EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- As
Butch Davis left the field, he looked up to the sky. He
sensed his Cleveland Browns did something very special
Sunday.
Four days after team owner Al Lerner died, the Browns
rallied from an 18-point deficit to beat the New York
Jets 24-21.
"I told the football team that Al Lerner's life
was about things like today," Davis said.
"Perseverance, character and never ever
surrendering. I know for a fact that Al is proud of the
football team today, the way it began to fight."
Lerner, a businessman and native New Yorker who
brought the NFL back to Cleveland in 1999, died
Wednesday at age 69. Flags flew at half-staff at Giants
Stadium, a moment of silence was held before kickoff,
and the Browns will wear patches with the initials AL on
them for the rest of the season.
Quarterback Tim Couch, who engineered the comeback
with some magical escapes to produce two second-half
touchdowns and a 2-point conversion, echoed his coach's
thoughts.
"We as players loved Mr. Lerner and wanted to
play well for him and his family," said Couch, who
finished 33-for-49 for 307 yards. "This was about
courage and heart and it exemplified what Mr. Lerner was
all about."
Phil Dawson's third field goal, from 35 yards, won it
after Couch guided another long second-half drive. But
the game turned in the third quarter, when the Browns
scored 15 points to pull into a 21-21 tie.
Couch, showing tremendous maturity and
resourcefulness, shrugged off several near sacks in
throwing a 5-yard TD pass to a diving Mark Campbell,
then a 4-yarder to rookie Andre' Davis. And his lob
under heavy pressure for the tying 2-point conversion
somehow found Dennis Northcutt in the end zone.
"I saw a flash of white as I was going down and
just heaved it up and let Dennis make a play," he
said. "You have to show you have trust in your
guys."
New York (2-5) dominated the first half but stopped
pressing its advantage in the third period, when it was
outgained 93-2.
Cleveland (4-4) kept dominating in the final quarter
against the befuddled Jets -- who wasted all three
timeouts in the third quarter -- and staged a drive of
8:33 to the winning field goal.
Courtney Brown blocked John Hall's 44-yard field goal
with 16 seconds remaining.
"We have to put these games away," Curtis
Martin said. "It's natural for us to get frustrated
and we might say things we don't mean. We can't let that
happen.
"No excuses, we need results. We've had too many
excuses this season."
The Jets, who had scored 10 points in the first
quarter of their first six games, had 14 just 9:03 into
the game. Santana Moss returned a punt 63 yards for a
score, and Laveranues Coles' spin move resulted in a
37-yard TD.
New York's other top receiver, Wayne Chrebet, had an
8-yard scoring catch, and the Jets led 21-6 at halftime.
But Chrebet also fumbled at the Cleveland 7.
After holding Cleveland to a three-and-out to start
things, the Jets got Moss' punt return with just 39
seconds gone. The Browns had nobody on the left side of
the field as Moss sped down the sideline for his first
career punt return for a TD, and the second-quickest
touchdown in Jets history.
"We gave them some early openings, like on Moss'
punt return, but we never felt we were out of the
game," Davis said.
The Browns got going on Northcutt's 43-yard
reception, setting up Dawson's 23-yard field goal.
The Jets responded with their longest completion of
the season, although Chad Pennington threw the ball just
a few yards, hitting Coles on a slant-in. Rather than
continue across the field, Coles whirled, sending
cornerback Lewis Sanders to the turf, and Coles ran to
the corner of the end zone, making it 14-3.
Moss' 21-yard punt return set up Chrebet's score, in
which he beat Sanders on a short post pattern. The
Browns were missing two starters in the secondary.
Dawson also kicked a 26-yard field goal in the first
half.
Notes: Chrebet fumbled for the first time
since 1996 after 323 receptions without one. ... The
Browns, who had nine sacks last week against Houston,
managed just one Sunday. ... The earliest TD the Jets
ever scored was on a 96-yard kickoff return by Bobby
Humphery just 19 seconds into a 1986 game at Cincinnati.
... It was the second 300-yard game for Couch, who threw
for 326 in a comeback victory at Tennessee. ... Jets
right tackle Kareem McKenzie sprained his right ankle in
the third quarter. Browns defensive back Anthony Henry
cut his chin.
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