CLEVELAND -- Brady Quinn probably wasn't in as much suspense about his opening week appointment as the Browns starting quarterback as everyone else in Cleveland. So the former first-round draft pick wasn't about to cop to a long-running quarterback competition as an excuse for his mistake-filled performance in the Minnesota Vikings' 34-20 road victory Sunday at Cleveland Browns stadium.There were plenty of other reasons why the Browns (0-1) allowed the Vikings (1-0) to ruin a 13-10 Cleveland halftime advantage -- such as forgetting how to tackle Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson, who ran wild around the edges of the Browns' rebuilt defense for 180 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries.
Or Quinn getting careless with the ball in the final two quarters, throwing an interception and losing a fumble that led to 10 Vikings' points.
"It can be tough to deal with at times, but I think our team did a great job of handling [the No. 1 quarterback mystery] coming into this week and all through camp," Quinn said of being named the Browns starter over incumbent Derek Anderson only last Tuesday.
This seemingly was part of new head coach Eric Mangini's plan to fool the rest of the NFL -- he was the last coach in the league to name a starting quarterback. Perhaps that intrigue was intended to help snap a Browns' futility streak that saw the team go 24 quarters without scoring an offensive touchdown entering this season-opening contest. The game-day flip card, in fact, even listed Anderson as the lead quarterback: "Derek Anderson/Brady Quinn."
How'd all those hijinks work out, coach?
"I think there were some positive things," a barely audible Mangini said of the Browns' edge-of-your-seat first half, when Quinn was recognizing Vikings coverages and defeating Minnesota's stacked defensive box by dumping the ball to tight end Robert Royal.
Those kinds of things helped the Browns pick up 52 rushing yards, 32 from Jamal Lewis, while clinging to a 3-point lead at the break that had Cleveland fans believing for a brief, shining moment.
And then, they played 30 more minutes.
Cleveland Browns Photos
CLEVELAND - SEPTEMBER 13: Jamal Lewis #31 of the Cleveland Browns runs by Chad Greenway #52 of the Minnesota Vikings at Cleveland Browns Stadium on September 13, 2009 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jamal Lewis;Chad Greenway
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CLEVELAND - SEPTEMBER 13: Tyrell Johnson #25 and E.J. Henderson #56 of the Minnesota Vikings hit Braylon Edwards #17 of the Cleveland Browns at Cleveland Browns Stadium on September 13, 2009 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Tyrell Johnson;E.J. Henderson;Braylon Edwards
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CLEVELAND - SEPTEMBER 13: Ray Edwards #91 of the Minnesota Vikings hits Brady Quinn #10 of the Cleveland Browns at Cleveland Browns Stadium on September 13, 2009 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Ray Edwards;Brady Quinn
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Cleveland Browns quarterback Brady Quinn (10) fumbles as Minnesota Vikings defensive tackle Kevin Williams, left, and Ray Edwards bear down in the fourth quarter of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009, in Cleveland. The Vikings recovered on their way to a 34-20 win. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)
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Cleveland Browns fans watch in dismay from the Dawg Pound as their team loses 34-20 to the Minnesota Vikings in an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)
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Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre (4) shakes hands with Cleveland Browns safety Abram Elam (26) as Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway joins in after Favre and the Vikings beat the Browns 34-20 in an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Ron Schwane)
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CLEVELAND - SEPTEMBER 13: Brad Childress head coach of the Minnesota Vikings coaches his team against the Cleveland Browns at Cleveland Browns Stadium on September 13, 2009 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Brad Childress
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CLEVELAND - SEPTEMBER 13: Percy Harvin #12 of the Minnesota Vikings dives for a touchdown as he is hit by D'Qwell Jackson #52 and Brandon McDonald #22 of the Cleveland Browns at Cleveland Browns Stadium on September 13, 2009 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Brandon McDonald;Percy Harvin;D'Qwell Jackson
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CLEVELAND - SEPTEMBER 13: Adrian Peterson #28 of the Minnesota Vikings celebrates with Phil Loadholt #71 of the Cleveland Browns at Cleveland Browns Stadium on September 13, 2009 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Adrian Peterson;Phil Loadholt
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CLEVELAND - SEPTEMBER 13: Brady Quinn #10 of the Cleveland Browns fumbles the ball as he is pressured by Kevin Williams #93 of the Minnesota Vikings at Cleveland Browns Stadium on September 13, 2009 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Brady Quinn;Kevin Williams
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"In the second half, the primary job of the quarterback is to protect the football," Mangini said flatly.
