Photo: Cleveland.com/Tracy Boulian

Well, Browns fans, what else did you expect?

I expected the Browns to struggle to move the ball offensively against the lock-down Baltimore defense (especially without RB Jamal Lewis), I anticipated some turnovers to be forced by Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, and company, and I even prepared myself for the Ravens' offense being able to move the ball at will against the Cleveland defense, but somehow it was even more painful than I had envisioned.

Second-year QB Joe Flacco threw for almost 350 yards, Willis McGahee and Ray Rice combined for over 100 yards and 3 scores, and the Browns turned the ball over four times. Throw in a reborn quarterback controversy, and it sums up the embarrassment that every Browns fan felt on Sunday afternoon as the Browns toppled to 0-3 and 32nd in my personal ballot for the Bloguin Power Rankings to be released Tuesday.

What went wrong? Let's start with what didn't.

Jerome Gets The Call - With Jamal Lewis out of action today with a bad hamstring, Jerome Harrison got the start and the majority of the touches at running back. Harrison has always been one of those players that you wanted to see more of, and Romeo Crennel always refused to let us see a more defined role for Harrison in the Browns' offense. Today, Harrison got 21 touches and wound up with 85 total yards (over 4 yards a touch). Harrison's best play was most likely a 17-yard run he broke off at the start of the second quarter. From where I sit, Harrison showed flashes of play-making ability, which is at an all-time low with this squad. Therefore, maybe the Browns would benefit from a few more carries for Harrison and a few less for their aging, banged up, 1,000 yard rusher.

Paging Mr. Cundiff - On two days notice, Billy Cundiff didn't do anything wrong in relief of lone standby Brown Phil Dawson, so that puts him ahead of many on the roster. His 29-yard field goal in the third quarter was the longest gap in between made field goals for a kicker since the 1950s. Congratulations, Billy! You can have a laugh about that one when you're sitting at home next week or the week after thinking about moonlighting for the worst team in the league.

Here, in no particular order, are a few (of the many) things that went wrong.

"Now I'm done!" - After a first half in which he completed just six passes for 34 yards while throwing an interception, Brady Quinn was yanked in favor of Derek Anderson by Coach Mangenius. There was chatter before the game that Quinn was on a potentially short leash, and it must have been a pretty good source. I do not try to hide the fact that I think Quinn needs to be the starter at this juncture, but I'll try to look at this as objectively as possible. First of all, did you REALLY expect Quinn to craft a win against NFC contender Minnesota, on the road against a now 3-0 Denver squad, or against the Ravens and their swarming defense? If you were, then instead of "the early bird gets the worm", it's more like a "second mouse gets the cheese" scenario. In fact, their opponents are now 9-0 on the season. DA would've performed just about the same and gotten the same heave-ho for Quinn if their roles were reversed. Granted, Quinn has been missing open receivers and holding onto the ball for too long, but his leash is several yards shorter than the one DA had in past seasons. Quinn's drives ended in the following fashion: INT, PUNT, PUNT, PUNT, END OF HALF.

DA's Bullpen Outing - When the Browns took possession with 12:35 to go in the third quarter, the exact words that came out of mouth were, "Oh, Lord!". That's because I saw Derek Anderson aka Wile E. Coyote galloping onto the field. I like to call Anderson Wile E. Coyote because like the cartoon coyote, he seems to have a good plan mapped out, but he never seems to think it all the way through. Furthermore, he is perpetually antagonized by an adversary who prevents him from succeeding at his task at hand. It's not Roadrunner, but rather the interception. Sometimes, DA just can't help himself; I'm not sure if he forgets what color his team is wearing that day, or he is actually colorblind, or he remembers being drafted by Baltimore and wanted to help out his old organization, but it's downright baffling what Anderson can do in a short stretch.

At the risk of selling Anderson short, he had the best drive of either quarterback today which led to the Cundiff field goal. Also, Anderson was able to stretch out his arm a little bit and throw the ball a) into the endzone and b) more than 15 yards. Anderson completed 11-of-19 passes (14 if you count players from both teams) for 92 yards with zero touchdowns and three INTs. Here are the results of DA's drives: INT, FG, PUNT, INT, INT, PUNT, END OF GAME.

Arm tackling galore - The defense does share blame in this horrific defeat. As often happens with the Browns, the offense forces the defense to be on the field too much by going three and out and committing turnovers. But, today, the time of possession was actually fairly even, so there's no excuse for the number of missed tackles and poor arm tackles that were on display today.  In fact, sometimes the Browns couldn't even get an arm on the Raven running backs. For instance, Raven rushers strolled into the end zone untouched on all three of their touchdowns. Overpursuit and poor defensive scheming contributed heavily to the poor tackling, but we knew this was going to be an issue heading into the season given last year's results. The most disappointing part for me is that the defensive backs seem hesitant to hit anybody in the open field. On one play, Willis McGahee shoved or stiff-armed Brandon McDonald three times to gain more positive yards. That kind of stuff just cannot happen if you expect to win games let alone show team pride.

Receiving Quickhits - The Browns continue to throw it to anyone who they think can help. Today, the Browns completed passes to eight different receivers (4 receivers, 3 backs, 1 tight end), but no one had over 40 yards receiving. The Josh Cribbs experiment as number two receivers continues to teeter towards "Fail" territory. I am in favor of seeing more of Massaquoi, Furrey, and YES, the inactive Brian Robiskie opposite Braylon Edwards. I think Cribbs' efforts are better utilized on third downs as a third receiver and in the wildcat formation.I also agree with those who've said that Steve Heiden doesn't get enough of a role in the offense. Furrey made a couple of nice catches from Anderson on third downs, and I feel that he should be the go-to guy in that situation.

Defensive Dribbles - Kamerion Wimbley looked very nice coming off the outside to sack Joe Flacco early on, but the problem is that it was the only Browns' sack of the day. Ahtyba Rubin forced a fumble, but other than that there are just a lot of high tackle totals since the Ravens got to run so many play on offense (Jackson 9, Elam 7, Wimbley 5, Barton and Poteat 4).

Who starts next week? - I still have to say I think it's Brady Quinn. Derek Anderson may move the ball better (especially vertically downfield) at times, but his decision making is just downright terrible. 2 of his 3 interceptions were throws that an NFL QB should NEVER make. The other main beef I have with the Browns offensive system is that they CLEARLY changed the play calls with Anderson in the game. More deep passes were called, giving Anderson a chance to look good. I don't buy that crap that Quinn cannot throw the deep ball. Could we actually see him throw a few deep and then underthrow the receiver leading to an interception before we go saying that he cannot do it? In case you didn't notice, that's how DA's bomb was picked off. It was intended for Braylon Edwards.. IN TRIPLE COVERAGE!

One thing's for sure, for Quinn to keep his name in the lineup, he has to do what DA cannot, master the short passing game while making quick, smart decisions. Otherwise, what's Brett Ratliff look like?

Kirk

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