Sep
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Written by:
LarryMac
9/1/2009 8:25 AM
Game 3 of the preseason is generally regarded as the most important. Games one and two are all about evaluating rookies and game four is all about figuring out the last few bench positions while keeping your starters healthy and not giving your regular season opponents any insights on what your team is about. So this game, against a good Tennessee Titans team, was probably the best with which to gauge the progress that the Browns have made this offseason.
The QB Battle: Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson passed for over 200 yards between them without an interception, but Quinn was the better of the two, connecting with Braylon Edwards for the only touchdown pass of the Browns preseason and amassing a QB rating of 121 for the game. Although coach Eric Mangini remained tight-lipped afterward, this game probably decided the QB race.
Penalties: The Browns continue to give up too much free yardage on penalties. Although they trimmed the volume of calls against them (7 penalties in this game), they still yielded 83 yards - equaling the yardage that the Titans gained on the ground themselves. Discipline remains a concern.
Rushing game: James Davis continues to look good. He only rushed for 28 yards in the game, but he did it on 5 carries. Unless Jamal Lewis starts the regular season strong, Davis may have become the heir-apparent.
Defense: The Browns recovered three turnovers and returned a pick for a touchdown, but still showed no signs of pressuring the quarterback, registering only one sack. They did force some bad throws from Vince Young, but Young looked bad pretty much all game.
The key to this game was that, for the first time in a long time, the Browns found ways to win. Last week they outplayed an inferior Detroit team, but this week it was the little things and the Browns' ability to capitalize on them. Brady Quinn led the Browns to scores on three of his four possessions under center, with his touchdown pass coming when the Browns started on a short field thanks to a Tennessee fumble. The Browns other touchdown was an interception return by Alex Hall. Most importantly, the Browns didn't turn the ball over. Preseason or not, this was one of the best performances that we've seen from this team in a long time and offered some hope that, whatever the team's final record this season may be, the performances will be better than last year.
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