The Browns emerge victorious from a defensive slugfest on a Mike Adams interception and Phil Dawson field goal at the end.
Clik here to view.
View full sizeMike Adams' knee is out of bounds as he stretches the ball toward the goal line after his interception in the final minute of Sunday's game in Miami. The Browns were given the ball at the Dolphins' 2, and after burning off the remaining time, beat Miami, 13-10, on Phil Dawson's 23-yard field goal as time expired.MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- Take that, LeBron.
OK, so the fallen northeast Ohio sports icon isn't a Miami Dolphins fan. And the Dolphins play their games 20 miles north of where James has famously taken his basketball talents.
But some team from Cleveland had to stick it to south Florida already.
Thirteen years after the Florida Marlins stole the World Series from the Indians, and five months after the Miami Heat seduced James from the Cavaliers, the Browns exacted a tiny measure of revenge.
They outlasted the Miami Dolphins, 13-10, winning at the end on a Mike Adams interception deflected by David Bowens, and a Phil Dawson field goal from 23 yards as time ran out.
"It's about time for us to win a game like that," said Adams, whose interception with 1:05 left was the third of the game for the Browns.
Rookie cornerback Joe Haden, starting for the first time with Eric Wright healthy and active, had an interception in his fourth game in a row and three other pass breakups (one in the end zone), and safety Abe Elam added an interception.
The Browns improved to 5-7 in eking out the win. They held a commanding a 3-0 edge in turnovers and also got a blocked field goal by Shaun Rogers, his 14th career blocked kick.
The defeat, Miami's fifth in six home games, effectively knocks the Dolphins (6-6) out the AFC wild card chase. Too bad James isn't a fan, but who could blame him? The Dolphins were booed throughout the grim contest.
Quarterback Chad Henne (16-of-32, one touchdown, three interceptions, 37.8 rating) wasn't the only goat for the Dolphins. Cornerback Nolan Carroll dropped a Jake Delhomme pass intended for Benjamin Watson with 1:49 to play. It easily could have been returned 35 yards for a winning Pick Six.
The thought of his good fortune brought a smile to the face of Delhomme. The quarterback had taken so much heat for his six interceptions in three previous games that he was able to laugh about catching a break.
"That's on my mind every time I step out on the field," Delhomme said of not throwing interceptions. "Last week there was one pass that I wish I had back. That's it. I made a poor decision but today a couple of times things broke down and I threw it away."
Throwing the ball away obviously was burned into Delhomme's mind by the coaches. They also clamped a pair of handcuffs on the quarterback. The game plan seemed to be scratched from a cave wall.
But when the Dolphins proved they would sell out to stop running back Peyton Hillis, the Browns had no choice but to let Delhomme throw and hope for the best. Hillis was held to 57 yards rushing on 18 attempts. The 52 net yards rushing (counting Delhomme's three kneel-downs to set up Dawson's game-winning field goal) were by far the fewest the Browns have had in their 10 wins in two years under coach Eric Mangini. The previous low total was 116 this year against Cincinnati.
This was a tedious tug of war over field position dictated by booming punts. The punters combined to average 49.1 yards on 16 punts. Miami's Dan Carpenter made a 60-yard field goal at the end of the first half to forge a 3-3 tie.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Late in the third quarter, the Browns mounted their only extended drive. Throwing with an increasing wind at his back, Delhomme completed a pass of 37 yards to Mohamed Massaquoi, then threaded the needle for 15 more to Watson. Two plays later, Massaquoi crossed the field through traffic and took a short pass 33 yards to the Miami 3. Delhomme tossed it to Watson again on the next play for the touchdown.
Delhomme said Massaquoi was "very down" at halftime for not holding on to a back-shoulder throw from Delhomme in the final two minutes of the first half near the Miami goal line.
Henne responded to Delhomme's one good drive with his only good one. He moved the Dolphins 80 yards in 11 plays in the fourth quarter, tying the game at 10 on a thread-the-needle throw to tight end Anthony Fasano with Adams in chase. The ball impaled Fasano's gut.
The fourth quarter has been a nightmare for the Browns' defense, but on this day it was superb. It forced Miami punts on the next two possessions when Rogers tripped up a scrambling Henne from behind on one third down and Henne threw away to avoid a sack on another.
Delhomme was not much better. His last pass of this game might well have been his last pass of the season had not Carroll dropped the interception.
"I should have made it," Carroll said. "I saw the route. I knew it was coming before the play even happened because they ran the same thing earlier in the game. I just got to make the play. I score. I know for a fact I score."
But he didn't make the play and Bowens and Adams combined to make theirs 50 seconds later.
Mangini had instructed his pass rushers to raise their arms en route because Henne had a penchant for getting passes deflected earlier in the season. Bowens, who always seems to be involved in Browns' wins, tipped the ball 90 degrees to the left, where Adams was stationed after his assigned man in coverage stayed in the backfield to block.
Adams returned the ball 24 yards and was knocked out of bounds at the 2 with :54 on the clock. He wanted the touchdown, but just maintaining possession probably was more prudent.
"I got an early Christmas gift," Adams said.
And a lump of coal for LeBron James.