Talk about a thud. That loss to Houston was about as bad as any I can remember, and I've been covering the Browns since 1999. It leaves the team in disarray, the front office embarrassed by an e-mail during the week and a team heading to who knows where?

In the lexicon of embarrassing losses, the 16-6 loss to Houston Sunday ranks right up there.

Some thoughts:

–I've criticized Braylon Edwards for not speaking after bad games. This Sunday I must say he spoke and addressed his mistakes. And he sugarcoated nothing, saying his fourth quarter drop was bad and he should have caught that pass in the corner of the end zone in the fourth quarter as well. Good for him for standing up.

–But Edwards was so out of it in the fourth quarter he was absolutely no factor when he was needed most. I said in preseason if Edwards did not show up the Browns had problems, and many laughed. Well guess what … he's not shown up. And the Browns have problems.

–The quarterback situation sure has taken a turn. Derek Anderson starts, then Brady Quinn starts, then Anderson replaces him for the final quarter. Guess what, it didn't matter who played quarterback. Not with the immaturity surrounding the quarterback. Quinn will get the start next week.

–When the game ended Willie McGinest took off his helmet and walked slowly to the tunnel to leave the field. One can only imagine the disgust this guy feels with the approach of some of his less mature, less professional teammates.

–After the win over Buffalo, a former player said the Browns would lose to Houston because they had "too many immature players" on the roster who couldn't handle winning. Next week he's offering lottery number predictions.

–Romeo Crennel's future in Cleveland does not look good. Ultimately the head coach pays the price, and Crennel understands that reality. It's been almost four years, and the product is not good.

–I cannot imagine owner Randy Lerner is at all pleased with the Phil Savage e-mail fiasco (and it was a fiasco). The Lerner I know would never, ever want the man he appointed to lead, direct and represent his franchise sending a note like that. If Crennel goes, I don't see how Savage stays. And I'm not sure Savage stays anyway, especially in light of this e-mail.

I asked McGinest about the blame being directed toward Crennel, and he responded this way (and I will let the entire quote run):

"That's kind of so old, blame it on the coach, coach, coach. That's kind of old. Everybody needs to be accountable for how they played and their actions on the field. I don't see any coaches out there dropping passes, any coaching missing tackles, any coaches giving up deep balls, giving up touchdowns.

"We're grown men here. This is the NFL. That's a cop out to me. If people want to run with that, then they can go ahead but I'm not buying that. I've been around situations where the players take it upon themselves to do everything they can to play better ball. During the week, they study hard. They're in the film room, they're in the weight room, and it makes a difference on Sunday. We've never had a situation where I've said, ‘Hey it's the coach.'

"I'm a football player. If I miss a tackle, that's me. If I miss a sack, that's me. If I blow a coverage or miss a guy, that's me. That's me not putting enough into what I do for a living.

"If people want to cop out and point the finger at that, great, let them. As a football player I'm going to say if I don't what I do well, then that's me. And I think everybody across the board needs to take that same approach and we'll play better football.

"Interceptions, penalties, things like that. That's all mental. Things that happened that we do on the field, that's all us. That's mental. That's preparation. That's knowing the situation. That's not being focused, whatever the case may be.

"I'm not one to point the finger at one person or the coach or this or that. I'm a football player. I've been doing this since I was seven years old. I understand what it takes to play well, if you don't play well what it takes to get back on track. First thing I'm going to do is look in the mirror, see what I can do better and go from there."

That being said, McGinest and Crennel also know that the coach's record is his resume, and Crennel's record is not good.