The Browns limped into this contest with a defense that had choked away two touchdown leads in the fourth quarters of their previous two games and amidst a firestorm of players calling out teammates for quitting during those performances. The Bills, similarly, hobbled in as a hodgepodge of walking wounded who had dropped three in a row after a 5-1 start. Not exactly the Monday Night Football matchup that the network had in mind, I'm sure.
The Browns defense took the initiative early, intercepting Bills QB Trent Edwards an incredible three times in the first quarter, including two of his first three pass attempts. The Browns took those three early interceptions, including one down around the Bills' 10 yard line, and produced two field goals and a three-and-out series to take an early, but still disappointing, 6-0 lead after the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Josh Cribbs got into the offensive mix, scampering in from 2 yards out on what could have easily been a broken play to stake the Browns to a 13-0 lead. The Bills, though, would cut that to 13-10 by halftime.
The Browns opened the third quarter with the ball, but with the aid of an offensive pass interference penalty, succeeded only in backing themselves up and punting. On the ensuing drive, the Bills committed their fourth turnover of the game, this time a Fred Jackson fumble, which the Browns would eventually turn into another field goal, which the Bills answered by the end of the period to keep it a 3-point game at 16-13 after three quarters.
The fourth quarter started with a bang. early in the period, Jerome Harrision would break a 72 yard touchdown run to stretch the Browns' lead to double digits, only to have Leodis Mckelvin return the ensuing kickoff the cut the lead right back to 3. The Browns would tack on another field goal soon thereafter only to have the Bills answer with a touchdown of their own with just over 2 minutes left in the game to take their first lead, 27-26. The Browns would march the ball down to the Buffalo 39 yard line with a little over 1:30 left and then stall, forcing Phil dawson to attempt a career-long 56 yard field goal attempt, which he nailed to put the Browns up 29-27. Buffalo made their way back down the field only to have Riyan Lindell miss a final 42 yard attempt to seal their fate.
The Browns didn't really win this game, the Bills lost it. The Bills turned the ball over 4 times, to 0 turnovers for the Browns (thanks to a challenge and overturned Brady Quinn interception), but only yielded 9 points off of those turnovers. The Browns had the ball first and ten at the Bills' 39 yard line inside the 2:00 warning, while the Bills had only one timeout, yet the Browns elected the pass the ball three times (all incomplete), not only forcing Dawson to shoot for a career high mark, but also giving the ball back to Buffalo with far too much time left on the clock. Romeo Crennel continues to mismanage the clock and the offense. After Jerome Harrison' 72 yard touchdown run, he carried the ball only one other time, Pro-Bowl tight end Kellen Winslow had only three catches and high-priced free agent signee Donte Stallworth had none. it may go down in the books as a win, but as a fan, it certainly didn't feel like one.