Reviewing Colt McCoy’s Performance and Stating His Case
Ok, so I think we all can safely say that what we witnessed from Colt McCoy Sunday was much better than what most would envision.
He finished the day 22-33 for 281 yards 1 TD, 2 INTs and 22 yards rushing – not bad for a kid who seemed destined to “red-shirt” this season (whether it be a managerial decision or because of a lack of faith from the head coach). However, McCoy made great reads all day, directing receivers to open spots, taking chances down the field, scrambling to keep drives alive, and doing an overall great job against one of the best defenses this past decade. That said McCoy was subjected to 5 sacks and a number of quarterback pressures – the O-line has not been playing up to its potential this season, if you ask me. But through it all, McCoy rolled with it and had a great day all things considered.
McCoy easily had the best game of any QB making his first career start versus the Steelers. Just take a look at the numbers (and for good measure I threw in the other rival AFC QBs and how they fared):
| Player | Att-Comp | Yards | TD-INT | Rushes | Rush Yds | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kyle Boller | 22-43 | 152 | 1-1 | 5 | 14 | L 15-34 (1st career start) | |
| John Elway | 1-8 | 14 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | W 14-10 (1st start) | |
| Joe Flacco | 16-31 | 192 | 1-0 | 2 | -1 | L 20-23 (3rd start) | |
| Carson Palmer | 20-37 | 164 | 1-2 | 1 | 1 | L 17-28 (4th start) | |
| Colt McCoy | 22-33 | 281 | 1-2 | 4 | 22 | L 10-28 |
Consider how McCoy’s game stacked up against the rest of these guys and on top of it, consider the fact that he was without two key receivers (yes I use this term very loosely) in Mohammad Mossaquoi and Joshua Cribbs, which makes the numbers look a little better.
So where does this leave management? If I had any say, I would start by looking at next week. It is safe to say that both Jake Delhomme and Seneca Wallace will be less than 100%. With this in mind, I do not think it is out of the question that the Browns will go to McCoy for a second week in a row, and why shouldn’t they?
Week 8 then brings the bye week, and a chance for players to rest up. So heading into Week 9, who will be under the helm for the orange and brown?
I know all of this can be very exciting, especially for us Browns fans, who have rarely had anything to get excited about in recent years. However, there are things which scare me, the first being the fans – how many times before has a kid gone out and looked good one week only to flame out in a week or two? Let’s remember that McCoy’s game this past week was great, but it’s still just ONE game. For the time being, let’s just take the rest of the season one week at a time.