QB Cutler paces Denver to comeback victory over Browns

The Cleveland Browns blew a 13 point 3rd quarter lead and the Denver Broncos dropped 21 points on their defense in the 4th quarter to complete a 34-30 comeback victory on Thursday night.  It was Denver’s 8th straight consecutive win over the Browns, though Cleveland can take some solace in the fact that Brady Quinn performed well in his debut as a NFL starting QB.

Quinn threw two TD passes and went 23 of 35 for 239 yards, plus he demonstrated some veteran leadership skills by taking responsibility for the loss:

"I told everyone, this one is flat on me. I know I am good enough that I can make a play at the end and win. I felt comfortable out there, it's my home away from home."

Jay Cutler’s performance, however, made the difference in this game.  The Broncos QB threw for a whopping 447 yards on 24-42 passing, with three TDs and 1 interception.  The outburst was good enough for a third place tie on the Broncos all time single game passing yardage list—ironically, he trailed not legendary Denver QB John Elway but Jake Plummer (499) and Gus Frerotte (462).  Cutler’s 447 yards tied Frank Tripuka’s 1962 performance.  Cutler racked up 204 yards in the 4th quarter alone with the big strike being a 93 yard TD pass to Eddie Royal.

All told, it wasn’t a stellar day for either defense.  In addition to Cutler’s impressive passing numbers, the Broncos added 123 yards on the ground for a total of 564 net yards.  Cleveland produced 399 yards of total offense on 239 yards passing and 160 yards rushing.  Despite taking the loss, the Browns also held the advantage in time of possession (32:09 to 27:61) and both teams turned the ball over once.

The victory raised the Broncos record to 5-4, while disappointing Cleveland dropped to 3-6.  Denver is in sole possession of first place in the AFC West—a feat made less impressive considering the fact that they’re the only team in the division above .500.  The Broncos travel to Atlanta next Sunday to play the surprising Atlanta Falcons before returning home on 11/23 for a game against the woeful Oakland Raiders.  They’ll finish off their November schedule by heading to the Meadowlands to take on Brett Favre and the New York Jets.

Cleveland, meanwhile, is mired in 3rd place in the highly competitive AFC North ahead of 1-8 Cincinnati.  They’ve lost two straight and three of their last four and will face another tough game next Monday night at Buffalo against the 5-3 Bills.  They host the Houston Texans (3-5) on 11/23 before facing another disappointing team, the 4-4 Indianapolis Colts, on 11/30.