John Kasay's 42-yard field goal miss at the end preserves Jake Delhomme's first win as a Cleveland Brown, against his former team.
View full sizeFrom left, Browns defenders Ahtyba Rubin (71), Jason Tursnik (93) and Brian Schaefering (91) try but fail to block John Kasay's 42-yard field goal attempt on the final play of Sunday's game. Kasay's kick drifted to the left and bounced off the upright as the Browns claimed a 24-23 victory.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Welcome to Cleveland, John Kasay.
That was Phil Dawson's explanation for what happened on his counterpart's attempt at a game-winning, 42-yard field goal as time ran out.
Kasay thought he met the ball perfectly with his left foot. There was no discernible wind and Kasay had the benefit of kicking toward the closed end zone in Cleveland Browns Stadium. Kasay thought he made it.
But somehow the ball sliced like a mis-hit 3-iron. The ball grazed the left upright and the cheering crowd told Jake Delhomme, who couldn't bear to watch, that he had notched his first win in a Browns uniform against his former team.
Browns 24, Carolina Panthers 23.
"We've lost a lot of games like that in the past, so it's about time," said Browns defensive back Mike Adams.
The ending was poetic justice. Kasay, 41, who had made three of four attempts from 40-plus yards earlier in the game, should not have been allowed to try a fifth one. That's because Carolina rookie receiver Brandon LaFell should have been ruled down inbounds on a 28-yard catch on the preceding play, and the clock should have run out.
The catch, disputed by the replay official, was ruled good after review. But referee Jeff Triplette did not notice that Browns cornerback Sheldon Brown had fallen on LaFell when he was on the ground.
One of the other game officials actually told coach Eric Mangini during the replay review that even if the catch was ruled good, the game would be over because time had run out.
"There were too many expletives going through my mind at that point [of Kasay's game-winning attempt]," Mangini said. "'We should not be here lining up for a kick,' is what was going through my mind."
He wasn't just referring to the officials' error.
The Browns had built a 21-7 lead on three Peyton Hillis touchdown runs and then allowed the plucky Panthers to chip away and gain confidence in chasing their second win of the season. When Delhomme started the second half with interceptions on successive throws, the holiday crowd reacted like a Black Friday shopper denied the last discounted big-screen TV.
Delhomme's second interception was returned 37 yards by Carolina cornerback Captain Munnerlyn for a touchdown. That closed the Browns' lead to 21-20. The Panthers then moved ahead, 23-21, on Kasay's 43-yard field goal with 7:01 to play. The score was set up when Hillis was stopped on a fourth-and-1 dive at the Panthers' 25.
"I liked our chances [of a first down]," Mangini said.
Hillis was stupendous again, rushing 26 times for 131 yards and three TDs and adding 63 yards on six receptions. His three rushing touchdowns raised his season total to 11, joining the exclusive company of Jim Brown and Leroy Kelly as the only Browns to reach that many.
"That's absurd," Hillis scoffed of being mentioned in the same sentence with the Hall of Famers. "Those guys are legends and I'm nobody. We don't need to talk about that no more."
Brown and Kelly played in fewer games in their eras, but Hillis is on pace to at least threaten Brown's record of 17 rushing touchdowns set in 1958. Brown did that in 12 games.
The way Hillis was carving up Carolina's defense, it sure seemed a bad idea to let Delhomme air it out in the second half. Hillis shrugged off that sentiment.
"We pulled out the win and that's the important thing. We were clicking on all cylinders run and pass in the first and second quarters," he said.
In a way, losing the lead enabled Delhomme to atone for his earlier miscues and earn the win.
After Kasay's field goal, Delhomme inherited the ball at the Browns' 30 and moved to the Panthers' 24 in eight plays. He completed all five of his passes -- hitting wideouts Mohamed Massaquoi and Brian Robiskie three times and getting two good runs after catches by Hillis. Delhomme's quarterback sneak on third-and-1 fell short, however.
This time, Mangini trotted out Dawson. He made it from 41 yards after holder Reggie Hodges did a good job retrieving Ryan Pontbriand's high snap and setting it down.
More than one minute later, the win appeared to be sealed when Joe Haden, starting for the injured Eric Wright, intercepted Carolina quarterback Jimmy Clausen past midfield. But the Browns had to punt with 59 seconds to go. Hodges did what he does better than any punter in the NFL this year. His spun it out of bounds at the Carolina 5.
Clausen struggled throughout the game. Nobody thought he could muster up a scoring threat at that point. But the Browns' defense allowed running back Mike Goodson to make gains of 11 and 32 yards with short catches. Then came the 28-yard reception by LaFell.
Mangini blamed himself for not overruling coordinator Rob Ryan and changing his defensive play-call.
"I would have layered the sideline and made him complete it inbounds and see if they could get up and clock it," Mangini said. "I don't think they could have and if [the pass] was short, it would have been a long field goal."
Afterwards, Brown bemoaned the Browns' lack of killer instinct -- which is why they are 4-7 this year after losing four games despite leading in the fourth quarter.
"The sign of a championship team is understanding your opponent and when you have a killer mentality, you attack and don't let it become like the situation we had," Brown said. "This is something that we need to address and it starts from top to bottom."
The final score capped an emotional day for Delhomme (24-of-35 for 245 yards, two interceptions). He beat his former team in his first game appearance in 1 1/2 months and his first start since the season opener.
"I don't think I enjoyed wins as much as I could have at Carolina, so I'm going to enjoy it," he said.