NFL: HOUSTON at CLEVELAND <div class="pre">NFL HOUSTON 10 CLEVELAND 27 5:41 LEFT, 4TH QTR HST BALL ON HST 20 YD LINE 1ST AND 10</div>
NFL: HOUSTON at CLEVELAND <div class="pre">NFL TD HST OWEN DANIELS 6 YD PASS FROM MATT SCHAUB (KRIS BROWN KICK) HOUSTON 17 CLEVELAND 27 3:12 LEFT, 4TH QTR</div>
NFL: HOUSTON at CLEVELAND <div class="pre">NFL HOUSTON 17 CLEVELAND 27 3:11 LEFT, 4TH QTR CLE BALL ON HST 39 YD LINE 1ST AND 10</div>
NFL: HOUSTON at CLEVELAND <div class="pre">NFL TWO MINUTE WARNING, 2ND HALF HOUSTON 17 CLEVELAND 27 CLE BALL ON HST 23 YD LINE 1ST AND 10</div>
NFL: HOUSTON at CLEVELAND <div class="pre">NFL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL --- --- --- --- ----- HOUSTON 7 3 0 7 17 CLEVELAND 0 14 3 10 27 FINAL SCORING SUMMARY 1ST QUARTER: HST - TD, KEVIN WALTER 17 YD PASS FROM MATT SCHAUB (KRIS BROWN KICK), 12:37. Drive: 6 plays, 61 yards in 2:37. Key plays: Schaub 18-yard pass to A Johnson to Cleveland 41; Schaub 12-yard pass to Daniels to Cleveland 29; Schaub 12-yard pass to Walter to Cleveland 17. HOUSTON 7-0 2ND QUARTER: CLE - TD, BRAYLON EDWARDS 19 YD PASS FROM DEREK ANDERSON (PHIL DAWSON KICK), 5:05. Drive: 6 plays, 70 yards in 2:39. Key plays: Anderson 25-yard pass to Jurevicius on 3rd-and-1 to Houston 36; Lewis 17-yard run to Houston 19. HOUSTON 7-7 HST - FG, KRIS BROWN 41 YD, 7:51. Drive: 7 plays, 37 yards in 2:46. Key plays: Schaub 18-yard pass to Davis to Cleveland 36; Schaub 11-yard pass to A Johnson to Cleveland 25. HOUSTON 10-7 CLE - TD, KELLEN WINSLOW 7 YD PASS FROM DEREK ANDERSON (PHIL DAWSON KICK), 14:44. Drive: 11 plays, 64 yards in 3:37. Key plays: Anderson 12-yard pass to Winslow to Houston 32; Anderson 9-yard pass to Edwards on 4-and-3 to Houston 23; Anderson 12-yard pass to Wright to Houston 11. CLEVELAND 14-10 3RD QUARTER: CLE - FG, PHIL DAWSON 25 YD, 7:36. Drive: 10 plays, 64 yards in 5:31. Key plays: Anderson 14-yard pass to Jurevicius to Cleveland 42; Lewis 15-yard run to Houston 43; Wright 10-yard run to Houston 28; Lewis 10-yard run to Houston 13; Lewis 4 carries for 35 yards. CLEVELAND 17-10 4TH QUARTER: CLE - FG, PHIL DAWSON 27 YD, 6:28. Drive: 6 plays, 25 yards in 2:51. Key plays: Cribbs 8-yard punt return to houston 34; Anderson 21-yard pass to Winslow to Houston 13. CLEVELAND 20-10 CLE - TD, JAMAL LEWIS 1 YD RUN (PHIL DAWSON KICK), 9:12. Drive: 4 plays, 30 yards in 1:59. Key plays: McDonald interception at Houston 30; Anderson 20-yard pass to Winslow to Houston 8. CLEVELAND 27-10 HST - TD, OWEN DANIELS 6 YD PASS FROM MATT SCHAUB (KRIS BROWN KICK), 11:48. Drive: 8 plays, 80 yards in 2:36. Key plays: Schaub 22-yard pass to Daniels to midfield; Schaub 29-yard pass to Davis to Cleveland 21; Dayne 5-yard run on 3rd-and-2 to Cleveland 8. CLEVELAND 27-17 ATT: 72,730</div>
