The Browns Are Playoff Bound!

I've got to admit that I was a little skeptical about the Browns decision to become the first team in modern NFL history to trade their starting QB the day after the first game of the season. However, I watched Phil Savage's press conference, and now I know that the team is in good hands.

Before I heard Phil, I assumed that the team's decision was a sign of panic, and a pathetic effort by an extremely insecure GM and head coach to pander to fan sentiment. But then Phil spoke, and my eyes were opened. True, Phil was on record as saying that if Charlie Frye wasn't the greatest thing since the universal remote, Savage would be out as GM by 2008, but he made it clear that that was then, and this is now.

I also was operating under the assumption that this trade represented a fundamental change in the team's plan for the 2007 season, during which Brady Quinn would be given the opportunity to develop his skills over time. Fortunately, I was wrong about that too. As Phil noted, the team's plan hadn't changed, it had merely been "adjusted."

Don't worry about Quinn, Anderson is the starter, and he has the full support of Savage and Crennel. Brady Quinn won't be rushed into the game until the offensive line has had a few games to jell and the team is able to establish some kind of a running game. The only circumstance in which Quinn would replace Anderson would be if the Browns turn the ball over or are forced to punt at some point during the Bengals game, and you've got to admit, that's a pretty far fetched scenario.

I guess I could get all cynical about this, but let's face it, Phil's earned the benefit of the doubt. After all, this is the personnel wizard who shrewdly drafted Braylon Edwards and signed Kevin Shaffer and Ted Washington as free agents. So forget cynicism-- I'm all in for Phil and Romeo's excellent adventure.

All I can say is watch out, Cincinnati! Now that everything's straightened out, I predict great things for the Cleveland Browns this Sunday. Here's why:

• The fundamental problem with the Browns has always been the quarterback position, and Charlie Frye in particular. Now that the team's in the able hands of Derek Anderson, the real brilliance of Coach Chudzinski's offensive schemes will shine through.

• The problems experienced by the offensive line last week, and every week for the past eight years, are again attributable to Charlie Frye's incompetence as a quarterback. Sure, Frye did not join the team until 2005, but that's exactly the kind of excuse we'd expect to see from the die-hard Frye apologists, and one that knowledgeable fans will disregard.

• Frye also no longer hamstrings the Browns' defense. Is there anyone who seriously contends that Ben Roethlisberger would have thrown four touchdown passes last weekend if Anderson or Quinn had been the starting QB? At this point, I also can't see how anyone could argue that the defensive line won't be a lot better with Charlie Frye out of the mix.
  

• Did you know that since the Browns returned to Cleveland, the only game in which a punter ever dropped a perfect snap was one that Charlie Frye started? True, he wasn't in the game during that play, but that doesn't mean it isn't his fault.

• Also, last week was the only time in Browns history, and perhaps in the history of football, that a team had four penalties called against it in a single play. Who was the starting QB when that happened? You guessed it, Charlie Frye. Coincidence? I think not.
  

• Speaking of coincidences, don't you find it interesting that General Petraeus told us that we were winning in Iraq and that Continental Airlines announced a $50 million expansion in Cleveland the day after Frye was traded? Hmmm.

• Now that Frye's gone, look for Gary Baxter and LeCharles Bentley to return to the lineup very shortly and to contend for spots in this year's Pro Bowl.

Now that the anchor around the Cleveland Browns has been removed, the team will be able to achieve the greatness that fans expect from a team with that's just loaded with world class talent, thanks to the Savage brain trust. You know, I pity the Cincinnati Bengals. I really do.

Browns 84, Bengals 0.