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Rodgers effective; Browns QBs fail to impress

Aug 16, 2009 - 4:09 AM By COLIN FLY AP Sports Writer

GREEN BAY, Wis.(AP) -- New Browns coach Eric Mangini says his quarterback competition is far from over. Both Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson are eager to put their first chance behind them.

Aaron Rodgers directed two long touchdown drives before departing, and Green Bay's new 3-4 defense gave Quinn and Anderson fits in the Packers' 17-0 win over the Cleveland Browns in their exhibition opener Saturday night.

"What I wanted to see was smart football, I want to see toughness and I want to see us be able to outhustle our opponent," Mangini said. "I don't really think we achieved any of those objectives."

Quinn was better than Anderson, though both threw interceptions as Cleveland looked far away from improving on last year's 4-12 mark, committing four turnovers and seven penalties.

"We just killed ourselves defensively and offensively," linebacker D'Qwell Jackson said. "We know where we are at this point and we can only get better."

Rodgers went 5 of 10 for 102 yards and completed a 53-yard TD pass to Donald Driver by stepping up in the pocket on the opening drive. Driver initially looked over his left shoulder on the long third-down pass, then swiveled right to catch the ball in stride past safety Abram Elam, who was late rotating over on the play.

"The line did a great job of controlling the line of scrimmage the entire game," Rodgers said. "I had all day to throw. To be able to have 3-plus seconds to throw the ball, you're going to be successful."

Rodgers followed it with an 11-play drive that included a fourth-and-5 conversion on a defensive holding penalty and was capped by Ryan Grant's 2-yard TD run.

"Two drives, two touchdowns - that's what you're looking for," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said.

While Cleveland's quarterbacks are battling for the starter's role, neither did much against the Packers' new scheme installed by defensive coordinator Dom Capers - even with top cornerbacks Charles Woodson and Al Harris out.

Mangini didn't tip his hand that Quinn would start until about an hour before kickoff, though Quinn knew Friday night. That mattered little to the Packers, coming off a 6-10 season. They blitzed often, holding Quinn to 7 of 11 for 68 yards.

"I thought Brady did a nice job with the two drives he had," Mangini said. "But with any drive, the ultimate objective is to score points."

Anderson didn't complete either pass he attempted over his two short series.

"Obviously, (there's) a little bit of frustration," Anderson said. "We didn't play well as a team; the things we were trying to do, the way we've been playing in practice didn't carry over to the game. We've got a lot of work to do."

Mangini said this game did not give him a clear picture of his signal callers.

While the Packers made a few defensive mistakes, the pressure more than made up for it.

Aaron Kampman, converting to linebacker from end and forced to play more pass coverage, watched Quinn zip one to receiver Mike Furrey between him and linebacker Brady Poppinga on Cleveland's opening drive.

But he slammed Quinn to the ground moments later when no one picked up his rush from the right side.

"It's going to be a work in progress, but the more reps we get the better we'll be at," Kampman said. "It was a good starting point."

Kampman got his hands on Anderson, too, breaking through and grabbing enough of Anderson's throwing arm on his first attempt to disrupt the play. Anderson's second pass on his next drive was lobbed up for grabs after getting more pressure by Desmond Bishop and Tramon Williams intercepted it.

"We want to come out and get turnovers," linebacker A.J. Hawk said. "We talk about it all of the time. When you win the turnover margin, you usually win the game."

Quinn completed four straight passes in the 2-minute offense just before the half to move the Browns to the Packers 6 before Braylon Edwards dropped a would-be TD pass. On the next play, Quinn threw behind Edwards and safety Anthony Smith picked it off.

"That was a poor decision on my part," Quinn said. "Especially in that situation, you want to come away with at least some points. If it's not a touchdown, a field goal. I put that on myself and I apologize to my teammates."

Notes: Browns QB Brett Ratliff threw two more interceptions. ... The Packers' two first-round picks, LB Clay Matthews III (hamstring) and DT B.J. Raji (signed Friday), did not play. ... Browns DT Shaun Rogers was not in uniform.