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In a meaningless coaching decision, Eric Mangini has decided to bench Brady Quinn in favor of Derek Anderson. The Browns who are 0-3 this season, under current backup, Brady Quinn, have managed to score a grand total of 29 points in 3 games. What makes that stat even more atrocious is the fact that 2 teams have actually lost games in which they have scored more than 29 points.

So although the offense is clearly a huge concern for the Browns, Derek Anderson is not Helen Keller; he is not a miracle worker. In my opinion, the Browns offensive struggles cannot be solved by simply changing the quarterback. In fact, I don’t even think that Tom Brady would have much of an impact with this offense. At the end of the day, if you have nobody to throw the ball to, your quarterback cannot be successful.

Braylon Edwards, who is supposed to be their number 1 receiver, has not been the same player he was 2 seasons ago when he had 16 TD grabs. In 19 games since the 2007 season, Edwards has just 3 touchdowns. Joshua Cribbs, their number 2 receiver, is a special teamer with a ton of speed, but he is not really a threat as a receiver. At the tight end position, the Browns have lost tight end Kellen Winslow, and they have replaced him with Robert Royal. They definitely need an upgrade of pass catchers on this team.

Then there is the running game. Jamal Lewis is getting old and he is too banged up to seriously contribute to an NFL team. James Davis and Jerome Harrison are not bad as backups, but that’s all they should be; backups. Without a threat of a serious running game, the pressure on the quarterback becomes that much greater, and all signs point to a lack of success.

The Browns have other problems, such as the offensive line, and the defense, but I am not going to get into that right now. The main focus here is that the quarterback change will have little impact in helping the Browns win more football games. That being the case, the Browns should worry less about their quarterback, and they should devote more attention to helping fix the surrounding parts of the team. Like I said, the quarterback is not the main concern with this team. If it was, the fans would be encouraged by the quarterback change, and they are not.

How do I know that?

Because there are fans who are willing to sell this team for their lack of on-field production. And no, this is not a figure of speech, they are actually considering selling this team! Once the fans have given up on you, especially the Browns fans, you know that there are some serious problems with your team as a whole.

(If you are skeptical about the fans losing faith in their team, here is a petition that Browns fans have started in order to try and get the organization sold).

Filed under: NFL