NFL: HOUSTON at CLEVELAND <div class="pre">NFL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL --- --- --- --- ----- HOUSTON 7 3 0 7 17 CLEVELAND 0 14 3 10 27 FINAL SCORING SUMMARY 1ST QUARTER: 12:37 HST - TD, KEVIN WALTER 17 YD PASS FROM MATT SCHAUB (KRIS BROWN KICK). Drive: 6 plays, 61 yards in 2:37. Key plays: Schaub 18-yard pass to A Johnson to Cleveland 41; Schaub 12-yard pass to Daniels to Cleveland 29; Schaub 12-yard pass to Walter to Cleveland 17. HOUSTON 7-0. 2ND QUARTER: 5:05 CLE - TD, BRAYLON EDWARDS 19 YD PASS FROM DEREK ANDERSON (PHIL DAWSON KICK). Drive: 6 plays, 70 yards in 2:39. Key plays: Anderson 25-yard pass to Jurevicius on 3rd-and-1 to Houston 36; Lewis 17-yard run to Houston 19. HOUSTON 7-7. 7:51 HST - FG, KRIS BROWN 41 YD. Drive: 7 plays, 37 yards in 2:46. Key plays: Schaub 18-yard pass to Davis to Cleveland 36; Schaub 11-yard pass to A Johnson to Cleveland 25. HOUSTON 10-7. 14:44 CLE - TD, KELLEN WINSLOW 7 YD PASS FROM DEREK ANDERSON (PHIL DAWSON KICK). Drive: 11 plays, 64 yards in 3:37. Key plays: Anderson 12-yard pass to Winslow to Houston 32; Anderson 9-yard pass to Edwards on 4-and-3 to Houston 23; Anderson 12-yard pass to Wright to Houston 11. CLEVELAND 14-10. 3RD QUARTER: 7:36 CLE - FG, PHIL DAWSON 25 YD. Drive: 10 plays, 64 yards in 5:31. Key plays: Anderson 14-yard pass to Jurevicius to Cleveland 42; Lewis 15-yard run to Houston 43; Wright 10-yard run to Houston 28; Lewis 10-yard run to Houston 13; Lewis 4 carries for 35 yards. CLEVELAND 17-10. 4TH QUARTER: 6:28 CLE - FG, PHIL DAWSON 27 YD. Drive: 6 plays, 25 yards in 2:51. Key plays: Cribbs 8-yard punt return to houston 34; Anderson 21-yard pass to Winslow to Houston 13. CLEVELAND 20-10. 9:12 CLE - TD, JAMAL LEWIS 1 YD RUN (PHIL DAWSON KICK). Drive: 4 plays, 30 yards in 1:59. Key plays: McDonald interception at Houston 30; Anderson 20-yard pass to Winslow to Houston 8. CLEVELAND 27-10. 11:48 HST - TD, OWEN DANIELS 6 YD PASS FROM MATT SCHAUB (KRIS BROWN KICK). Drive: 8 plays, 80 yards in 2:36. Key plays: Schaub 22-yard pass to Daniels to midfield; Schaub 29-yard pass to Davis to Cleveland 21; Dayne 5-yard run on 3rd-and-2 to Cleveland 8. CLEVELAND 27-17. HOUSTON - CLEVELAND Final Statistics TEAM STATISTICS HOUSTON CLEVELAND FIRST DOWNS 17 21 Rushing 3 8 Passing 13 13 Penalty 1 0 THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY 2-10-20% 3-13-23% FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY 0-1-0% 2-3-67% TOTAL NET YARDS 314 397 Total offensive plays 56 69 Average gain per play 5.6 5.8 NET YARDS RUSHING 77 148 Rushing attempts 18 33 Average gain per rush 4.3 4.5 Tackles for loss-yards 1-8 2-3 NET YARDS PASSING 237 249 Times sacked: Number-Yards 2-19 1-4 Gross passing yards 256 253 PASS ATTEMPTS-COMPLETIONS-HAD INTERCEPTED 36-22-2 35-24-1 Avg gain per pass play 6.2 6.9 KICKOFFS: Number-In End Zone-Touchbacks 4-1-1 6-1-0 PUNTS: Number and Average 4-34.3 5-34.0 Had blocked 0 0 Net punting average 30.3 29.8 TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE (Not including kickoffs) 49 22 Number-Yards: Punt Returns 1-16 2-21 Number-Yards: Kickoff Returns 5-95 2-54 Number-Yards: Interception Returns 1-33 2-1 PENALTIES: Number-Yards 5-26 7-71 FUMBLES: Number-Lost 1-1 2-0 TOUCHDOWNS 2 3 Rushing 0 1 Passing 2 2 Interceptions 0 0 Other (blocked kicks, etc.) 0 0 EXTRA POINTS: Made-Attempts 2-2 3-3 Kicking: Made-Attempts 2-2 3-3 Passing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0 