Water Seeks Its Own Level
Oct 2, 2008
Author: Tree

I've neglected to write many articles this season, instead waiting to see what would happen with this team and its decision to go "all in" on Derek Anderson before writing an article. Well the early results are in, and to be honest, it's time to fold and walk away from the table. I am done with Derek Anderson, and I will give you many reasons why. I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, but there really are no excuses for his empty headed bumbling play week after week after week.

This is not "Tim Couch Redux" where there was no talent, a porous O line, and where we are asking DA to put the team on his shoulders and take a beating every week. This is a team full of Pro Bowlers with arguably the best Offensive Line in the NFL.

DA, for the year after four games, rates a pathetic 49.9 for the season. At one point in the game against Cincinnati, his rating plummeted to the dismal 16s. This was a game against the worst pass rush in the NFL ranked 32nd, and one of the worst defenses in the league ranked 28th against the run, and a team without Carson Palmer. Derek Anderson must be in tight with God because it was a miracle we won with the way he played. If it weren't for the five turnovers we were gifted from the woeful Bengals, and the interception that was negated due to a Bengal penalty, we do not win this game. With Carson Palmer behind center for Cincinnati we surely would have lost it, because in no way shape of form did we deserve to win it.

Derek Anderson is a myth of a QB who is living off just three games against the worst competition the NFL had to offer in 2007. Miami 1-15 (picked first in the NFL draft), St. Louis 3-13 (picked 2nd), and Cincinnati 7-9 (picked 9th). These clubs have a combined record of 11-37. Derek Anderson had 11 TD's, one INT and was 56 of 83 for 821 yards against those three teams. His best three games of the 2007 season. That equates to a 134.08 QB rating. Congrats DA, nice effort. Great rating against arguably the three worst teams in the league last year. How did he do against the rest of the schedule in 2007? 18 TD's 18 INT's, 248 of 444, for 2966 yards. That equates to a 73.08 rating. Fairly pitiful. I ask you, is this what you need out of your starting QB to win a Lombardi?

Oddly enough the 73.08 that DA rated for the other 12 games of 2007 was pretty close to DA's rating against Cincinnati yesterday in a lackluster performance against what is now a 0-4 team against a back up no name QB and an offense that committed five turnovers. Derek's rating against such weak competition? A whopping 74.7. His career rating? 74.5. I would call this...."water seeking its own level." This is all we are ever going to get out of DA over the long haul.

If Derek Anderson doesn't get benched in a season where his rating is 49.9, where he was barely functional against a cellar dweller team without its Heisman trophy winning QB, then I do not think that he will ever be asked to ride the pine this season, nor do I expect us to turn it on the next 12 games and miraculously make the post season with this big dumb galoot as our QB. This organization and Phil Savage is crazy to keep force feeding DA to the fans as some sort of franchise QB worth 26 million and or a 1st and 3rd round pick we "allegedly" (snicker,) passed on to keep him. To hear the talk shows after the game on the TV and radio, one could presume that the fans are on the verge of a revolt that we have not seen since the day Bill Belichick gave beloved Bernie Kosar the axe. Derek Anderson will cost someone a job in 2008, and I could care less if it's Phil Savage that gets fired or Romeo Crennel that gets canned. I am tired of these two propping up this stiff. Bench him, or fire someone, and soon.

Regardless of the win, its time to sit our 49.9 rated QB down and move on, and use the BYE to change gears and insert some energy into the lineup. DA is not the answer, so we might as well find out if the "other guy" is. If not, lets get rid of whomever is insisting on the insanity of continuing to play DA. The locker room is falling apart, and rumors of in house fighting abound. We see it on the sidelines with DA and Braylon Edwards often going at it on more than one occasion. It doesn't look good. Winslow is unhappy and discontent, and is rumored to want out of Cleveland. The team has no discipline, and the clock and the game are managed poorly by Crennel. This is what happens to talented teams that are mismanaged by maintaining the status quo when the obvious changes needed are neglected to be made.

We may have taken some teams by surprise against a very weak schedule last year with eight games against teams picking in the top ten of the NFL draft, but we look absolutely horrid on offense. We look like amateurs in a professional league. Even with the help of an improved defense that has held teams to under 300 yards total offense in the past three games consecutively, I do not see this team going anywhere with the lack of leadership being displayed on the sidelines, in the locker room, and on the field by its signal caller. It's time for a change, and its long overdue. The fans are on the verge of a revolt, but Romeo Crennel and Phil Savage are playing the "spin fiddle" while the rest of us watch Cleveland burn.

Three TD's, six INT's, 49.6% completion percentage for a 49.9 rating. 26 million dollar franchise QB my a$$.

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