Special Browns Edition: Steelers 34 - Browns 7

I've been telling people for weeks that any optimism on behalf of Browns fan is misplaced. It's extremely disheartening to have been proven right in such a brutal fashion. Some thoughts.

• This team was beaten 2 minutes into the game after that sorry punt attempt. How does your team break down so completely that you draw four penalties on one play?
• I thought Jamal Lewis had a reputation as a guy who didn't fumble.
• Charlie Frye looked like he had a serious case of Tim Couch disease. Throw the ball away, Charlie. It is beginning to look like Charlie Frye will not ever be able to make decisions quickly enough to be a successful NFL quarterback.
• Derek Anderson, on the other hand, appears quite decisive, and seems to make the right read most of the time. He just can't reliably get the ball into a position where the receiver can catch it.
• The defense played relatively gamely considering they were on a short field all day. It could have been 50 or 60 to 7.
• Hines Ward is a cheap-shotting punk. Considered by his peers as one of the dirtiest players in the NFL, Ward threw a blindside helmet to helmet hit on Daven Holly after the whistle, giving Holly a concussion and drawing a personal foul. It would be one thing if this were Ward's fist such incident against the Browns, but in 2004, he laid Earl Little out on a downfield block from the blindside and then taunted Little while he lay on the ground, injured. What was almost as bad was CBS color commentator Rich Gannon, who should know better, commending Ward for the cheap shot hit, saying he was someone who "plays through the whistle", while Holly was lying on the ground concussed. Ward regularly taunts opponents and opponents fan. In short, he's a punk. And, amazingly, he get's a free pass from the media. It's about time that somebody in the media called out Hines Ward for his cheapshotting punk-ass behavior.
• It's going to be a long, demoralizing season. They're already making plans for the Browns first-round pick in Dallas. If they don't beat an improved Oakland team in a couple weeks, they could easily not win a game until November or December.
• Despite all this, I still think Brady Quinn should get the full Carson Palmer treatment. Playing him behind that line, even if it is allegedly improved, could be disastrous.