DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Couch Defends Quinn and Anderson

OK for what ever reason, I can't post the article,, here's the link


http://www.ohio.com/sports/browns/63168877.html

This thread should become a classic . . .

Former Browns quarterback Couch defends Quinn and Anderson
By Marla Ridenour
Beacon Journal sports writer

POSTED: 06:22 p.m. EDT, Oct 01, 2009

BEREA: Former Browns quarterback Tim Couch believes that Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson can succeed in the NFL.

But perhaps not with the Browns, especially if the two are subjected to the same mishandling that he and Kelly Holcomb experienced six years ago.

Couch joined the ranks of former NFL players decrying the lack of talent on the 2009 Browns, winless going into the home game Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals. And Couch thinks that way even while sticking up for coach Eric Mangini.

''You could put any quarterback on that team and he wouldn't be successful,'' Couch said in a telephone interview Wednesday night. ''It's tough to coach a quarterback in that type environment.

''They've got a good coaching staff; they're going in the right direction. Coach Mangini was pretty successful with the Jets. But he's in a tough situation, too. It's like Butch Davis and Chris Palmer when they took over, the talent level as a team wasn't there.''

The first overall pick in 1999, Couch splits time between homes in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Lexington, Ky., with his wife, Heather, and their two sons, Chase, 4, and Brady, 6 months. When it was suggested that his sons' names sound like quarterbacks, Couch said, ''That's what we were going for.''

While occasionally serving as an analyst for University of Kentucky football, Couch keeps up with the Browns through former tight end Aaron Shea. Couch is godfather to Shea's oldest daughter and visited the family in Westlake in August, attending a preseason game.

The 2007 season, when the Browns went 10-6 and fell a game shy of the playoffs, convinced Couch that his old team was finally breaking out of the doldrums.

''Derek Anderson went to the Pro Bowl, they had a good offensive line, Jamal Lewis was on a roll, they had good receivers, Braylon [Edwards] had a good year,'' Couch said. ''All of a sudden last year, they went backwards.''

Quarterback switch

While the team struggles to rebuild, Couch cautioned Mangini about going down the same road as Davis, who played musical quarterbacks with Couch and Holcomb in 2003.

Mangini started Quinn, the 22nd pick in the 2007 draft, for the first three games, but lifted him at halftime Sunday at Baltimore when the Browns trailed 20-0. On Wednesday, Mangini announced that he was installing Anderson as the starter this weekend, but he gave no indication how long Anderson's stint would last.

To Couch, that sounded reminiscent of what he and Holcomb went through in 2003. Holcomb started the first three games, then suffered what Davis deemed ''a teeny, tiny'' fracture of his right fibula at San Francisco. Couch took over for five games, but was replaced late in the third quarter against San Diego, then sprained his right thumb the following week in a start at New England. Holcomb was in command until Game 13 against St. Louis, when he was yanked after two second-quarter interceptions. He sat on the bench behind Couch the rest of the season.

The next year, Jeff Garcia took over at quarterback and Couch was out of football, suffering from a torn rotator cuff, bicep and labrum in his right shoulder. He said he tore his rotator cuff again when he was about to sign with Indianapolis in 2005.

Couch said Holcomb has visited him at his home in Kentucky and he plays in Holcomb's annual golf tournament in Murfreesboro, Tenn. They still discuss 2003.

''We talk all the time what a miserable situation it was and we only had to deal with it one season,'' Couch said. ''You almost had to play a perfect game to keep your job. As a quarterback, you can't say, 'If I have a bad game, I'm not going to be playing.' You've got to play loose. You can't do it with that on your mind, knowing you're going to be benched.

''It's a different position than any other position on the field. Once a coach starts going back and forth and the team is unsure, that's a bad situation. In my opinion, nothing ruins a locker room like a quarterback controversy. The team needs a guy they can count on. Once a quarterback loses his luster, being the guy, being the leader, gets pulled out of a game, it's a pretty tough situation in the locker room.''

Advice from Couch

Quinn is 1-5 as a starter over two seasons, Anderson 13-14. Couch worries that Quinn's benching could damage his confidence.

''It definitely does,'' Couch said. ''A couple bad games and all of a sudden the job is taken away ... you have to have good people around you to keep your confidence up. I've been there, I know what he's going through.''

Couch also feared the ramifications of the constant pounding that Browns quarterbacks take. Quinn was sacked nine times in the first two games and 10 times in three. But that's nothing compared to Couch, who absorbed 56 sacks as a rookie, 51 when he was healthy again in his third season and 166 for his career.

''David Carr had the same situation with an expansion team [Houston], he was beat to death,'' Couch said. ''You think you're going to be a great player, but once you start getting hit like that, you get a little gun-shy. It happens to everyone.''

Ironically, the Browns have the same quarterbacks coach, Carl Smith, that Couch did for the final three years of his five years in the NFL.

''He's a great football coach who has been in the NFL a long time,'' Couch said of Smith, starting his 20th season. ''He teaches the game really well, makes you understand it. He had an unfortunate situation, dealing with a team that's never been good enough to make a quarterback be successful.''

Couch said Anderson ''is certainly capable of getting the job done.'' And speaking from his painful experience, he had some advice for Quinn.

