Timid first half, blocked field goal doom Browns
The blocked field goal that sealed the Browns' 26-24 loss to Oakland wasn't the unkindest kick of all.
<p class="MsoNormal">Yes, their chance to be 2-1 blew up when 6-foot-6 lineman Tommy Kelly batted down a would-be game-winning 40-yard field goal as time expired.
<p class="MsoNormal">The bigger hurt came from kicking themselves in the teeth during a timid first half in "The Black Hole."
<p class="MsoNormal">"We've got to worry about kicking tail early in the game," wideout Joe Jurevicius said.
<p class="MsoNormal">Instead, the Browns trailed, 16-0. After committing no offensive penalties in a 51-45 win over the Bengals, they had four on their first two series Sunday.
<p class="MsoNormal">Quarterback Derek Anderson, cool as ice in throwing five touchdown passes last Sunday at home, cracked on the road.
<p class="MsoNormal">He rallied big time after getting the ball on his own 9 with 1:04 and no timeouts left, passing his team 69 yards in 61 seconds to set up Phil Dawson's ill-fated field goal try.
<p class="MsoNormal">But in the big scheme?
<p class="MsoNormal">"Terrible," Anderson said "We came out flat in the first half ... didn't move the ball. I made poor decisions. I gotta be better than that for us to win."
<p class="MsoNormal">Slow start, sad finish
<p class="MsoNormal">Anderson threw for 173 yards in the second half after just 75 in the first.
<p class="MsoNormal">The defense was shaky all day against quarterbacks Josh McCown and Daunte Culpepper. The Browns allowed 186 rushing yards, 121 to LaMont Jordan.
<p class="MsoNormal">"It's a tough lesson," wideout Braylon Edwards said, "but it's one we'll definitely eat up and swallow and - whatever - regurgitate.
<p class="MsoNormal">"We're upset with ourselves. We know we should have won this game."
<p class="MsoNormal">They would have if Dawson had made the 40-yard try from the dirt part of the combination baseball-football field.
<p class="MsoNormal">Rookie Joe Thomas was on the right side of the Browns' protection when Kelly lunged into the middle and stuck up his unusually long arms.
<p class="MsoNormal">"It was one of those freak things where the guy sticks his hands up and gets lucky," Thomas said.
<p class="MsoNormal">Anderson, who had an Otto Graham game against Cincinnati, got off to a Spergon Wynn start.
<p class="MsoNormal">Trailing 3-0, he gift-wrapped an interception to linebacker Thomas Howard, patrolling the underneath area in front of intended receiver Steve Heiden.
<p class="MsoNormal">"I forced a throw to Steve," Anderson said. "I didn't find the linebacker. I threw it right to him. Point blank."
<p class="MsoNormal">That set up another field goal and a 6-0 Raider lead.
<p class="MsoNormal">McCown's 41-yard touchdown pass to Ronald Curry, who duped rookie Eric Wright, made it 13-0.
<p class="MsoNormal">Needing to make a move, Anderson made two wrong ones.
<p class="MsoNormal">First, he failed to spot Winslow open against man coverage deep down the left sideline.
<p class="MsoNormal">Then, he took a shot at Winslow over the middle but fired to the wrong shoulder, giving middle linebacker Kirk Morrison room to make a diving interception.
<p class="MsoNormal">That set up a field goal and a 16-0 lead.
<p class="MsoNormal">Déjà vu all over again
<p class="MsoNormal">Almost exactly a year earlier, on the same field, at the same time of the game, the Browns trailed, 21-3.
<p class="MsoNormal">They rallied to win then. They made a move again.
<p class="MsoNormal">It started with Joshua Cribbs' 99-yard kickoff return to make it 16-7 late in the first half.
<p class="MsoNormal">Moments later, Simon Fraser's fumble recovery led to a Dawson field goal to make it 16-10 with 11 seconds left in the half.
<p class="MsoNormal">Anderson dug in early in the third quarter. On second-and-10 from the 21, getting good protection, he looked right, looked middle, then looked to a third area where Edwards had broken free on a double move.
<p class="MsoNormal">Cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha dove at Edwards' feet as he hauled in his third TD pass in two weeks.
<p class="MsoNormal">The Browns had their first lead, 17-16.
<p class="MsoNormal">The Raiders shredded Cleveland's defense for drives of 80 and 55 yards ending with a short Jordan TD run and a 48-yard Sebastian Janikowski field goal. Oakland led, 26-17, with 8:11 left.
<p class="MsoNormal">Anderson answered with fast-break drives of 80 and 69 yards, matching Oakland's touchdown - his own 1-yard bootleg run - but missing out on the field goal.
<p class="MsoNormal">The blocked kick became a nightmare, haunted by that miserable start.
<p class="MsoNormal">"We just didn't come out with the intensity," Edwards said. "We let the win from last week drag over a little too long.
<p class="MsoNormal">"We underestimated them a little bit. I think it's safe to say that."
<p class="MsoNormal">Reach Repository sports writer Steve Doerschuk at (330) 580-8347 or e-mail steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com
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