Last Monday the Cleveland Browns made a statement in which they felt was going to turn around their season after beating the World Champion New York Giants 35-14. Sunday in DC vs the Redskins it seemed like the Browns were more like their 08 form, playing a bumbling, stumbling bunch who in the end could not get a 54-yard kick from Phil Dawson that would have tied the game in the waning seconds of a eventual 14-11 loss.
Washington by no means played all that great, but did what they had to do to squaek out a three-point win, including a couple of big stances in the fourth quarter as the Browns tried to get back in trailing 14-3. They made a big goal-line stand that turned the Browns back on one drive, then after a Clinton Portis fumble, didn’t allow a TD till fourth down that made it 14-9. Cleveland did get a two-point conversion that made it 14-11.
The Redskins gained 7 yards on their next drive, then punted, giving Cleveland a shot with 1:51 left from their own 29. They went 7 plays, but could get no futher with Derek Anderson firing low on third down, setting up Dawson’s potential game-tying kick. The boot had plenty of leg, but was wide was :25 seconds left.
The Skins were able to run the ball all day on Cleveland, as they put up 351 yards and ran for 193 yards with Portis going for a whopping 175 yards on 27 carries with a score. Jason Campbell was 14-for-23 for 164 yards with a score, and shook off a slow start in which the two teams did nothing but trade punts for almost the entire first half.
Washington finally got on the board after a scoreless first half, as Portis finished a six-play, 62-yard drive with a short TD run that made it 7-0. After a Browns field goal, the Skins came back with a short drive that started at the Browns 49, and in three plays Campbell hit Santana Moss with nifty 18-yard TD that made it 14-3.
Anderson was nowhere near as good as he was Monday night vs the Giants. He was pressured a lot, and didn’t get help from his receivers, as he was just 14-for-37 for 136 yards. He didn’t throw a pick, but misfired a number of times and he even got into it late with another player on his team as the offense went back to being a total shadow of what it was in 07.
Cleveland at 2-4 will travel to Jacksonville to play the Jaguars. The 5-2 Redskins will look for their 6th win of the season when they travel to Detroit to play the Lions.