They had the back-up quarterback nobody heard of. They brought in the running back nobody wanted, and was deemed finished, too much wear and tear, too much mileage. Their tight end played on virtually one leg a season ago, and their prime time pick in 2005 hadn’t matured into the guy yet. Oh, and let’s not forget their head coach had one foot out the door and the other on a banana peel.
Back on Sept.9th, it seemed as if the Browns were headed for yet another disastrous season after they kicked off the 2007 season by taking a brow beating from Pittsburgh, 34-7. Then starter Charlie Frye went an uninspiring 4-of-10 for 34 yards and one interception, and was pulled for Anderson during the game. That was the first and last game Frye played for Cleveland in 2007, as he was traded to Seattle just one day later. Turns out that was also the first and last home loss the Browns suffered in 2007.
Crennel planted Anderson fimly under center, and 10 wins later, the Browns reached their highest win total in a season since 1994 when they went 11-5. In 2005 and 2006, the Browns only won a combined 10 games, and Crennel has guided the Browns to a 20-28 record in three years. In a make or break year in Cleveland, the Browns struck it rich by staking not only Crennel’s job, but also general manager Phil Savage’s job as well, on the shoulders of Anderson. Now it appears the trio of Savage-Crennel-Anderson are safe in Cleveland. GM Phil Savage plans to offer Crennel an extension, and sign Anderson to a long-term deal, with all intent purposes of Anderson to be the starter in 2008 and beyond. Let the Brady Quinn sitting, waiting, and wondering game show to begin.
The maturation process started to bloom for a young, inexperienced team that finally started to play up to their capability. Anderson passed for 3,787 yards threw 29 touchdowns as a starter. Jamal Lewis showed he’s still got something in tank, rushing for 1,304 yards (5th best in the NFL) and 9 td’s on 298 carries. He became only the second Brown running back ever to rush for over 1,300 yards, the first, of course, being hall-of-famer Jim Brown. Braylon Edwards finally blossomed into the No.1 wideout Cleveland anticipated, hauling in 80 catches for 1,289 yards surpassing Webster Slaughter’s total of 1,236 yards back in 1989, while catching 16 td’s. Tight end Kellen Winslow showed that when healthy, he’s one of the best at his position, catching a season-high 82 passes for 1,106 yards and five scores. Either Edwards or Winslow led the Browns in receiving in all 16 games this past season.
10 wins. 7-1 record at home. Unfortunately no playoffs to show for it, as Cleveland becomes just the fifth team to win at least 10 games and fail to make the postseason and third this decade (Kansas City posted 10 wins in 2005 and Miami also had 10 wins in 2003). What gets lost in the shuffle of the gaudy stats by their offense is their biggest area of improvement: the offensive line. They made a huge signing in guard Eric Steinbach from the Bengals in free agency and used the No.3 overall pick in the 2007 draft on offensive tackle Joe Thomas from Wisconsin. Together, they helped Cleveland to the 10th best rushing attack in the NFL, 7th best in the AFC. Anderson couldn’t have had a better friend this past year than solid rushing attack. Just ask the Bengals if the Browns running game improved (Lewis ran for 216 yards in the 51-45 shootout win in Week 2).
Despite the collective sighs coming off of Lake Erie after the Colts rested the majority of their starters in the second half of their season finale, allowing the Titans to claim the sixth and final playoff spot in the AFC, one thing you cannot refute is the bottom line: 10 wins for the first time in 13 seasons. Now that we’ve looked back, we’ve got to move forward into 2008 and make 2007 a distant memory. But for the Browns, you can’t help but ponder whether or not 2007 was an aberration, a fluke, a one-hit wonder. Are they capable of it again in ‘08?
Unquestionably for the Browns, they’ve raised the bar and expectations for 2008 and won’t welcome a drastic fall off. The word is out on Derek Anderson, and while he won’t be mistaken for Brady or Manning, he’s much better than what most teams can trot out under center. Simply put, the Browns won’t be sneaking up on their opponents in 2008; their schedule, on paper, shapes up to determine whether or not these Browns are for real. They’ll face off against the NFC East and the AFC South; both divisions boasted three playoff teams each, all while each team in the division won a minimum of eight games. Throw in two meetings with division rival Pittsburgh, and Cleveland will be in line to clash with eight playoffs teams from 2007, in 2008.
Is Derek Anderson the real deal, or will he come back to Earth? Can the running game flourish again? Will moves be made to improve things on the defensive side of the ball? Just a few questions the Browns will be looking to answer in 2008.
And let’s not forget every team’s favorite debate: the quarterback controversy. Anderson or Quinn? Quinn or Anderson? It’s not necessarily a terrible dilemma to have if you’re the Browns. If Anderson falters, they’ve got the quarterback of the future waiting in the wings. If Anderson succeeds again, the Browns still have Quinn as insurance, and could easily hold him ransom for the plethora of teams in the NFL with question marks under center. But for argument’s sake it appears Anderson will be the guy to lead Cleveland again. The Browns have about 10,000 plays to judge Anderson’s performance on, compared to maybe 20 or so on Quinn. Seems as if there may not be a need for a controversy.
While Anderson was phenomenal for a majority of the year, he, along with the rest of the team, dropped the most crucial game of the year. With their destiny in their own hands, the Browns lost to the Bengals in the second to last game of the year 19-14. Anderson picked the wrong time to have his worst game of the season, throwing four interceptions thus putting Cleveland in the position of becoming the biggest fan club Jim Sorgi ever had in the final game of 2007.
Pick a moment from 2007. The shootout win over the Bengals, the overtime wins against Seattle and Baltimore. The 8-0 baseball score against Buffalo in a blizzard. All should be cherished and not soon forgotten, for it’s been five years since the Browns had any positive memories worth remembering. What a great year it was in the dog pound, a tremendous building block for better days to come. But just ask the Jets, Chiefs, Saints and Eagles. What was in one year, guarantees absolutely nothing the next. The fall down the mountain in a helluva lot easier than the climb up.
2 Comments
January 12, 2008 at 9:41 pm
I think the Browns have a really talented core of players that they can build a team around for years to come. I look for the Browns to take the next step next season. Braylon Edwards is now a big time receiver and I think Quinn will be the answer there eventually.
January 13, 2008 at 6:07 am
Hey RamZ, thanks for the comment, I appreciate you checking out my blog. I agree completely, they have a talented group of players and we finally caught a glimpse of what that talent can do. When talk about Edwards and Winslow, they were healthy and injury free in 2007, something they haven’t been in previous seasons. The AFC North can be had. Although still a good team, I think the success of the Steelers may largely have been due to a Krispy Kreme type of schedule. The Bengals haven’t figured out how to put a good defense on the field under the watch of supposed defensive guru Marvin Lewis, and until Baltimore finally settles the merry-go-round under center, they’ll be a mess. Derek Anderson’s play warrants another year and he deserves to run the show. With a couple defensive moves, via the draft or free agency, 2008 won’t be a falling out in the Dawg Pound.