That's what Quinn did very poorly. While there was much grousing afterward that Quinn, who completed 12 of 35 passes for 205 yards and a touchdown, failed to get the ball to receiver Braylon Edwards, the second-half turnovers really were the most costly breakdowns.
"I have to take fault for those kinds of decisions," said Quinn, who may have thrown more 5-yard passes than any quarterback in the league on the season's opening Sunday.
Cleveland had hoped to stretch the field against the Vikings' powerful front seven. On a 2nd-and-2 play at the 50 midway through the third quarter, Quinn looked deep to Edwards streaking wide open along the left sideline, near the Vikings' 20-yard line. Unfortunately, Quinn threw it on one side. Edwards was expecting it on the other -- and Vikings cornerback Cedric Griffin instead wound on the receiving end of Quinn's errant throw.
Thirteen plays later, ancient quarterback Brett Favre threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to rookie sensation Percy Harvin for a 24-13 advantage.
"I was hit as I was releasing it, so it kind of pulled the throw off," said Quinn, who also was sacked five times.
Did Quinn and Edwards, his most important receiver, fail to communicate the entire game? Edwards, who caught only one ball for 12 yards, didn't see it that way.
"It was just on that one throw," said Edwards, who also failed to haul in a second deep pass from Quinn that landed just out of reach. "It was due to me. I made a mistake."
The same thing happened to wide receiver Joshua Cribbs. He, too, could not get his fingers on a Quinn long ball that was thrown behind him.
"I work with both quarterbacks [Quinn and Anderson] and I feel like Brady played well," said Cribbs, whose 67-yard punt return for a touchdown in the second quarter tied him with Eric Metcalf for the franchise record on kick returns for a score (seven). "We came out all fired up and hitting on all cylinders in the first half, and then it faded in the second half."Again, you're not going to find a quarterback controversy in Cleveland. Not this week, anyway.
This kind of thing is to be expected with a newly anointed starting quarterback, even a high-expectation player entering his third NFL season. That seemed to be the prevailing attitude among Browns players and coaches, who accepted Quinn's rocky performance as a starting point and not a blueprint for what is to come the next 15 games.
There was the positive finish, albeit too late to change the final outcome -- Quinn found success at stretching the defense by hitting Royal in stride for a 26-yard touchdown completion with 28 seconds remaining.
"Well, again, you take the positives from each game, whether it is a win or a loss," Quinn said. "Tonight and tomorrow, we'll be critical of ourselves watching film and preparing for Denver next week. That's all you can really do at this point. It's the first game of the season, but there are 15 more."
Comments (Page 1 of 2)
hey Nancy' what game were you watching? it was a lot more than what Bready Quinn did or didn't do that doomed the browns in the second half. Try watching a game for a change.
Are you being sarcastic in this article? For example when you said "Quinn was recognizing Vikings coverages and defeating Minnesota's stacked defensive box by dumping the ball to tight end Robert Royal." I didn't see the game so I'm not sure. I'm just curious because hes on my fantasy team and i'm wondering if I should cut him.
I wonder what Mangini will come up with for this week's edition of I've got a secret.
Hey Coach..... you happy you didn't play your starting qb in the 4th preseson game now, so you could continue the charade of who is and who isn't starting at qb. stop the I'm Bill Belicheat bs and be yourself, or you insist then get a mask of belicheat and wear it on the sidelines. The coaching on offense was a complete bust... Brian dabolt blows.... Ryans defense was solid the 1st half, then blew chunks and looked sloppy the second half. I could tell Brady lacked confidence the whole game and that is directly related to mangini and his head games of who was starting...... keep losing like this Eric.... and youll be gone in 1 yr cause the stadium will be empty....the potential is there in raw terms, but I give Mangini in F in overall game planning....now get on the phone and have Belicheat tell you what to do since you can't act as Eric Mangini......
Here's the grades....
Quinn---- F
Edwards--- F
Lewis--- C
Royal--- F
Offense Coordinator F minus
Coach Eric Mangini/aka:lil belicheat F minus..minus
Rob Ryan C plus
Special teams coach A
the game clearly was affected by Mangini's shell game who's starting.... childish, imature, and the qb showed he lacked confidence and admitted it was hard to deal with in his press conference.... when can we sign..... Cowher.... Sanchez looks like the next Joe Montana as I predicted.... and we traded down for Alex Mack....
