Browns fail to blow it!

How about those Cleveland Browns! They've now played four games and had a fourth-quarter lead in every one of them -- and after yesterday's 23-20 triumph over Cincinnati, they've actually won one!

Boy howdy, it sure looked as if the Browns were going to blow this one too. The Bengals stormed back from a 23-10 deficit to cut it to three on Carson Palmer's three-yard touchdown pass to Brian Leonard with 10:44 left in the game, and a distinct "here we go again" feeling hung in the air. That feeling thickened after the Browns went three-and-out, with two incompletions by Seneca Wallace bookending a two-yard run by Peyton Hillis. The Bengals took over at their own 14 with 9:44 to go, and it seemed highly likely they'd take it down for another score. And they did move the ball: A nine-play drive gained 46 yards, but Chad "Ochocinco" Ochocinco's pass interference penalty pushed them out of field goal range on second down, and Matt Roth sacked Palmer for a four-yard loss on third down, forcing a punt. Those plays were humongous.

The Browns got it back at their own 11 with 4:41 left, so all they had to do was run out the clock. But Wallace threw incomplete again on first down, and Hillis gained just a yard on second. But the Bengals bailed us out again. Defensive lineman Pat Sims got called for defensive holding, giving the Browns an automatic first down. It was a tough call, but hey, when you're 0-3, you'll take it. From that point on, the offense consisted of giving the ball to Hillis, which is what you're supposed to do when you're trying to salt away the clock and protect a lead.

Hillis, suddenly a breakout star, went for 102 yards on the day, including a 24-yard run on second and seven that took the game to the two-minute warning. It was his second straight 100-yard performance. All it took to get him was Brady Quinn. Can you believe that?

And that's how the Browns won a game in which they were outgained 413 yards to 295, in which they gave up 371 passing yards by Palmer, including 222 receiving yards by Terrell Owens. It's not easy to win a game like that, but they did it.

The Browns have Atlanta next week. They seem likely to have a fourth-quarter lead at some point. Let's hope they can hold it.

And so it continues

So you say you're dying to hear my thoughts on yesterday's Browns game? Here they are: It sucked.

What? You were hoping for more? All right, here's more: It really sucked.

Fine, I'll give you some thoughts, in no particular order.

• Losing to division rivals is always unpleasant, especially in this division. We have a special brand of hatred for each of our AFC North foes. Our hatred for the Bengals is probably an 8 or a 9 on a scale of 1 to 10 — which makes them by far the least hated of the three, but it still hurts a little every time we lose to them. Still, would you rather they win the division, or Pittsburgh or Baltimore? By that logic, it's not so bad.

• Shaun Rogers' penalty at the end of the first half was typical of this Browns season. He tackled Cincinnati quarterback Carson Palmer from behind, by the shoulders, which is now called a horse-collar tackle and has been a personal foul in the NFL since 2005. This happened with no time left on the clock, and gave the Bengals enough yardage to kick a field goal. It didn't really affect the outcome of the game, but imagine if the Browns had managed to score another touchdown in the fourth quarter and lost 16-14. That field goal would have been huge.

• The Bengals out-gained the Browns, 306 yards to 169. The defensive effort was not bad at all, but once again, the offense was hideous. Brady Quinn, coming off his best game as a pro in last week's loss to Detroit, went 15-for-34 for 100 yards. Quinn did make a nice catch on a Josh Cribbs pass from the wildcat formation, and he also scored the Browns' only touchdown with his legs, but this was not a strong effort. And it was the seventh time the Browns have been held under 10 points this year.

• Speaking of the Browns' defense, they held Palmer to 110 yards passing on 13-of-24. But they did allow more than 200 yards on the ground, including Larry Johnson's first 100-yard effort since last year, when he was with the Chiefs. Still, the defense was good enough to win, had the offense done anything.

• The Browns are one of three 1-10 teams in the league, which of course is significant because they have a shot at the first pick in next year's draft. The Browns' remaining schedule includes two games they could conceivably win, against Kansas City and Oakland, who are both 3-8. The other two 1-10 teams — the Buccaneers and the Rams – have no real cupcakes left on their schedules. The Buccaneers' only win is against 7-4 Green Bay, which puts a win against someone like 4-7 Seattle or 4-7 Carolina within the realm of possibility. But the Rams' only win was against the 2-9 Lions. All but one of their remaining games are against sub-.500 opponents, but I can't see them beating any of them, even the 4-7 Bears. But we'll see, I guess.

Better, but still a loss

The Browns played so much better in yesterday's loss to Cincinnati than they had played the first three games of the season, it's almost hard to believe it was the same team. The bottom line is that it goes in the loss column, but there's at least reason for hope.

The Browns and Bengals played five full quarters yesterday, so the numbers have to be regarded with that extra time in mind. Still, Derek Anderson's 269-yard game on 26-for-48 passing is a ray of sunshine. Anderson was a long way from perfect, of course — the interception he threw in the end zone that stopped the Browns' first drive of the second half was a killer, and he misfired a number of other times. And it was disappointing that he couldn't get much of anything going in the overtime period. Still, he moved the offense far better than Brady Quinn ever dreamed of. And the Browns scored two offensive touchdowns in a game for the first time since god-knows-when.

It bears mention that without Shaun Rogers' two blocks of Shayne Graham kicks (a 23-yard field goal attempt in the first quarter and an extra point attempt in the fourth), the game would never have gotten to overtime. Rogers was the Browns' lone Pro Bowler last season, and remains their top talent on defense.

And how about Mohamed Massaquoi? He caught eight passes for 148 yards, giving Anderson a much-needed weapon going forward. Massaquoi got open and made catches, which is more than can be said for embattled would-be superstar Braylon Edwards, who didn't catch a single pass in the game. Edwards had the ball thrown to him a few times, but those dropsies that have plagued him throughout his career surfaced again. I can't help but feel for the guy, since he's always been good at getting open, but dagnabbit, he's got to catch the stinkin' ball.

There were other bright spots too. Jerome Harrison got 121 yards on 29 carries, and Josh Cribbs' 58-yard kickoff return and 50-yard punt return gave Anderson and the offense some good chances to put points on the board.

Yes, a loss is a loss, but this effort against a now 3-1 Bengals team gives us hope for these Browns. I look forward to their next game (Sunday against Buffalo) a lot more than I looked forward to this one going in.