P.M. Cleveland Browns links: Finally, the breaks go the Browns' way; Jon Gruden's son says Cleveland job a possibility

Breaks finally go the Browns' way ... and it's probably bad news for Miami's Chad Henne.

Holy cow! There really ARE other feet for the shoe to be on.

(And Miss Simms, even though I suspect that you've long since gone to that great Strunk & White in the sky, please forgive me for using a preposition to end a sentence with. Urrk.)

But this season, the Browns have been in all but one game. They've carried leads into the fourth quarter more times than the trainer has dispensed walking boots, and only had four wins to show for it.

However, on this Sunday, the breaks finally went the Browns' way. David Bowens deflects a Chad Henne pass as the game seems headed for overtime. Any other game, and the ball either would have fallen harmlessly to the turf or -- and this is typical Browns luck -- into the waiting arms of a Miami Dolphin. Who, naturally, rumbles down to the 20 before running out of gas and setting up a game-winning Dan Carpenter kick. You figure a guy who can hit from 60 yards can hit from 20.

But not this time. Laws, no. Not this time. The ball goes into the arms of Mike Adams, who very nearly scores. Oh, and he doesn't fumble trying to do so (Browns fans have seen THAT scenario unfold way too many times).

So now, like Judy in the Lesley Gore song, it's the Dolphins turn to cry.

Here's how Greg Cote put it for miami.com:

This all happened to the Dolphins on the same sad afternoon Sunday:

Realistic hopes to make the playoffs suffered the kind of gut-punch that puts you on your knees, stunned and gasping air.

Quarterback Chad Henne's future began to seem less and less like the answer Miami craves and more like a troubling, open-ended question.

And the once-reliable concept of ``home-field advantage'' began to feel like nostalgia, a fond memory of an old friend now departed.

This all happened on the same embarrassed, crash of an afternoon when the Dolphins went out for a Sunday dive.

Miami's 13-10 home loss to the underdog Cleveland Browns was troubling on so many levels and had to feel like a roller coaster in mad descent to Dolfans, coming just one week after an exhilarating win in Oakland hinted at so much promise.

If wild inconsistency was a statistical category, the Dolphins would be league leaders.

Henne explained his team's loss as ``just hurting ourselves in the foot.''

You know it's a bad day when even your clichés don't come out right.

Well, you know what they say: You gotta lose 'em one game at a time.

Oops. My bad
Jake Delhomme is pretty sure that Colt McCoy is the Browns' quarterback of the future (and even though Delhomme has "won" the last two weeks -- or more accurately, not lost -- let's hope the future is sooner than later). But Cleveland didn't have a quarterback of the future for a long, long time. And now, apparently, thanks to the Browns, neither do the Dolphins.

Check out this excerpt of a column by Orlando Sentinel writer David Hyde:

We can tap-dance around this, if you want. We can say Sunday was lost because Dolphins cornerback Nolan Carroll dropped a gift-wrapped interception that would've won the game and Cleveland cornerback Mike Adams caught the interception that won it.

That's true. No doubt. But the full truth is Henne was benched for a reason earlier this year, went out and showed why again in Sunday's wretched 13-10 loss and the Dolphins are back to the beginning in building a team.

They've got to find a quarterback. Which means they've got to be sure of the guy finding that quarterback. Which means, well, Dolphins owner Steve Ross has a lot of big decisions to make coming up.

Starting Blocks is a little curious about that "sure of the guy finding that quarterback." Yeah, Dolphins coach Tony Sparano has stuck with Henne more than he probably should've. But really, what else did he have to work with? Chad Pennington, whose last injury-free season came when leather helmets were still in vogue, is on the sidelines again. Tyler Thigpen? Heck, seems like running back Ronnie Brown, the Fins' wildcat star, took almost as many snaps as Henne.

The truth is, as much as experts like Bill Parcells -- the legend who's responsible for Henne being in Miami, if we're honest about it -- check things, success in college doesn't always translate to success in the pros. Shoot, it RARELY does. Think Ryan Leaf. Matt Leinart. Brady Quinn. (Threw that last one in just for fun).

Yeah, we know Thanksgiving was a couple of weeks ago, but maybe it's time to be thankful again for Colt McCoy. And hope.

Gruden plenty
Jon Gruden's son, a junior who quarterbacks Carrollwood Day School in Tampa, says his dad will wait till he finishes high school but will  most likely will end up back under an NFL headset. Guess where? Either in San Francisco or ... CLEVELAND.

Deuce Gruden (really, that's his name) was talking to The Rave podcast when he shared the news. A blog called The Big Lead had this to say:

“He was going to let me finish high school … they were talking about going to San Francisco, but that’ll probably be in the next two years … or maybe Cleveland.” Does this mean the 49ers or Browns would be willing to give Mike Singletary and Eric Mangini (respectively), another year to get to the playoffs? Seems fair.

Maybe. But judging from recent results in Mangini's "Process," Starting Blocks wouldn't bet the farm on the Cleveland job being open in 2012.

From The Plain Dealer
Payback, baby! Beat writer Tony Grossi's game story begins with bit of a lighthearted slap at Miami for the LeBron James betrayal and the Florida Marlins' theft (courtesy of Jose Mesa) of the 1997 World Series.

Columnist Terry Pluto, commenting on the changes in the Browns and the added swagger in their step. has their peers warily looking on at the growth of the team.

Suddenly, the Browns are 5-7, having won four of their last six. Suddenly, they have a two-game winning streak, both victories coming on the final play. Suddenly, the Browns are a team that no one wants to play -- just ask contenders New Orleans, New England and the New York Jets.

Wonder how the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens are feeling about finishing their seasons with the Browns, eh?

Terry's Scribbles From My Notebook talks about the monster game of nose tackle Shaun Rogers, who seems play well whenever he really WANTS to play well. And he wanted to play well on Sunday.

Writer Mary Kay Cabot's Browns Insider focuses on the career game of tight end Ben Watson (10 catches for 100 yards and a score).

Mary Kay also talked to cornerback Joe Haden, who had a monster game with five tackles and an interception -- his fourth in as many games.

Haden, who kept the starting role despite the return of Eric Wright from a knee injury, had his best game as a Brown. It featured his fourth straight week with an interception, a huge breakup in the end zone, three other passes broken up and five tackles -- second-best on the team. He also made a special teams stop.

Writer Jodie Valade went to the Dolphins to assess their frustration, and as you might expect, they were feeling it. The game was not one the Browns won, linebacker Cameron Wake told Jodie; it was a game Miami lost.