Is it finally time for the Browns to give up on Derek Anderson?
I have watched the entirety of the Browns' games against Cincinnati, New York and Washington D.C.
For almost all of the Cincinnati game and almost all of the Washington D.C. game, Anderson looked like a college quarterback playing in his first pro game wearing a blindfold.
Somehow, the the fourth quarters of both of those games, he stepped up and looked assertive and accurate.
For quite a while, I have been on the Anderson bandwagon, unlike many other Browns fans, mostly because they went 10-5 last year with him as the starting quarterback. No other Browns quarterback has been that good for a long time.
Until now, I have ignored the Cincinnati game in December where Anderson's inaccurate passing probably cost the Browns a chance for a win. But the past few games make me wonder if that was more than a one-game aberration.
Is he just really streaky? Is he inaccurate? Do his receivers run bad routes? Is the playbook too confusing?
Not being a football expert, I have no clue if there is something the coaching staff can correct with Anderson or the rest of the offense to make him play like he did last year.
The team around him seems poised for success. The Browns finally have a good offensive line that gives him lots of time to throw. They have a strong running game with Jamal Lewis and several other running backs who seem to get the job done week in and week out. The defense keeps getting better and better.
In any case, I'd hate to give up a quarterback with a big arm who won big the previous year. Most other years, 10-6 would have put the Browns in the playoffs.
But I am beginning to wonder if the Browns can afford to give Anderson much more time to figure himself out.
With the team at 2-4, it may be too late already.
(On another note: I would never have tried a 54 yard field goal at the end of the game like Romeo Crennel decided. Phil Dawson's longest ever kick was 52. Anderson had gotten a little hot in the fourth quarter, and if not for Braylon Edwards' mis-reads and dropsies, the Browns may have been much closer to the goal line anyway. I'd have tried another throw on 4th and 10 — to anybody but Edwards. It was at least as good a gamble as a 54 yard field goal and kept open the potential for a win and not just a tie.)
1 comment:
Washington's kicker Shaun Swishim is a BGSU graduate. I never thought he had pro potential.
The Browns need a different person calling plays. A combination of strong running and deep throws mixed with, if necessary, the throw on every down approach of a quick huddle offense would help any Brown quarterback.
Braylon Edwards is a liability over the middle. He will not catch a pass if he is about to be tackled.
Trade Edwards and the offensive coordinator for a tough possession receiver and a second big running back.
From Fostoria McDonald's
JCARP
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