract for a while and we won’t Stephon Marbury him. The fans love his play and passion even when the rest of our team seems to sulk.

Heh, sorry, I’m just sort of bogged out from this type of question after just facing Baltimore and hearing about it all week. Most Browns fans are still pissed off.

I encourage you to read this to see just how much:
http://www.dawgsbynature.com/2008/10/30/649940/browns-depending-on-home-c#9735078

We tend to mock everything Crennel says in press conferences. So, in all honesty, Crennel’s “guarantee” wasn’t really a hot topic this week for us. We’re more focused on everything surrounding Quinn.

No one, at least in regard to fans, has been pleased with Crennel. His head was called for at the start of last season, and the pressure was removed from him because we went 10-6. During that stretch though, at no point did anyone even remotely consider Romeo for coach of the year. He just doesn’t have the “it” factor you look for in a head coach that makes you confident the right decision will be made when the game is on the line.

If a change is made, a lot of us are dying to have Bill Cowher come in.

The only way he stays in Cleveland another season is if Quinn suffers a Tom Brady type of injury and is expected to miss half of next season. For the rest of this year, Anderson needs to show that he can be a team player on the sideline. I think he did enough over the past several weeks to warrant interest from teams like the Vikings and Chiefs in the offseason, for possibly even still a second-round pick.

Winslow had a staph infection. It was his second, and he was at least the 5th guy on the Browns to get one. Staph played a role in LeCharles Bently’s setbacks and Joe Jurevicious’ as well. It can kill you.

The Browns hired a company who specializes in getting rid of Staph, handed out literature, and gave presentations to players before this season, based on how many of the players were contracting it.

After a loss, Winslow revealed that his injury was staph and implied that the Browns lied about the nature of the nondisclosure of the injury. He brought up some good points (such as questioning why so many Browns players get staph compared to the rest of the league).

The Browns were angry at Winslow at least for suggesting that they were not taking enough measures to get rid of the infections and by saying he felt like a piece of meat because of how the Browns traded him. They probably didn’t like looking bad; they are after all still having players contract staph infections, and they probably didn’t like him implying that there was something to cover up.

Winslow can be an emotional guy (I’m a soldier, anyone?), but since his humbling motorcycle crash he has been able to channel most of his passion and emotion in to productive avenues, especially his play on the field. Generally, most Browns fans have been happy with him on and off the field since his accident. He has been a good citizen and a good player for the most part. He will get the occasional dumb penalty, but no strip club incidents, no police, not even “atta baby” incidents.

I’m a little confused with what you’re asking…but I think you’re asking why has the offense struggled this year when it didn’t last year.

Edwards dropping so many passes has a lot to do with it. A lot of his drops would’ve been first-down catches on third down or touchdowns. I’d actually go as far as believing that if Edwards only had 7 drops this season (as opposed to 14 drops), that our record would be 5-3 or 6-2 right now.

To be honest, I only caught about half the game, so it’s very likely I simply missed those plays where he looked sharp in that regard. I wish Quinn luck.