Anderson no answer

CLEVELAND - The Vikings will be looking for a quarterback in 2009. The Browns' Derek Anderson might be available because of a $5 million roster bonus that's due in March.

If you're a Vikings fan and you think the 25-year-old Anderson is a worthy investment for the post-Gus Frerotte era, you're wrong.

Watching the Browns flounder at home in a loss to the Colts on Sunday reminded me of another 25-year-old youngster who already plays for the Vikings.

The Browns led 6-3 and had just intercepted Peyton Manning early in the third quarter. The Cleveland offense stepped on the field with the perfect play on first down at the Colts 49-yard line.

Receiver Donte Stallworth broke free near the right sideline, a couple of steps behind the defender. Anderson launched the deep pass.

Going, going, gone ... for a long foul ball.

Tarvaris Jackson, with his beautiful right arm, wouldn't have thrown it any prettier, or higher or farther out of bounds.

Six plays later, Phil Dawson missed a 34-yard field goal in what became a 10-6 Colts victory. It was the first time in 91 regular-season games that the Colts hadn't scored an offensive touchdown. But they won, just as they did when they beat the Browns 9-6 in Cleveland 91 regular-season games ago.

Afterward, Anderson talked about a torn left knee ligament that, it was announced Monday, ended his season. He talked about fumbling the ball and how it was returned for the winning touchdown, and a game plan designed around running the ball and keeping Manning off the field.

"I managed the game pretty good," he said. "I got a few misreads I'm disappointed in, but I executed the things we were trying to do."

He was 8-for-11 passing for 66 yards on third down. He converted seven of those third downs into first downs. But he also never made the play that a franchise quarterback makes, especially when he catches Manning and the Colts on a bad day.

It was a lot like Week 2, when five field goals weren't enough to beat the Colts or save Jackson's starting job in the Vikings' 18-15 loss at the Metrodome.

Besides the whiff on the deep ball to Stallworth, Anderson threw low and behind Braylon Edwards on third-and-6. He bounced a ball to a wide-open Steve Heiden. He even botched a 5-yard dump pass to Jamal Lewis.

He was, well, Derek Anderson, a talented and frustrating commodity the Browns might have to trade or release to clear the way for 2007 first-round pick Brady Quinn.

It's not a lock that the Browns will risk parting with Anderson. After all, Quinn has had only three NFL starts, going 1-2 before a broken index finger on his throwing hand ended his season.

But if Anderson does become available, people will rave about how Anderson threw 29 touchdowns passes and led the Browns to a 10-6 record during his 2007 Pro Bowl season. They won't remember how he also threw 19 interceptions, single-handedly lost the Cincinnati game that kept the Browns out of the playoffs and went 3-6 this season on a team that was expected to reach the postseason.

They also won't realize that his career record is 13-14 or that his career completion percentage is 54.6, which is awful in today's game. Jackson, by the way, is 8-8 with a 57.2 career completion percentage.

If the Vikings are smart, they'll realize Anderson isn't the answer. They'll realize he's a tease. He has a powerful right arm, but lacks consistency, accuracy and the personality of the proverbial field general.

Minus the Pro Bowl invite, that makes him too much like Jackson to unseat Jackson as the team's tentative quarterback of the future. Plus, Jackson has more mobility and experience in Brad Childress' offense.

That doesn't mean Jackson is the answer either. It just means the Vikings should cast their gaze and Zygi Wilf's cash somewhere besides the tantalizing arm of Derek Anderson.