Brady Quinn's First Start

Well, it's been a long time coming. 24 games in fact. Ever since the Browns drafted Brady Quinn with the 23rd pick, he has been the quarterback most Browns fans wanted to see start under center. And after a 10-win 2007 and a Pro-Bowl season from Derek Anderson, it didn't look like the heralded QB from Notre Dame would ever play. But after a 3-5 start to the 2008 season, Romeo made his move.

So how did he do tonight against the Broncos? Or should I say, how do I think he did against the Broncos?

Well, all in all, I thought he did quite well. Considering this was his first start, Quinn looked calm from the get go. His first pass was iffy but by his second pass to Steptoe, you could see he had plenty of zip on the ball. And the 3-and-out to begin the game is tough to blame on him. Steptoe has got to get past the chains before he catches it.

His touchdown pass to Winslow was a thing of beauty. He ad-libbed nicely with a jump throw i some pretty good pressure and fired the ball into a small window for a score. Well done for his first career TD pass.

The second TD pass was nice as well. Again, pretty good pressure on Quinn and he finds Winslow, who did the rest to get the points. During that short drive, Quinn's quick decision-making was a good sign for the future. Not to mention the chemistry between him and Winslow in the first half.

In the third quarter, weren't really any highlights as the entire quarter just seemed to drag along. So I got nothing.

But in the 4th quarter, I think you really got to see the bright future Quinn has. He found the right receivers in the right spots. Sitting down in zones, coming across the middle, dropping it off in the flats, etc... Many of his 3-5 yd throws went for 10-20 yards because he threw the ball on the money so the receivers could stay on the run. Plus, Quinn's mobility began to shine. He was able to escape sacks and dump the ball off as well as buy some time to find a receiver downfield or just simply throw the ball away.

He seemed calm in the pocket and in the huddle all game, including on the final drive. I didn't like the play-calling on the final drive. 3rd and 1 and not running is okay. But 4th and 1, putting that kind of pressure on your quarterback instead of the running game that had been so dominant all game just seems dumb.

And I'd be wrong to say that the 4th down pass that was dropped by Winslow was a perfect throw by Quinn. In fact, Winslow said after the game that "legends catch that ball and that's where I wanna be. I thought I looked it in but...I let my team down". Hopefully, Winslow doesn't get fined for talking bad about himself.

But yeah, good game for Quinn. Not sacked at all. No turnovers. Led the team to 30 points on offense. And a darn good stat line of 23/25, 223 yds and 2 TD. Yeah, the Browns lost but tough to blame that on the new guy. At some point, the defense has to step up and make some plays. (But I don't really care. I had Jay Cutler on my fantasy team)

Browns fans, I think there's nothing but good news for this offense though. The combination of Quinn-Winslow is promising. Quinn-Edwards and Quinn-Stallworth will probably catch on. And whenever Jamal Lewis' legs fall off, you have to like the performance Jerome Harrison put on. All playoff hope is probably gone for 2008 but 2009 looks better already even after this loss.