Browns are in the hunt for the first pick in the draft. That being said, they stink!
More of the same. The Browns will never be good enough to win a Super Bowl, let alone get to the game. Whay waste time and money watching second rate players, second hand (fired) coaches, try to even compete with teams who have a solid foundation and history of winning. Even a first round draft pick will not help them. There are too many holes in this organization.
Dear Brady Quinn;
It's your career and you have the right to do what you want with it, but you looked scared to throw the ball and unwilling to take a chance.... maybe they have a ball and chain on you, but looked like you were told if you made a mistake that you were gonna get yanked..... Mangini's little game of Charades directly cost the team the opener, cause Quinn needed to play in that 4th preseason game to develope confidence with his receivers.....lil Bill Belicheat impersonations aren't gonna fly in Cleveland....
Brady Quinn is a joke as a #1 pick. He was over-rated in college because of the annually over-rated school he attended.
Brady was the Browns 2nd pick in the first rd. Joe Thomas was 1st. Doesn't make a difference though, he probably would have still been there late in the 2nd rd.
The Browns actually looked better and Quinn was not as bad as this article states. He did have the team in the lead at half time and out passed the legend by double even as futile as this states he was. The Browns will win more games this year. That is the only bright spot for the future, and when they get rid of Lewis at running back they will get a young player who can run.
There were a few bright spots in the game. The defense was good till they got tired the offense was rested.
Go for the draft pick next year
I NEVER COULD SEE THE BIG BUZZ ABOUT BRADY QUINN, OR WHY HE WAS A #1 DRAFT PICK. HE PLAYED FOR NOTRE DAME, AND THEY (HE) LOST MISERABLY IN THE FIRST ROUND OF PLAY-OFFS. WHAT SURPRISES ME IS THAT NO TEAM WENT FOR CHRIS LEAK, WHO WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP THAT YEAR, WITH NO GREAT STARS ON HIS TEAM EXCEPT FOR TIM TEBOW, WHO DIDN'T PLAY THAT MUCH. WHO EVER COMES UP WITH THESE DRAFT PICK NUMBERS ARE MORONS!!!! PRIVEN BY HISTORY.
Everyone wants to talk about the QB situation when there are so many other problems that need to be addressed first, like...
Will the Browns ever have a defense that can stop the run? If Peterson wouldn't have had hydration problems he would have gone off for over 200 yards.
Will the Browns ever have an offensive coordinator that can come up with and call some orginal plays? Since the Browns returned to the NFL we have witnessed the same lame play calling week after week.
What's up with the offensive line? We keep saying that the line is improved yet they keep giving up 4 or 5 sacks a game and we can't run the ball.
Where's the return to greatness in the running game? This is Cleveland. The weather will be a factor in 50% of the Brown's games. The O-line can't push anyone back off the ball and even if they could there doesn't seem to be a running back on the team that can take advantage of a hole to run through.
When these questions are answered then it might be time to discuss which lame azzed backup quarterback ought to be starting. Unfortunately, his name is Sanchez and he plays in NY. Heck, at this point I'm ready to give Tim Couch another shot.
with the exception of a few hard tackles, crennel still has his mark on the browns. they have the most hospitable defense in the league; downright polite those boys, and their offense is as entertaining as the rockettes; one, two, three, kick.
The first half of the game was alright, they actually played fine. The second half, they became their old selves and failed. At least Mangini didn't look like a big fat toad like Romeo. I hated him. Hopefully they work out the problems that were there. I wasn't surprised at all that they did so horrible. It's just another year of Browns football. 2007 was such an illusion.
The Browns will never get Cowher..he will never play in the same division as Pittsburgh(when will Browns fans get that)...that being said he's been waiting for the Carolina job to open up for 3 years and if they continue to look the way they did yesterday that job may open up as soon as this mid-season. Quinn will be a stable QB once the team finds their identity, but I don't think that will happen under Mangini.
the game that i saw showed that quinn was pretty good the recievers just couldnt hold on to the ball...............................
Browns fans, Eric Mangini is not your answer, he does not have the patience or the skill and knowledge needed to be a Head Coach. He tries to act like Belechik, but there is only one Belechik and Mangini isn't the guy. You probably will lose more because of this guy than any other reason. Only in professional sports are people elevated based on one years performance. What they need to know is being a good defensive or offensive coordinator doesn't qualify you as a head coach.