History Repeats Itself

As I watched the Browns/Broncos game last night, visions of John Elway danced through my head as the dreaded game dubbed simply "The Drive" was being reenacted on the field by a Jay Cutler led Broncos offense. This past week was historic as the American people elected its first black president. At a lesser level of importance, but still historic, Cleveland made the switch from Derek Anderson to Brady Quinn after a season and a half. Quinn's performance last night was nothing short of spectacular. He looked like a seasoned vet in the pocket and brought an element to the offense that Anderson did not. Quinn avoided the rush. Where Anderson would have taken a sack, Quinn evaded defenders and kept plays alive with his legs. He threw for 230 yards and 2 touchdowns with 0 interceptions and 0 fumbles. Mistakes you would expect a rookie quarterback make such as miscommunications, poor hand-offs, wasting timeouts, poor accuracy, holding on to the ball too long in the pocket, none of that was there last night. Quinn was not sacked once which is as much a credit to his scrambling ability as it is to his offensive line. He didn't force anything and did not turn the ball over. He played very solid and found his favorite target, Kellen Winslow, in the endzone twice. Last nights loss cannot be placed on Quinn's shoulders. He put 30 points on the board. The loss falls squarely on the defense and Romeo Crennel.
The only defender we have that is any good is Shaun Rogers, who is definitely getting my vote for the Pro Bowl. Our secondary is porous and soft. There is no physicality at all in any one of our corners or safeties. Our secondary is manhandled by bigger receivers and burnt deep by smaller ones. DeAngelo Hall is available, but wooing him will be impossible because he is going to want to go somewhere where a Super Bowl is a realistic goal this season. Our linebackers flat out suck. There is nothing else to say really. McGinest is too flippin old and cannot get the job done. Wimbley just isn't suited for the 3-4. Alex Hall is a pass rush specialist and cant play the run. Anyone else that is on our roster as a LB is dead weight. Our defensive line would be the worst we've ever had since '99 without Shaun Rogers, period!
The flaws that I see are a direct result of coaching. Romeo does not know how to coach and cannot get the job done. He never could. The people he has hired have been suspect as well. A common saying is, the mark of a good coach isn't his ability but whether he surrounds himself with other good coaches. Crennel has not done that. I mean Mel Tucker is a terrible defensive coordinator. I'd rather have Todd Grantham back. At least he knew what he was trying to accomplish; his fault was that he didn't have the wherewithal to get it done. Tucker has no clue what he is doing: None! Rushing 3 and 4 men all night does not generate enough pressure on the QB, if any, and playing a soft, and i mean an extremely soft, zone behind a nonexistent pass rush just won't win ya very many games. The prevent defense is too much a part of his philosophy (and Crennel's). The only thing the prevent does is prevent you from winning as we've seen in the past.
Randy, just give Cowher whatever the hell he wants and get someone in here who who has some competency because so far I haven't seen any from anyone.