Give Brandon Weeden credit. He heard the fans booing on Thursday night and responded with enough plays to earn the win.

Give him credit for saying the right things as well.

When asked about being booed in Thursday’s game, Weeden said he understood why the fans booed.

“Obviously I heard them (the boos) but I personally think we have the best fans in the National Football League.” Weeden said. “These are some of the smartest football fans in the league. I get it, they get it. Obviously you don’t want to hear those, but I think if you can make a couple of throws, put a couple of drives together hopefully you can turn those into cheers.” Weeden concluded with this, “That’s why I love playing in Cleveland. The people here, the fans here have been nothing short of extraordinary.”

If there is one thing that will help Weeden be more successful, and help get the fans on his side, it is making good quick decisions with the football. Both Weeden and coach Rob Chudzinski addressed that on Wednesday.

For Weeden, a lot goes into getting the ball out quicker. “There’s a million different ways (of getting the ball out quicker) whether it’s the design of the play, getting off your first progression faster, presnap reads maybe eliminating half the field, seeing pressure and finding your back. There’s a lot of ways to go about it, just depends on the play.”

If the Browns are going to be successful on Sunday against the Lions, Weeden will have to find ways to get the ball out of his hand quickly. Although statistically the Lions rank as one of the worst pass rush units with just 10 sacks on the season, the defensive line is capable of dominating a game. Defensive tackles Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley are a load and first round pick Ezekiel Ansah is exceeding expectations with 3.5 sacks already on the season.

The Browns will have to be solid up front to give Weeden time to throw. Much of that responsibility as Weeden mentioned Wednesday will fall on Shaun Lauvao and Alex Mack, who will be the primary blockers on Suh. The Browns have allowed the second most sacks allowed with 22. Only the Miami Dolphins have allowed more with 24.

(Photo: Candice Vlcek for WFNY)