Brady Quinn played as well as anyone could have expected in his first start last night. Unfortunately, the defense played as bad as anyone could have expected and the Browns blew another fourth quarter lead and lost to the Broncos, 34-30.
Now, I know there's some DA fans out there who are going to say that this is the same thing that happened on Sunday when DA shouldered much of the blame when the Browns blew a fourth quarter lead and lost to the Ravens.
WRONG! This is NOT the same situation. Defensively, it is — the Browns have serious problems on defense. Offensively, it is not the same at all. While DA and the offense collapsed along with the defense against the Ravens, Brady and the offense kept the Browns in this game until the end.
Bottom line is, when your offense scores 30 points, you should win the game (for the record, DA's offense did not score 27 points and lose, it scored 20 points and lost ... Cribbs' kick return accounted for the other 7 points).
Brady Quinn played well. He was efficient. He was commanding. He was decisive. He sustained drives. He made plays. The Browns lost despite his playing well. The Browns lost because a stupid penalty, a fumble and because their defense is terrible.
That's not to say DA didn't suffer from the same ineptitude from the rest of the team when he was the starter. Brady, however, was still able to lead the offense to a fourth quarter comeback drive to regain the lead. He just didn't get the help to do it twice.
The big difference between the two, though, is in the numbers:
DA vs. Ravens
17-of-33, 219 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT
51.5 completion percentage
80.24 QB rating
Brady vs. Broncos
23-of-35, 239 yards, 2TDs, 0 INT
65.7 completion percentage
104.3 QB rating
Still, in the end the Browns lost. They lost at home, with a fourth quarter lead. I still believe — and last night it was reinforced — Brady Quinn gives the Browns the best chance to win games. Unfortunately, the defense gives them the best chance to lose.
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