There’s a lot of football left to be played this season, but we’ll go out on a limb and say that Brandon Weeden threw the ugliest interception of the 2013 season on Sunday.
Weeden was under pressure from the Lions in the fourth quarter when he tried a backhanded flip/shovel/whatever toward running back Chris Ogbonnaya. Lions linebacker DeAndre Levy had no trouble picking off the wounded duck and the Lions drove down for their final touchdown in a 31-17 victory.
It was one of two interceptions on the day for Weeden, but those turnovers won’t open the door for Jason Campbell to get a shot in the starting lineup. Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that coach Rob Chudzinski said Monday that Weeden will remain the team’s starting quarterback. Chudzinski said that Weeden “played well in spurts” and that he didn’t think the rest of the Browns players have lost confidence in Weeden.
The Browns gave a pretty good read on their feelings about Campbell when they went with Brian Hoyer over the veteran when Weeden was injured, so the decision isn’t particularly surprising. Weeden played well in the first half, helping the Browns to a 17-7 lead that went up in smoke over the final 30 minutes of the game as the offense stagnated and the defense sprung leaks.
With games against Green Bay, Kansas City and Baltimore coming before their bye, Weeden will have to turn in more complete performances for the final seven games of the year to matter for much beyond draft positioning.