Another home loss had left them beaten, battered and bewildered.
“There’s no explanation for it,” running back Jamal Lewis said. “We were just all over the place.”
Picked apart by Houston quarterback Sage Rosenfels and unable to do anything once they had the ball, the Browns were humiliated in a 16-6 loss on Sunday to the Texans, who snapped an eight-game road losing streak and dropped Cleveland deeper into a seemingly bottomless abyss of defeat.
Rosenfels passed for 275 yards and a touchdown, and Kris Brown kicked three field goals as the Texans (4-7) got their first win away from home since Nov. 4, 2007, at Oakland. All it took was a weekend in chilly Cleveland and a date with the bumbling Browns (4-7) for Houston to have a road trip to remember.
Cleveland quarterback Brady Quinn was pulled in the second half of his third start by coach Romeo Crennel after throwing two interceptions, the second a killer inside Houston’s 10-yard line.
Quinn was playing with a broken right index finger on his throwing hand, but Crennel said the injury was not the lone reason for switching to Derek Anderson, who lost his starting job to Quinn three weeks ago.
Quinn went 8-of-18 for 94 yards, picking up 42 on a pass to Braylon Edwards in the second quarter. Quinn said his fractured finger, which the former Notre Dame star hurt in Monday night’s win over the Buffalo Bills, was not a factor in his poor performance.
Quinn, though, was not clear why he didn’t get to finish the game.
“You would have to ask Coach why I was pulled,” he said. “He was upset with a couple of decisions I made out there. I didn’t have any idea that I was on such a short leash.”
Crennel was adamant that Quinn would remain Cleveland’s No. 1 QB.
“Brady has not lost his job,” Crennel said. “He is still the quarterback and we are going to through the week and prepare him and he is going to play.”
Despite Crennel’s assurance, Quinn wasn’t certain if he’ll lead the offense next week against Indianapolis.
“Whoever the starter is, that’s the starter,” Quinn said. “And if I’m in the backup role, I’ll do the best I can to help D.A. prepare for a game. We’re going to stick together and work through this.”
Rosenfels, a career backup, had his best game since replacing injured Matt Schaub three weeks ago. He went 24 of 32 and found Kevin Walter for a 17-yard TD pass in the first quarter. However, Rosenfels nearly let the Browns back in it with two picks in the second half.
Andre Johnson had 10 catches for 116 yards as the Texans also ended a three-game losing streak.
“It’s a great feeling,” Rosenfels said. “It’s a huge, huge win for us. Cleveland’s a tough place to play. For us to come in here and play like this shows a lot about our players and our coaches.”
