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Frye, Anderson not impressive in win. Quinn doesn't play
By Patrick McManamon
Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Sunday, Aug 12, 2007
CLEVELAND: It would be nice to report that the Browns' quarterbacks took a step forward Saturday night.
But they didn't.
Charlie Frye had some decent throws, but also two ridiculous plays.
Derek Anderson . . . well . . . he didn't do much at all.
And Brady Quinn? He didn't take step on the field. The second of the Browns' two first-round picks spent the game wandering the sidelines.
Fans started chanting for Quinn with 12:43 left, after a Ken Dorsey fumble in the end zone gave the Kansas City Chiefs a safety.
The Browns ended the exhibition season opener with a 16-12 victory, thanks to Chris Barclay's 88-yard kickoff return with 1:36 left.
They also ended with as much insight into the opening day starting quarterback as they had when they started Saturday and the game started with a coin flip to see who would play first.
Sum it up with Frye's last drive, on the final possession of the first half.
Frye's best drive came with the backup receivers against the Chiefs' backups in the two-minute drill. The Browns had no timeouts and first-and-goal at the 5 with 12 seconds left.
Browns coach Romeo Crennel tried for a touchdown, but Frye did the one thing that he couldn't after he dropped back and could not find a receiver: He ran. And he was stopped at the 2.
The offense was left to scramble to get to the line and try to spike the ball, but there was no chance.
The half ended with the Chiefs ahead 7-6.
And the Chiefs' touchdown was a gift, courtesy of the Browns' offense.
That happened on Frye's previous possession. He lofted a pass sideways to running back Jerome Harrison, except Harrison had drifted back and Frye threw over and behind him.
While the Browns stood and watched, Benny Sapp picked it up and ran untouched 56 yards for a touchdown for the Chiefs.
''He made a bad throw,'' Sapp said.
It was not a good play, or an alert play, for the Browns' offense.
The Browns' only points when Frye and Anderson were in the game came on field goals, and they were set up by runs and short passes.
Frye's field-goal drive was set up by a 12-yard run by Joshua Cribbs on an end-around and a 15-yard run by Jamal Lewis.
For old times' sake, the Browns ran Lawrence Vickers on third-and-1 and did not get the first down, leading to Phil Dawson's 27-yard field goal.
Both quarterbacks opened the game with three-and-outs on their first possessions, and it took until there was 5:06 left in the second quarter for either to complete a throw down the field.
That was a 26-yard Frye throw to Ryan Krause. He followed that two plays later with the backward pass that turned into a Chiefs touchdown.
Frye did come back in the two-minute drill to complete passes of 23 yards to Kendrick Mosley, 22 yards to Syndric Steptoe and 12 yards to Travis Wilson.
He followed those, though, with his ill-advised run that ended the half.
Frye's final stats belied the overall results: 12-for-15 for 122 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions and one backward pass for a turnover that became a touchdown.
Frye easily could have thrown an interception on the game's first play. His pass to Kellen Winslow on a crossing route was behind Winslow and off the hands of Chiefs linebacker Donnie Edwards.
Anderson played two series in the third quarter and had three throws that bounced off the hands of Chiefs defenders. His final stats: 7-of-16 for 76 yards, with some very wild throws.
Defensively, the Browns got two interceptions on overthrows. The first was by Leigh Bodden off a Brodie Croyle throw in the general direction of nobody, the second by Daven Holly off a Damon Huard overthrow.
Regarding other players:
Joe Thomas, the third overall pick, started at left tackle and was flagged twice for holding in the second quarter. He otherwise seemed to hold his own.
Ryan Tucker played with the backups at right guard, a possible hint to the way the team plans to use Tucker when he returns from his four-game suspension.
Jamal Lewis got his first playing time with the Browns and did fairly well, running for 20 yards on four carries, including the 15-yarder. He also caught three passes for 16 yards all little dumpoffs.
Linebackers Kamerion Wimbley and Antwan Peek both played well in their brief action. Wimbley had pressure on Croyle, and Peek, taking over for the injured Willie McGinest, knocked the ball loose from Croyle on one play and stuffed a run on another.
The starting offensive line Thomas, Lennie Friedman, Hank Fraley, Seth McKinney and Kevin Shaffer played the entire first half, and the heat seemed to get to them. They looked like a tired group at the end of the half.
Despite the fact the offense did not score points in the first half, they did get some yards, totaling 219 the first two quarters.
The most important stat showed the Browns with two field goals and six points when they easily could have scored 17. noweb
Patrick McManamon can be reached at pmcmanamon@thebeaconjournal.com.
CLEVELAND: It would be nice to report that the Browns' quarterbacks took a step forward Saturday night.
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