http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/27572401/

What if QB switch fails for bad-luck Browns?

Don't know who said it first, but it's still a pretty good turn of phrase ... "Once you start listening to the fans, it won't be long before you're sitting with them."

And for Romeo Crennel and/or Phil Savage, the day they could hypothetically be sitting next to Joe The Plumber in Section 108 appears to be drawing closer.

This week, Crennel announced he's pulling the plug on starting quarterback Derek Anderson and giving the offense over to second-year player Brady Quinn.

According to the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, Crennel, the Browns head coach, met with general manager Savage about the move. Savage was OK with it based in part, according to a Plain Dealer source, on the idea that Browns fans would show no mercy if Anderson started poorly against the Broncos in prime time Thursday night.

Anderson has played poorly enough often enough to warrant being benched, especially with a promising second-year player behind him. But forecasting fan reaction and weighing that when making the move to the backup -- even if it was a side issue -- is a signal of an organization on the ropes.

Which the Browns appear to be.

The funny thing is, a lot of it has been beyond their control. The Browns' constant companion during Crennel's three-season reign has been bad luck. So bad that even when good fortune appears ready to smile on Cleveland, it turns out it's getting ready to spit.

Lost in the current feeding frenzy are the star-crossed details that led them here.

In 2006 -- months after Crennel's hiring -- they were aggressive enough to go and sign free agent center LeCharles Bentley. The top-rated free agent blew out his knee during the first 11-on-11 drill of training camp, contracted a staph infection (which has been a recurring theme for the Browns) and never played a snap for Cleveland.

In 2007, after a 4-12 season, they held the No. 3 overall pick and needed a quarterback. But they made the safe move and drafted Wisconsin offensive tackle Joe Thomas. Then, when Notre Dame's Quinn was still on the board at 22, they swung a deal to get him as well. Home runs on two key fronts. Huzzahs all around. Savage was toasted from coast-to-coast.

But a contract holdout by Quinn wiped out most of his 2007 training camp. He wasn't near ready to be a rookie starter in the NFL.

Journeyman Charlie Frye won the starting quarterback job coming out of camp over Anderson but only lasted part of the first game before Anderson replaced him. Anderson, it was assumed, would be keeping the seat warm for Quinn. Instead he went out and had a Pro Bowl season and led the Browns to the brink of the playoffs. Terrific, right?

Not really. The Browns were now in a spot. Anderson was a restricted free agent at the end of the '07 season. Did the Browns want to risk losing Anderson with a still-unproven Quinn waiting to take over? Or did they want to keep their pennies-from-heaven Pro Bowler around and let Quinn continue to apprentice. They chose to re-sign Anderson through 2010 for $24 million. And -- following another trend for the Browns -- he's come out this season and played with maddening inconsistency.

This all plays out with the backdrop of an extremely serious rash of staph infections hitting the team. Seven separate known incidents involving six different players have arisen. Star tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. -- who lost a season in 2005 (pre-Crennel) after crashing his motorcycle -- has been afflicted twice. Last month, after dealing with his second bout with staph, Winslow criticized the team for its handling of the situation and was suspended for a game because of that criticism.

Said Cleveland wide receiver Joe Jurevicius, whose return to his hometown Browns as a free agent has been marred by a staph infection after surgery last January.

"There's been some numbers here, and it does make people open their eyes," he said last week after it was announced he wouldn't play in 2008.

Savage has come off particularly badly during the staph crisis. In April, he said Jurevicius was "fine" and called his contracting staph a "non-story." He was ripped by Winslow for allegedly not checking on the tight end when he had his most recent illness. And the tenor of Savage's dealings with the fallout -- defensive, accusatory and shrill -- has shown him to be fairly inept at crisis management. He's got some Barney Fife in him.

And he's absolutely tone deaf.

In talking about the decision to go with Quinn, Savage simultaneously backed and backed away from Crennel.

"It was Romeo's call," Savage said. "He's in charge of the 45 (players on the game-day roster). I have no problems with it. I told Romeo I could argue either way. I told him I'll stand behind him on it."

