Derek Anderson and the winning Browns

NFL Football at its best. NFL Football at its craziest.

It was spring training and Charlie Frye was the incumbent quarterback getting lots of snaps.

Brady Quinn was the celebrated first round draft pick needing lots of snaps.

And then there was Derek Anderson.

Ultimately, Derek won out and has played so well that no ones calls for Charlie Frye (did anyone, anyway?) or Brady Quinn.

Derek Anderson has morphed into a game-changer, and most especially, a winner. Of all the majestic passes he’s tossed this year, perhaps none was as needed as the screen he threw to Jamal Lewis last week in overtime.

This has become Anderson’s team. He has the goods; the strong arm, the smarts, the drive to win while proving critics wrong.

In talking to Jamal Lewis this week, the running back broke down the evolution of the young quarterback.

“This guy is in the weight room, he is in the classroom, he is in the facility more than anyone,” Lewis said. “Day in and day out he is there. We feed off of that. That’s where it comes from. It’s a new offense and he studies to perform like that. And believe me, when you come from where he’s come from, you have something to prove every week. That fire burns. We love it. During training camp there was a lot of competing going on. He couldn’t get the entire offense down, or take all the snaps with the first team, because he had to compete with Charlie Frye and Brady Quinn. Now it is his system. It’s his team.”

Boy is it ever. Anderson is sixth in the NFL in yards, ahead of a guy named Peyton Manning. He protects the football, with just nine picks against 17 touchdowns. source

Will Derek and the Cleveland Browns catch the Pittsburgh Steelers and make the playoffs.

No on catching the Steelers. The Steelers have a great defense. The Browns defense has huge leaks in it.

Make the playoffs? Maybe as a wildcard depending on Derek Anderson staying red hot. The AFC has lots of contenders that are pretenders.

So is everything rosy in Cleveland?

No. Derek is a restricted free agent at the end of the year. Can Cleveland afford to pay Derek and Brady and not play Brady?

Anderson is a restricted free agent at the end of the year. This situation has Drew Brees/Phil Rivers written all over it. There is no way, when you watch him play and you hear the words Lewis chooses, the organization can let him leave.

But that is next year. Right now Derek has Cleveland winning and if you drafted him in your Fantasy Football League everyone thinks you are intelligent again. (Of course, we know better).

NFL Football Fan Question Will the Browns be able to build a defense?

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