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Wind not the only reason for Anderson's poor day
By Marla Ridenour
Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Monday, Dec 24, 2007
CINCINNATI: Derek Anderson stepped to the microphone and mumbled, ''Well, wasn't good enough today.''
Presumably he wasn't referring to his teammates.
Needing only to beat the Cincinnati Bengals to clinch a playoff spot, the Browns' quarterback tied his career-high Sunday with four interceptions as Cleveland fell 19-14 at Paul Brown Stadium.
Two interceptions came on back-to-back passes late in the second quarter. Those misplaced throws to running back Jason Wright and receiver Braylon Edwards led to 13 points as the Bengals went ahead 19-0.
''Right there, that won them the game,'' Anderson said. ''They scored both times. One was a bad decision and one was a missed communication.''
Anderson completed 29-of-48 passes for 251 yards and two touchdowns and a season-low quarterback rating of 53.4. The final numbers were a huge improvement from his first-half performance, when he went 7-of-15 for 65 yards with two interceptions for a 19.4 rating.
At kickoff, the wind was clocked at 19 mph with gusts to 29 mph. Anderson blamed the gusts for two interceptions, including a short throw over the middle to Edwards with 47 seconds left before halftime. Rookie cornerback Leon Hall picked it off and ran it back 12 yards to the Cleveland 20.
''I came off Joe (Jurevicius) on a vertical and put a little too much air on it and the guy was able to make a play on it,'' Anderson said. Cincinnati scored two plays later.
Afterward, Browns coach Romeo Crennel said he never considered going to rookie Brady Quinn, a first-round draft choice who has not taken a snap in a regular-season NFL game. Crennel did his best not to damage Anderson's confidence.
''If it were a sunny day and the conditions were perfect and he throws four interceptions, there would be more reason for concern,'' Crennel said. ''We need to work him with the conditions, understanding what he can and cannot do with the ball.''
While he spoke more softly than normal, Anderson fought not to get too down on himself. He hadn't thrown four interceptions since Dec. 24, 2006, against Tampa Bay.
''I'm never going to give up on myself,'' Anderson said. ''We've worked too hard. I owe everything to the guys in the locker room, these coaches. They've been behind my back the whole year. It makes it hard to go in there after the game and look around, the disappointment we have. We're never going to question our own abilities or anything like that.''
Browns receiver/returner Joshua Cribbs said Anderson should not take the blame alone.
''The wind conditions, we turned the ball over. You can't put that all on Derek like he was doing it on purpose,'' he said. ''He did what he can. We've got to try to overcome the environment.''
As badly as the first half ended, Cleveland got the ball to start the third quarter and drove to the Bengals' 9. Anderson's pass for tight end Kellen Winslow in the right corner of the end zone hit safety Marvin White in the head. White tipped it to safety Chinedum Ndukwe for Ndukwe's second interception of the day.
''The wind's kind of going into that corner and coming back out at us. The ball just hung up in in the air,'' Anderson said. ''It just fell out of the sky and the ball hit (White) in the back, or I don't know where it actually hit him. I was on my back.
''I wish I could have thrown it a little firmer and taken some of the wind out of it, but that's the way it goes.''
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her Browns blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/browns/.
CINCINNATI: Derek Anderson stepped to the microphone and mumbled, ''Well, wasn't good enough today.''
Get the full article here.
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