No excuses for the Browns this Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens. That was a dismal collapse in a game that Cleveland had in hand. A truly good team, a real team, wins that game going away after going up 27-13 in the third quarter. A team that lacks character or heart or something intangible lets it get away. The Browns let it get away.

I think we now know where this team stands, though they'll probably tease us again Thursday night by beating Denver.

Much blame will be given to Derek Anderson, but blaming him is like blaming a vice president for the collapse of a bank. He shares a significant part of the responsibility, but he's not the only one. The defense gave up way too many points to a Ravens offense that should not score that much. Braylon Edwards dropped a vital pass. The offensive line didn't block well. Except for Joshua Cribbs, everyone shares in the responsibility – including the coaching staff.

At this point I give up talking playoffs. I honestly thought the Browns would beat the Ravens and Broncos, then be 5-4 heading to a Monday night game against Buffalo. They're now 3-5 and need to go 7-1 to win 10 games and have a sniff at the playoffs. It's just not going to happen.

The Ravens gave Ray Lewis a lot of credit for getting in people's faces on the sidelines when Cleveland led by 14 and telling them the Ravens would win. It may have helped, but we've seen Lewis give a lot of those speeches during Ravens losses as well. I'd say the Browns poor play had more to do with it than Lewis' speech.

Ridiculous.

Absolutely ridiculous.

Some quotes:

"We were up 27-13 and I think we got lax and let it get away from us." – Kellen Winslow.

"I wish I would've handled that a little better, but I'm trying to win games." – Derek Anderson on his errant screen pass Baltimore returned for a touchdown.

"Once we went up 27-13, we thought there was no way we would give up any more touchdowns. I don't think we really relaxed. They hit a big third down and 16 and that was huge for them." – linebacker Andra Davis.

"We've been battling uphill all year. It's still an uphill battle for us. Only time will tell how that impacts us the rest of this year. If we can muster up some energy, we might get lucky going down the stretch." – Romeo Crennel.

"As a football team, we want to dedicate this football game to Mr. Art Modell. He deserves this more than anybody." – Ravens coach John Harbaugh.

How do the Browns go from leading in the first half to being blown out of Baltimore in the second? Turnovers and silly penalties. Leading 10-7, Ray Lewis blew up Kellen Winslow on a short reception. Winslow was pretty much set up by Anderson, who led him right into Lewis, whose big hit led to Winslow giving up the ball and it being intercepted. That play seemed to energize the Ravens, who intercepted Anderson on the next possession and returned it for a touchdown. Then Braylon Edwards negated a first down run with a block in the back and Mike Adams retaliated after a punt, giving Baltimore good field position. The Browns did not play smart, well or physical. They deserved to lose.

Some other thoughts:

–Here's another example of silly play. Leading 7-0, the Browns had the ball. They committed two false start penalties and had to punt. A short punt gave the Ravens a short field, and they scored to tie the game. Just not smart.

–Baltimore's scoring drives were 43, 12 and 35 yards. Their other touchdown was an interception return.

–Ed Reed has to be on the list of Browns-killers. Seven of his 35 interceptions have come against the Browns. Two of his four touchdown returns off picks have also been against Cleveland.

–I don't go to Brady Quinn in Cincinnati. I give Derek Anderson one more chance. But I do give Quinn more reps in practice and if Anderson falters again, I make the call to Quinn. If Anderson is going to play this way, he's not going to be around past this year so there's no sense in not going to Quinn.

–This year Anderson has completed 47 percent of his throws, with two touchdowns and four interceptions. That's not good enough. And though it's not all his fault – when does Braylon Edwards come out of his slump? – Anderson is also not helping his cause.

–Is Romeo Crennel's future in doubt? Well, he's 0-3 and when he got his contract extension this offseason he was asked what it meant to him. "It means," he said, "that I've got to win this year."

–Kellen Winslow got held pretty blatantly on a pass across the middle in the third quarter. That miss hurt the Browns, as did Anderson missing a wide open Josh Cribbs down the sidelines in the fourth quarter.

–What in the world is with Donte' Stallworth.

–Sunday's game in Cincinnati – it's between two 0-3 teams to see who will get out of last place.

–Said Hank Fraley when asked if the team still could think playoffs, "We need to think about a win. If we win, then we can think about playoffs."