The Cleveland Browns came into this football game with big question marks at QB and nothing was solved last night.  Romeo Crennel flipped a coin before the football game to see who would start the game between Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson.  Frye won the toss and his final numbers look outstanding as he completed 12 of 15 passes for 122 yards, but, numbers can lie.  Frye was responsible for giving up a TD and allowing time to run out at the end of the first half with the Browns inside the Chiefs’ 3-yard line.  Frye tossed a lateral to Jerome Harrison and CB Benny Sapp picked it up and raced 56 yards for the Chiefs only TD of the football game.  Derek Anderson didn’t play too well either as he completed 7 of 16 passes for 76 yards and he carried the ball 1 time for 11 yards.  Anderson has a much stronger arm than Frye but he often throws into double or triple coverage and that’s a no-no in the NFL.  Ken Dorsey then entered the game and he was both good and bad.  He lost the football late in the 4th quarter in the end zone and the Chiefs recovered it for a safety.  But he also completed 6 of 9 passes for 52 yards and lead the Browns on a nice drive that ended in a missed FG.  Still, after the safety the Dawg Pound was chanting “Brady, Brady” but Quinn never got a chance to show what he can do as he didn’t get to play.  Chances are he will play at least a quarter against the Lions next week.  Running back Jamal Lewis looked pretty good in his Browns debut.  He carried the ball 4 times for 20 yards (5.0 ypc) and he also grabbed 3 passes for 16 yards.  Jason Wright followed him in the game and he looked allright carrying the ball 9 times for 28 yards (3.1 ypc) and catching 2 passes for 28 more.  Jerome Harrison carried the ball 8 times for 33 yards (4.1 ypc) and he also caught 3 passes for 6 yards.  But, he also fumbled a ball and gave up on the lateral from Charlie Frye that ended in a TD for the Chiefs.  Running back Chris Barclay saved the Browns last night when he returned a kickoff 88 yards for a TD with 1:36 left in the football game to give the Browns the winning points.  Look for him to get some carries next week against the Lions as he attempts to make the Browns final roster.  The Browns wound up running the football 29 times for 99 yards (3.4 ypc) and they completed 25 of 40 passes for 247 yards.  The Browns were ballhogs as they held onto the football for 36:28 of the football game because the offensive line played well both run and pass blocking.

The Browns defense was all over the football field last night.  The Chiefs wound up carrying the football 22 times for 90 yards (4.1 ypc) and they completed 15 of 29 passes for 110 yards.  The Browns had a relentless pass rush which caused the Chiefs QBs to hurry in the first half and resulted in pickoffs by Leigh Bodden and Daven Holly.  The Browns defense looked like the “Dawgs” of the past allowing only 3 of the points that the Chiefs got last night.

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The Cleveland Browns will be without two stars and a key reserve player for a while.  Starting right guard Eric Steinbach was the key free agent addition by the Cleveland Browns this off season but he will miss the next 3-4 weeks with a sprained ligament in his knee.  His status for opening day against the Steelers in Cleveland is questionable.  Starting outside linebacker Willie McGinest will miss the next six weeks following back surgery.  This will likely give second year man Leon Williams a good chance to start a couple of games this season in McGinest’s spot.  Reserve linebacker and key special teams player Matt Stewart has surgery to repair a torn muscle in his left shoulder and he could be placed on Injured Reserve which would end his season.  The Browns need this injury luck to take a turn the other way at some point or they are going to be in big trouble this season.

The Browns let Terrelle Smith leave town as a free agent in the off-season as they have decided to go with Lawrence Vickers as their starting fullback this season.  Vickers played in all 16 games as a rookie for the Browns last year and he carried the ball 3 times for 2 yards (0.7 ypc) and caught 6 passes for 60 yards (10.0 avg).  He also returned 5 kickoffs for 84 yards (16.8 avg).  Look for Vickers to concentrate on blocking but he might surprise as a receiver out of the backfield this season.  J.R. Niklos will be Vickers’ back-up this season.  He has 4 years of NFL experience but he has never made it to the field in a regular season game.

The Cleveland Browns have signed rookie quarterback Brady Quinn to a 5-year, $20.2 million dollar contract.  He has $7.5 million dollars in guarantees and he could net as much as $30 million dollars if he plays well.  The Browns hope that Quinn will pick up the NFL game quickly because Derek Anderson and Charlie Frye don’t inspire much confidence.

The Browns will give Phil Dawson another season to turn things around but if he has another season like he did in 2006 look for them to try to replace him.  Dawson made only 72.4% of his field goal attempts but he made all 25 of his extra points to finish with only 88 points.  Dawson hit 14 of 16 field goals of 39 yards or less and he nailed 7 of 13 from 40+ yards.

Dawson has now played in 124 games for the Cleveland Browns and he has scored 663 points for an average of 5.3 points per game.  Dawson has made 156 of 190 (82.1%) of his field goal attempts in his career and he has made 195 of 201 extra points.  Dawson needs to turn things around this season so he can keep working for the Cleveland Browns.