On one hand, I think it makes sense. DA hasn't looked good, the team is in disarray and they could use some kind of shake up. However, it's only Week 4 and I'm not sure you can bench DA after three weeks against three pretty good defenses (he hadn't had reps for Week 1, the wind was nuts in Week 2 and Week 3 was the first time he didn't have a legit excuse).
But at the same time, Anderson didn't exactly finish strong last season. Could teams be picking up on his tendencies? I dunno.
One would think the most logical thing would be to have DA start this week, give him one more chance, and if he sucks, install Quinn as the starter during the Bye Week. But their first game after the Bye is against the defending Super Bowl Champion New York Giants on Monday Night. Do you really want Quinn's first start to be against the champs, on MNF in front of a national audience? I'm not so sure.
Which is why it's sort of making sense that they're considering putting him in against Cinci. Let him get his feet wet against a bad team, then let him face the Champs...
[UPDATE] Maybe Romeo flipped another coin, cause he's made a decision (and won't give any reasons):
Crennel refused to give reasons for sticking with Anderson.
"I'm not getting into the what ifs, the whens, the wheres, how long or anything like that about this decision," Crennel said. "The decision is made and that's what it's going to be."
5 comments:
Feel real bad for DA, because the concussion really set him back and probably continues to do so, along with the injuries on the offensive side of the ball. Just awful timing for this season and his career.
But Quinn deserves a chance to show what he's got, even though I'm not real high on him. This team needs a spark and less mistakes, and perhaps he can provide that. At the least, we need to see what he can do out there.
And if you're the front office, you might want Quinn in there to keep the fans' interest after this start. They'll be lucky to end up 5-11.
Matt Stafford, anyone?
I am tired of Romeo Crennel. He is trying to approach coaching and addressing the media/personnel like Belicheat and Parcells and failing miserably. Hes also making himself look like an idiot in the process. For him to refer to Quinn as "the other guy" is not only obtuse and disrespectful, but its vintage Parcells in the fact it only ends with disasterous results. Get this guy the hell out of cleveland and bring in Cowher or Marty if they are available.
About DA, injuries are not effecting his play. Hes hanging receivers out to dry, hes got happy feet in the pocket, and his long throws are terribly inaccurate. The dude has been awful in 9 straight games and the FO had the brains to sign him to a 3 year contract that no team is going to pick up after this year. DA was a flash in the pan who benefitted from bad defenses and coordinators not knowing what his one and only strength was - the long ball.
Savage and Co are to blame for this and its only going to have a snowball effect. Its going to be hell on earth if Quinn turns out to be a bust because what do you do then, draft Stafford and take 2 more years of development until he is ready? By that time, the core of our offense is going to be gone to free agency and we will once again be rebuilding. Not to mention that if things do play out this way, it implies trading a pick and wasting a 1st rounder on getting Quinn was a complete and utter waste/failure. This doesnt even address our holes on defense - a problem that could have been avoided if we simply tendered a one year offer to Derek and saved the money to pick up A) a defensive free agent or B) an early round pick on defense.
And no, Im not completely sold on Quinn but there is NO way hes dumb enough to make the mistakes Derek has made. Derek has time and again thrown picks in the red zone which shows a lack of game management, maturity, and composure. The past 2 games were winnable if we didnt have a mindless stump throwing the rock.
/rant over
now that's a good rant!
The weird thing, and Pluto pointed this out in his podcast, is that the Browns weren't making much of an effort to stretch the field. If you're not gonna do that, then Quinn should play. His strong suit isn't the deep ball, but if you're gonna focus on the short game, then Quinn is you're guy anyhow.
Graham, that's what I've been thinking. If you're going to resort to a dink and dunk passing attack, go with the guy with the softer touch. If you're going to use DA's arm, use his arm. If you're not, don't try to shoehorn him into a role in which he doesn't fit.
If it comes to pulling DA and inserting Quinn on Sunday, we'd better see a lot of K2 and Steve Heiden and Braylon running button hooks and little out patterns.
Even an effective short-to-intermediate passing game can help prevent the defense from stacking eight or nine in the box. What you can't do is constantly follow up a no-gain run on first down with a 30-yard incompletion on second down. Third and 10 is a lot easier to defend than third and 5.
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