"I told him I'll stand behind him on it," has a far different ring than "I'll stand behind him on it."

Saying, "I have no problems with it," then saying in the same breath that you could argue against it? It'd be better if Savage had said nothing at all.

There's disarray in Cleveland. And if Quinn doesn't save the season, somebody's going to take the fall for it.

90%of the fans on this board have been saying that Brady is better, there is no way that 90% of the fans could be wrong

quote:

Originally posted by DawgTracker:
90%of the fans on this board have been saying that Brady is better, there is no way that 90% of the fans could be wrong

i have seen da and bq at practice several times. i don't think that there is any way quinn will be a bad as da.

What a stupid article. The quote by Savage was spun to sound bad. He was saying that he could have made the arguement for both players to start but he supported the coach's decision...Nothing wrong with that.

Just another writer trying to fill space. And right now, the browns are an easy target until Quinn fails. If he doesn't, and the Browns put together a streak of wins, plan for the organization that's in "disarray" to get all kinds of press about how brilliant RAC and PS are, right? Yeah right...

I didnt think the switch was good. So we will see.

What if? What if the sky were green and the grass were blue? If Brady stinks up the joint then we are no worse off than we are now. I would like to see him with the full offense out there but oh well. I believe in the kid and hopefully our "bad luck" is over for a while

People have been made in Cleveland to always suspect the bad......

I think this is the best opinion yet about the QB switch. Who's opinion you ask? Mine. We can't wait another season and keep paying theses guys all of this money. In fact we should have done this before the trade deadline and got a draft pick atleast. Now Hall is waiting to be picked up and we needed a nickle corner. So hey if Brady is the guy the all praises to Notre Dame and if not its just what I expected from the bad-luck Browns. Thanx and enjoy the show, i kno i will.

Sorry for seeming to hijack the thread but the refs didnt think this warranted its own thread.

Now, I'm no BQ man lover or anything, I just wanna end my 30 some years of misery.

That being said, isn't it feasable he could indeed reach his 55% offensive snaps to trigger his incentives?

We're in the bottom 3 in 3rd down completions, bottom 5 in time of posession, leading the league in drops.

We sustain some drives, keep the defense off the field, chew some clock, and complete some screens, he might actually be able to do it.

All I've seem to hear is that timing of the move is to not be able to let BQ get his incentives, but I think these talking heads are failing to see the forest through the trees.

It's gonna take some help for sure. Stallworth is gonna have to quit doubling as a porcelin doll, Heiden is gonna need to be TE1, and Winslow is gonna have to be moved to the slot. Damn shame we lost Tuck for the year. Hopefully BE gets his cranial rectal inversion sorted out, and I mean like tonight. As for "Coach" and I use that term loosely, show some fire sir?

How bout using that defensive coaching expertiese and actually coach up Wimbley.

Again sorry to hijack, but this was the only way this post would see the day of light.

GO BROWNIES!

quote:

Originally posted by DawgTracker:
90%of the fans on this board have been saying that Brady is better, there is no way that 90% of the fans could be wrong

Not so sure its that high...and few have said he better who are objective. Most of those objective fans have pretty much made up their minds that DA is not the answer and if we are turning down a lot of trades (rumored) and BQ is in our future - why not now.

We are 3-5 and with better offensive play could be 5 wins or better.

Our Offensive rank is low as well as Offensive Production (TDs) - If BQ is the guy and DA is not but DA's experience make him the NOW solution...it ain't working. Give BQ the experience.

If the QB switch fails??? as in One game...TWO? DA has been progressing with 25 starts and although we made the switch nobody is saying he FAILED. Will we have an answer after 8 games...or 8 games plus next season? I hope after 8 games we will know about BQ but I'm willing to evaluate his success from 20 games at least.

Who can put a number on it.

I sure hope its not just this one game if he struggles a bit. If he makes a fool of himself??? I don't know, then we will find out if this was RAC's decision or somebody elses. If RAC's I doubt its ONE n DONE. If not - he gets to state...I TOLD YOU SO and go back to his thing.

