Cleveland 30, Denver 34: Brady Quinn Does Not Appreciate Jay Cutler's Clutchness

It was all about Brady Quinn, right up until the savior de jawbone was walking out on the field to shake hands with his opponent a loser, pushing his record as a starter to 0-1 and making all of Cleveland realize that the problems have nothing to do with quarterback.

Quinn was actually quite impressive last night, going 23-35 for 239 yards and two touchdowns, putting his team in a position to knock off Denver and possibly save their season. This loss, just like last week against Baltimore, had little to do with the guy throwing the ball and plenty to do with the rest of the guys defending the ball.

Cutler's final touchdown, an 11-yard pass to Brandon Marshall with 1:14 left in the game, was his third on a night that the fastballer threw for 447 yards.

If you're going to harp on the Browns go ahead and poke fun at the nonexistent pass rush, who sacked Cutler only once last night and gave him more time in the pocket to throw the ball than a prisoner with a life sentence. Cutler would drop back, sit, sit, sit, sit, and finally see his target making a move here and get the ball to him. It isn't brain surgery -- if a talented quarterback has time to throw the ball, plays are inevitable.

The other problem that has plagued the Browns all season is the continued ability to drop easy passes at the exact moment you cannot drop the pass. Last week Braylon Edwards basically lost Derek Anderson his job when DA threw a pass that bounced off Edwards' hands like he was trying to catch a medicine ball. The pass last week probably would have gone for six. Last night, Kellen Winslow, who had a career game, dropped a fourth and one pass that went directly through his hands, nearly as perfect a miss as the pass was.

Before that mistake Winslow was a soldier in the football context, catching 10 balls for 111 yards and two touchdowns and looked at times to be the only guy Quinn saw. His check downs were to Winslow, his out passes were to the tight end and if he needed someone to catch the ball, he was focusing on number 80. Sadly, Winslow couldn't bring it down when the team needed him most.

If you are a pee-wee football coach, do me one favor. Never show the video of this game to your defense. It will basically traumatize them for life.