Photo: John Kuntz/Cleveland.com

Today, Brady Quinn threw for 304 yards and 4 touchdowns, the Browns amassed 439 total yards, they converted 10-of-19 third downs, converted 2-of-2 fourth downs, did not turn the ball over, controlled the ball for nearly 35 minutes, and the Browns jumped out to a 24-3 lead in the first quarter on the way to their second victory of the season. It sounds great, doesn't it?

The only problem is the Browns didn't win, and that defense that I so greatly praised not six days ago is the main culprit. Number one draft pick Matthew Stafford threw for 422 yards and 5 touchdowns, 1 of them with 1 arm as time expired (more on that later) as the Lions piled up 473 total yards and marched down the field in less than two minutes with two timeouts, crushing the Browns and outscoring them 35-11 in the last three quarters.

Surprise inactives: Today, the Browns did not dress LB David Veikune, WR Brian Robiskie, and RB Jerome Harrison. While Harrison, especially with his whiny comments this past week, does not surprise me, I'm disappointed that Robo and Veikune were left off the active list. To have two of your top four draft picks (both of them second round picks) left off your gameday roster due to ability is not a vote of confidence for the Browns' drafting skills. Even more than that, it's the simple fact that this season is lost, and the Browns need to see what they have in Veikune and Robiskie. Chris Jennings was the backup running back and got 15 touches today, and perhaps it was better to have him active and leave Harrison inactive.

Finding some new pages in the playbook: Finally, finally, FINALLY! The Cleveland Browns opened things up and threw the ball down the field. It took facing the second worst defense in the league (the worst being the Browns), but I don't even care. For the first time all year, it was actually ENJOYABLE to watch the Browns operate on the offensive side of the ball. Heck, it hardly even had anything to do with Josh Cribbs, previously perceived to be the only person capable of making a play on the team. It started on the opening drive with a 24 yard pass play to Mohamed Massaquoi. On the next drive, the first play was a play action bomb to Massaquoi, who was wide open off the play fake, and he strolled easily into the end zone. On the seventh play of the third drive, it was a 3rd and 6 toss from the Detroit 40 to Chansi Stuckey that gave the Brownies a 17-3 lead. That's right, that would be the same Chansi Stuckey who had exactly one catch in five games with the Browns before today along with several drops. Today, the young wideout had five catches for 76 yards and one touchdown. Kudos to the Browns for finally taking the blinders off and realizing that throwing the ball downfield, successful or not, is the only way to get opposing defenses to stop loading up in the box and overplaying short passes, screens, and runs. While I highly doubt the Browns will sniff anywhere close to 37 points the rest of the year, let's hope that they take some of the success they had today and realize that is possible for Brady Quinn to air it out from time to time.

Detroit no-huddle causes issues: As successful as the Browns' offense was, it paled in comparison to Detroit's, which blasted apart the Browns' defense after some early struggles. After Matthew Stafford tossed a first quarter interception to Eric Wright, who returned it 44 yards and had a facemask penalty tacked onto that, he was incredibly efficient, torching the Browns secondary on multiple occasions, in particular Brodney Pool. The first Detroit drive lasted five plays as a dump-off screen to RB Kevin Smith went for 63 yards, but the Browns held Detroit to a 31 yard field goal from Jason Hanson. Stafford completed passes of 63 and 25 yards to Smith, 30 yards to Brandon Pettigrew, 26 yards to Aaron Brown, and 75 and 30 yards to Calvin Johnson. That's right, the Browns gave up six passes of 25 or more yards today. That's just downright broken defensive coverage.

Track meet first quarter: The Browns led 24-10 at the end of the first quarter, and it was not only the score that was remarkable. Brady Quinn threw for 151 yards in the first quarter to go with 3 touchdowns. Stafford passed for 152 yards in the first quarter, throwing one touchdown. The Browns outgained the Lions 197-152 in the first 15 minutes. The 24 points alone in the first was the most points the Browns had scored in a game since last year's Week 11 Buffalo win. In fact, the 37 points the Browns put up was their most since a 41-31 win in Week 6 of 2007 against the Miami Dolphins.

A stroke of Man-genius?: Someone must've stolen the headset from Brian Daboll and/or Eric Mangini late in the second half, because things got truly wild in this "Who cares?" battle of the decade. On 4th down and 4 from the Detroit 29, Mangini neglected a 46-yard field goal try as Quinn completed a 7 yard pass to Stuckey with 58 seconds remaining in the tie game. Then, on a 4th and 9 from the 21, as Dawson lined up for a 38 yard attempt, Ryan Pontbriand snapped it to Dawson, who left-handed a pass over to Mike Furrey, who picked up the first down, but failed to break it for six. The Browns as a result had to try a 28-yard field goal with just six seconds left to take the three point lead going into the half. All that, and the Browns got what they likely would've gotten in the first place, three points.

Final "The Drive" sequence: Wow, I've been seeing too many of these lately. As I feared when we punted the ball, the Detroit Lions marched right down the field in 1:46, and boy did they need all of it, and scored seven on the Browns and their six-point lead. The key play was a 3rd and 5 at the 2 minute warning where the Browns had a choice: go for the first down or run into the line and let the clock run before punting it back to the Lions, who had no timeouts. I was with Mangini in that going for it seemed far less cowardly than running into the line and punting it. But, in the end, that decision cost them, as the Lions would've had to be more aggressive on the final drive. The Browns allowed the Lions to get 10 yards chunks as the clock tick, tick, ticked, and the Lions had just 8 seconds left to get it in from the 32 yard line. Matt Stafford scrambled from side to side and chucked up the ball, hoping for his prayer to be answered. As Stafford was crushed to the ground by C.J. Mosley, the ball sailed into the end zone and was picked by Brodney Pool. But, over-the-hill DB Hank Poteat became the goat when he interfered with Calvin Johnson on the play when it wasn't even necessary. The ball was spotted at the 1-yard line, but Daunte Culpepper was forced into action because Stafford had to be removed due to his left arm hanging limp to his side. One problem, though, Eric Magnini called timeout, so Stafford came back in the game and threw the game winning strike wincing in obvious pain with his non-throwing arm still hanging.

Game ball: Brady Quinn, for his impressive performance and demonstration of downfield throwing. Quinn finished 21-of-33 for 304 yards with 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.

Team Grade: C+

This is a little high, granted the way the game was lost and the way the defense played. But as far as a fan enjoyment level, it was the most enjoyable game and first quarter I've watched in quite some time. If the offense can carry any of that success over, maybe the Browns will get another win this year. But, if the D plays like that, they probably will not.

The Browns take on the Bengals next week in the second installment of the Battle of Ohio at Paul Brown Stadium. If it is anything like the first game, we're in for a treat.

Kirk

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