They’ve only played one half of football in Cleveland, but so far Derek Anderson is rewarding Romeo Crennel and the Browns for sticking with him as their starting quarterback. DA is 11 of 16 for 225 yards and a touchdown at the half, and outside of a couple of misfires on their first drive of the game, he’s played flawless.
Anderson found Darnell Dinkins for a 22-yard touchdown pass before half and Cleveland has built a rather shocking 17-14-halftime lead. The deficit should be more, but the Browns continue to shoot themselves in the foot with penalties, including one that negated a fumble recovery that eventually led to a Plaxico Burress 3-yard touchdown reception.
One thing to note is how well Cleveland has played defensively to this point. Shaun Rogers has been a beast in getting pressure on Eli Manning, while Brodney Pool came up with a huge interception when New York was driving for a score in the first quarter.
It’ll be interesting to see if Anderson cancels out his first half performance with a second half collapse as Cleveland fans cry out for Brady Quinn. If the Browns can’t hold on to the lead, surely Crennel will have played into it somehow.
