Mark Craig: Quarterback play sinks Cleveland

CINCINNATI - And you thought Brady Quinn's wait on draft day was long.

On a day when ugly pass after hideous pass sailed from Browns starting quarterback Derek Anderson to wide-open Bengals defenders, Quinn never took off his warmup jacket.

On a day when the Browns should have clinched their first playoff berth in five years, the golden boy from Notre Dame just stood there. Sort of like when he just sat there for hours on draft day trying to work up periodic smiles for ESPN as 21 teams passed on him.

"I want to help out, but that's not my call; that's totally up to the coaches," Quinn said after Anderson threw four interceptions in a 19-14 loss at Paul Brown Stadium. "I want to play every week, and this week was no different. I'll just wait my turn."

Actually, this week was a lot different.

While Anderson is a huge part of the Browns' seasonlong NFL feel-good story, it was obvious early enough Sunday that, for whatever reason, he wasn't going to finish the job. And because of that, the Browns went from celebrating a playoff berth to losing control of the AFC's sixth and final playoff spot. Tennessee can clinch it Sunday with a win at Indianapolis.

"It's a tough battle to fight when you're throwing four picks," Anderson said. "A couple of them were bad decisions, and a couple of them got hung up in the air."

"I think the wind had something to do with it," Crennel said. "Derek threw four, and [Bengals QB Carson Palmer] threw two. Carson is a pretty good quarterback himself."

Anderson's first two interceptions basically lost the game with less than two minutes left in the first half. In a span of 39 seconds, the Bengals took a 19-0 lead by turning those two interceptions into a pair of touchdowns.

On the first interception, Anderson threw the ball directly to safety Chinedum Ndukwe while trying to dump it to running back Jason Wright. On the second interception, Anderson badly underthrew receiver Braylon Edwards and hit rookie cornerback Leon Hall instead.

Anderson's third interception came on first-and-goal from the 9. Throwing into double coverage, the ball bounced off one Bengal and was caught by the other. And the fourth pick was nabbed at the goal line on first down from the Cincinnati 17.

Crennel clearly wants no part of a quarterback controversy. He quickly barked "No!" when asked if he had considered bringing in Quinn, one of only two rookie first-round draft picks who hasn't played this season. Saints receiver Robert Meachem (27th overall) is the other.

"We were hoping Derek could just get us to the bye [after Game 6]," Browns General Manager Phil Savage said. "Nobody expected Derek to go [9-5] and do what he's done."

Anderson is a restricted free agent after this season. Savage said the Browns will use the highest tender on him if they have to. The Browns would receive a first- and a third-round draft pick if they didn't match an offer.

"Ideally," Savage said, "we'd like to keep quarterbacks for at least another year or two."

Savage went on to mention how 60 quarterbacks have started games this season.

"I think we went from ranking 32nd at the quarterback position to maybe one of the top eight to 10 this year," Savage said. "We feel like we have two guys who can play."