In what has to be one of the least-anticipated Monday Night Football games of the 2009 season, the Cleveland Browns (1-7) will host the Baltimore Ravens (4-4) in five days. Aside from one ugly win at Buffalo, nothing has gone right for the Browns this season—including their much-publicized preseason quarterback battle between Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson.

Brady Quinn, Cleveland Browns / Image: Zuma Press

Brady started the season and got nowhere. And he has the numbers to prove it. After three starts, Brady has a sickly 62.3 quarterback rating. Derek filled in for five games and didn’t fare any better. In fact, he was worse with just two touchdowns to nine interceptions and a 36.2 QB rating. Are you serious? In the team’s only aforementioned win, Derek was a ridiculous 2-of-17 passing for 23 yards. I’m almost positive I could attain those same numbers against any defense in the National Football League. That’s how bad that was.

Now that we’re into the second half of the season, Brady is more than ready to get back on the field:

“I don’t spend a lot of time on the past. I think you always try to go back and be critical of yourself, but a lot of times I try to look at more fundamental things and I try to look at some (specific) things—what could I have done different in this situation? And again, I always feel confident in what I put out there on the field.”

Well, with little left to play for (except pride, blah blah), the Browns announced today that Brady would, in fact, get the starting nod against the Ravens. Under normal circumstances (like, if the team had any hope of making the playoffs), I would say Browns fans would be excited to see the popular Brady Quinn back under center. But who really cares at this point? He has nobody to throw to. And the New Orleans Saints defense has scored more touchdowns than the Browns offense this season. So, where’s the excitement coming from? At least the Browns aren’t beating themselves. They lead the entire NFL in fewest penalties. But not so fast. They have the worst turnover differential at -11. No matter how you slice it, it’s a sad state of affairs in Cleveland.

Source: ClevelandBrowns.com

The Kansas City Chiefs have had enough of running back Larry Johnson. He was due to return from his second suspension in the past year today. But the Chiefs decided not to give him another chance and released him. Larry was just 75 yards shy of breaking Priest Holmes’ rushing record at Kansas City. But he finally wore out his welcome with a recent tirade of insults and gay slurs on his Twitter. So he won’t get a chance to break that or any other Kansas City Chiefs’ records.
Head coach Todd Haley explained the decision making process during his presser …read more

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning is having an MVP-type 2009 season. At the halfway point, he’s first in the National Football League in completion percentage (70.6), second in passing yards (2,545) and touchdown passes (16), and third in overall passer rating (105.2). Most importantly, his team is still undefeated at 8-0. This afternoon, he made some long-term noise by becoming the first quarterback in any decade to pass for 40,000 yards. Peyton was 34-of-50 passing for 318 yards and one touchdown as the Colts beat the Houston Texans 20-17.
Speaking of decades, Peyton now only needs three touchdown passes to become …read more

For one day, the Tampa Bay Bucs turned back the clock to 1976. And for the first time this season, the team tasted victory in doing so. It was a memorable day for the Buccaneers organization as they combined their past with their future. Wearing the infamous (and often ridiculed) creamsicle orange uniforms (complete with Bucko Bruce on the helmet) for the first time since 1996, the Bucs unveiled a Ring of Honor at Raymond James Stadium and inducted Hall of Fame defensive end Lee Roy Selmon as their first member. Meanwhile, rookie quarterback Josh Freeman made his first National …read more

Remember the Vikings-Packers game last Sunday? Of course you do. It was former Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre’s much-anticipated return to Lambeau Field, wearing the uniform of the arch rival Vikings. The stage was set for an incredible game. And it did turn out to be a good one, with the Vikes winning 38-26.
Well, as expected, a lot of people watched on Fox—29.8 million viewers, in fact. That made the game the most-watched program on television since the Academy Awards back on February 22 (36.3 million viewers). The Vikings-Packers viewership tops that of the season finales of popular prime …read more

Indianapolis Colts two-time Pro Bowl safety Bob Sanders is headed to injured reserve. He tore his Herculean left bicep against the San Francisco 49ers last weekend, just one game after he made his season debut from an offseason knee injury. That means his 2009 season (just three tackles and one interception) is over and the Colts will be without one of the best free safeties in the National Football League to bolster their defensive secondary.
To further exacerbate matters, the Colts also places starting cornerback Marlin Jackson on IR. And CB Kelvin Hayden will be sidelined for the next three to …read more

Philadelphia Eagles running back Brian Westbrook returned to practice this week after having missed most of two games with a concussion. He was hit in the head by Washington Redskins linebacker London Fletcher in the first quarter of a 27-17 win back on October 26, forcing him to miss last week’s game against the N.Y. Giants. Normally, I would say the Eagles are a worse different team without the services of perhaps the best all-purpose running back in the National Football League, but they surprisingly had no problem disposing of their division rivals without Brian, 40-17.
When asked about his injury …read more

Dallas Cowboys receiver Roy Williams seemed a bit defensive today when he was asked about his current role with the team. “Number two” receiver Miles Austin has been piling up catches and headlines the past three weeks as a starter (21 receptions, 482 yards, five TDs) while Roy nursed some sore ribs and thought about his poor production since joining the Cowboys 16 games ago (33 receptions, 447 yards, three touchdowns). So naturally, the discussion of Roy’s place in the offensive game plan was going to come up sooner than later.
Roy admitted some turmoil with QB Tony Romo exists, but …read more

In yet another example of just how far a star running back can fall from one of the National Football League’s best to not being wanted by any NFL team, Edgerrin James was released by the Seattle Seahawks today. After seven games, he had just 46 carries for a meager 125 yards. Doing some quick math, that’s 2.7 yards per carry.
As you will recall, Edge was acquired by the Hawks this past August after three years in Arizona, the last of which saw him turn from a disgruntled bench warmer to an integral part of an NFC Championship run. …read more

The San Diego Chargers decided they didn’t have a need for receiver Chris Chambers anymore. The Bolts gave up a second round draft pick just two years ago to get Chris from the Miami Dolphins. But after 31 games, his time in San Diego is finished. I guess the handwriting was on the wall, though. With the emergence of receivers Malcom Floyd and Legedu Naanee, Chris was being fazed out of the Chargers passing game. And the starting lineup. In seven games so far this season, Chris only had nine catches for 122 yards and one touchdown.
In a statement today, …read more