''Always believe in yourself and your ability,'' Couch said. ''Know you're good, you're put in a bad situation.''

how can you? it's a standard qb thread with FOUR qbs! couch, holmgren, DA, quinn. go go go!

Others can say as they wish - but so far no one has touched on the validity of what Couch said. In my humble opinion, he's dead on in what he says. He's not asking for a job - he's not trying to reconcile his performance. He stated his opinion. And I agree with it.

I'm just going to sit back and watch this thread....

To a certain extent I agree as well. However, to say that no QB would be successful in this offense is too much for me. You cannot tell me Peyton Manning is going to post a QB rating of 27 against the Steelers with our personnel. Is it an optimal situation for a QB to succeed? No. But would better QB play (smart QB with better accuracy is sorely missing still) have helped us tremendously this year? Absolutely. The lack of accuracy cannot be excused by "hurt confidence" either.

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''Derek Anderson went to the Pro Bowl, they had a good offensive line, Jamal Lewis was on a roll, they had good receivers, Braylon [Edwards] had a good year,'' Couch said. ''All of a sudden last year, they went backwards.''

Quarterback switch.

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Was this posted before? Didn't see it Ammo

I've used up my allotment of Tim Couch thread responces for this decade,

i'll have to just sit back & watch this one....



Wonder if he is losing his great hair

Of course a guy like Peyton Manning would make us better... would he have made us significantly better in his 2nd or 3rd year? Would he have made us better when he only had a handful of starts under his belt?

This would be a tough enough situation for a guy like Manning who has earned all of the confidence in the world and knows how to lead and manage NFL players around him... but we are asking one pretty inexperienced guy and one REALLY inexperienced guy to do it...

I happen to think Couch is dead on in everything he said...

Any QB would make us better. I watched Clausen's highlights on the advice of one of our other board members and I saw him complete a screen pass. I also saw him complete a slant pass. He is still in college. Don't give me the two or three year crap. It's a simple pass. Quinn can't complete the slant and DA can't complete the screen. I almost pulled my hair out when DA missed Jennings on Sunday when we had the screen set up perfectly and the ball was no where near him. We need a QB. That's all I will contribute to this thread.

Why did U post this?
HuH??!
Why why WHY??!!
Guess this is the result of being hammered into the turf way too many times..

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Why did U post this?
HuH??!
Why why WHY??!!

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If ya can't take it, all you gotta do is stop reading this thread..

As we say goodbye to the oughts and enter a new decade, I would like to nominate Tim Couch as the QB of the Decade for the Cleveland Browns.

Second!

Give my vote to Luke McCown!

Hahaha, just when you think you've heard that last of the Couch/Holcomb deadbate...LOL

C'mon, it was Holcomb that almost lead us to a play off win over Pitt.

We did have Jeff Garcia and he didn't do well either and went on to have a few good years since leaving the Browns. If I was a QB, Cleveland would be one of the least desirable places to play, no matter who we get and what they do, it's never good enough.

Daman...sounded like a pretty fair assessment of QB life in Cleveland.

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Garcia got jobbed by Butch. Screwed without lube or kisses. He promised Garcia he'd bring in some guy named.........ummmm..........Hell, he wasn't anyone worthy of note..........some guy named Phil Walsh......Bill Palsh.........just some stiff who knew a little bit about the offense Garcia operated in.

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toad...If Garcia believed that Butch BS he was a bigger fool than I thought. Like Walsh would coach with Butch...lol

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As for the Browns being a bad place for a QB............well.............all that perception, flawed or otherwise, just went out the window with the hiring of one Mike Holmgren.

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And this...just hiring Holmgren does not change the perception of Cleveland being a bad place for QBs to play without changes to the right side of the Oline and addition of at least one experienced WR.

The deal with Holmgren is now fans feel the weaknesses in the Browns offense "will be" addressed as the offensive side of the ball will be a priority.

OMG I think I'm going to be sick.

Just for some fun I looked up that picture of Northcutt dropping that pass, I knew he was wide open but never realized it was Poteat that he beat on that play only to drop it!



CantonRep.com / Scott Heckel
It all started going wrong for the Browns during a 2003 playoff loss to the Steelers when wide receiver Dennis Northcutt dropped this key pass in the fourth quarter that would have given Cleveland a first down and the ability to run out the clock and gain the win. Instead, the Steelers gained possession and went on to drive for the winning score. Covering Northcutt on the play is a familiar name — current Browns defensive back, then Steeler, Hank Poteat.

LMAO ... Hank Poteat is everywhere in the oughts ... he's like Michael Caine, who's in every movie made since 1970 ... in fact, I was looking at my wedding pictures the other day, and there he is: Hank Freaking Poteat.

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The only reason we were even in the playoffs that year was Tim Couch's play down the stretch before he got hurt. One of my favorite photos is Tim waving bye-bye to Ravens fans after engineering a 92 yd drive to beat them 14-13, ending their playoff hopes and extending ours.

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Damn right he did.
I'll always defend Couch for his work in 2002, all the late-game heroics.

Tulsa: that pic of Northcutt makes me retch.

You Go Couch!!!

If we had an Andy Reed here runnin' the show you'd still be here...And a WINNER...

Can't help we had clueless butts that think an OL can consist of 5 7th rounders and UDFA's...

Tell Heather I said Hi...