JHM???

i think this is Randy Lerner's decision, not RAC's or Savage's.

quote:

Originally posted by Clevelandfreak:
I didnt think the switch was good. So we will see.

What is so bad about it? If you leave DA in, he WILL continue to play inconsistently, SEASON OVER. Why not give Brady a chance to see what he's got? DA is horrible anyway.

Did anybody see Brady breakdown a teams defense and getting an offense started on nfl.com? watch the video and you will then know why he is the starter. aka the next manning

the way I figure, we really couldn't get much worse offensively with Quinn behind center. A couple of positive things happen with him in the game.

A) we can evaluate what we have in him
B) if the staff thinks he can improve and play the position, he's getting experience

and a bonus possibility...he actually plays well and we know what we got...and it's good.

How far can we drop in offense when we're so low to the bottom already? We have very little where else to go but up.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by wolvie:



According to the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, Crennel, the Browns head coach, met with general manager Savage about the move. Savage was OK with it based in part, according to a Plain Dealer source, on the idea that Browns fans would show no mercy if Anderson started poorly against the Broncos in prime time Thursday night.

Anderson has played poorly enough often enough to warrant being benched,QUOTE]

This right here is telling me that RL is calling the shots. It has PR move written all over it.

For sure I believe DA was playing awful and I feel that this move, while getting fans and media to react positivley for a period of time, may still have them calling for a QB in the draft.

And this is why?

We have seen QB the likes of Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Tony Romo and Bret Favre all considered quality to HOF QB's play bad even extremely bad at times even worse than DA on his worst day yet somehow it goes un-noticed.

BQ IS NOT the savior of the team or the season as many will predict but he has a large mulligan at his disposal. So now if he plays like a rookie, which is basically what he is, and this team continues to display horrible gameplanning and execution, what will the topic be in 2009 draft.

So BQ somewhat eases the disappointment of another season trashed at least until the fat lady sings.

On a side note I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of DA and that even though BQ is getting the start I sure think RC is going to play them BOTH If BQ shows poise and protects the ball he will stay in but I think if he flusters DA may be back in for a series.

quote:

Originally posted by BeWaRe_of_Dawg34:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by wolvie:



According to the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, Crennel, the Browns head coach, met with general manager Savage about the move. Savage was OK with it based in part, according to a Plain Dealer source, on the idea that Browns fans would show no mercy if Anderson started poorly against the Broncos in prime time Thursday night.

Anderson has played poorly enough often enough to warrant being benched,QUOTE]

This right here is telling me that RL is calling the shots. It has PR move written all over it.

For sure I believe DA was playing awful and I feel that this move, while getting fans and media to react positivley for a period of time, may still have them calling for a QB in the draft.

And this is why?

We have seen QB the likes of Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Tony Romo and Bret Favre all considered quality to HOF QB's play bad even extremely bad at times even worse than DA on his worst day yet somehow it goes un-noticed.

BQ IS NOT the savior of the team or the season as many will predict but he has a large mulligan at his disposal. So now if he plays like a rookie, which is basically what he is, and this team continues to display horrible gameplanning and execution, what will the topic be in 2009 draft.

So BQ somewhat eases the disappointment of another season trashed at least until the fat lady sings.

On a side note I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of DA and that even though BQ is getting the start I sure think RC is going to play them BOTH If BQ shows poise and protects the ball he will stay in but I think if he flusters DA may be back in for a series.

Didn't you see DA's last presser after the Ratbirds game....looked like a broken soul IMO.

there is something wrong with it as an organization you need to back your people Savage doesn't stand behind anyone NO ACCOUNTABILITY.

Stand in that stadium and try not to listen to the insults, keep your helmet on to keep from being hit with whatever is being thrown at you hear the boos all this from YOUR FANS. Tell how you react.

This is the NFL you don't do things that way once you made this move you don't go back unless BQ gets hurt let's hope to god that doesn't happen because Cleveland fans are bad enough right now imagine what it will be like if DA was to set foot back on their field.