Rushing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0 FIELD GOALS: Made-Attempts 1-2 2-2 FGs - PATs had blocked 0-0 0-0 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY 2-2-100% 3-6-50% GOAL TO GO EFFICIENCY 1-1-100% 1-1-100% SAFETIES 0 0 TIME OF POSSESSION 24:37 35:23 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS HOUSTON CLEVELAND RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- R DAYNE 16 78 4.9 14 0 J LEWIS 29 134 4.6 17 1 M SCHAUB 1 7 7.0 7 0 J WRIGHT 3 14 4.7 10 0 J JONES 1 -8 -8.0 0 0 L VICKERS 1 0 0.0 0 0 PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- M SCHAUB 22-36-256 2 2 29 D ANDERSON 24-35-253 1 2 25 Sacked-Yards Lost: M SCHAUB 2-19. Sacked-Yards Lost: D ANDERSON 1-4. RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- O DANIELS 7 82 11.7 22 1 K WINSLOW 10 107 10.7 22 1 K WALTER 6 65 10.8 17 1 J JUREVICI 5 55 11.0 25 0 A DAVIS 3 51 17.0 29 0 B EDWARDS 4 57 14.3 20 1 A JOHNSON 3 37 12.3 18 0 J WRIGHT 3 21 7.0 12 0 R DAYNE 2 7 3.5 5 0 J LEWIS 2 13 6.5 8 0 J JONES 1 14 14.0 14 0 INTERCEPTIONS NO YDS AVG LG TD INTERCEPTIONS NO YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- F BENNETT 1 33 33.0 33 0 D JACKSON 1 1 1.0 1 0 B MCDONALD 1 0 0.0 0 0 PUNTING NO YDS AVG T I LG PUNTING NO YDS AVG T I LG -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- M TURK 4 137 34.3 0 0 37 D ZASTUDIL 5 170 34.0 0 2 45 T = Touchbacks, I = Inside 20 PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- J JONES 1 16 16.0 16 0 J CRIBBS 2 21 10.5 13 0 KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- D WYNN 3 65 21.7 26 0 J CRIBBS 2 54 27.0 29 0 J JONES 1 18 18.0 18 0 V LEACH 1 12 12.0 12 0 KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA ---------------------------------- ---------------------------------- K BROWN 2/2 1/2 P DAWSON 3/3 2/2 Dist.: 41 (46) Dist.: 25 27 O-D O-D FUMBLES NO LOST FF REC FUMBLES NO LOST FF REC ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------ O DANIELS 1 1 0 0-0 D ANDERSON 1 0 0 0-0 M WILLIAMS 0 0 1 0-0 J CRIBBS 1 0 0 0-0 K WIMBLEY 0 0 1 0-0 L BODDEN 0 0 0 0-1 J THOMAS 0 0 0 1-0 DEFENSE TK SO AS SK-YD DEFENSE TK SO AS SK-YD ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------ D RYANS 11 9 2 0-0 D JACKSON 12 10 2 0-0 V HUTCHINS 10 10 0 0-0 L BODDEN 7 7 0 0-0 M GREENWOOD 8 6 2 0-0 S JONES 4 4 0 0-0 F BENNETT 6 5 1 0-0 K WIMBLEY 3 3 0 0-0 D CLARK 6 4 2 0-0 W MCGINEST 3 2 1 0-0 C BROWN 5 5 0 0-0 S SMITH 3 1 2 1-7 M WILLIAMS 4 4 0 1-4 O ROYE 2 2 0 0-0 T JOHNSON 4 4 0 0-0 L WILLIAMS 2 2 0 0-0 A WEAVER 4 2 2 0-0 D HOLLY 2 2 0 0-0 W DEMPS 3 3 0 0-0 R SMITH 2 2 0 0-0 J ZGONINA 1 1 0 0-0 A DAVIS 2 1 1 0-0 N KALU 1 1 0 0-0 A PEEK 1 1 0 1-12 Z DILES 1 1 0 0-0 S FRASER 1 1 0 0-0 E COCHRAN 1 0 1 0-0 B MCDONALD 1 1 0 0-0 A OKOYE 1 0 1 0-0 B POOL 1 1 0 0-0 K WINSLOW 1 0 1 0-0 Att: 72,730</div>
NFL: HOUSTON at CLEVELAND <div class="pre">NFL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL --- --- --- --- ----- HOUSTON 7 3 0 7 17 CLEVELAND 0 14 3 10 27 FINAL SCORING SUMMARY 1ST QUARTER: 12:37 HST - TD, KEVIN WALTER 17 YD PASS FROM MATT SCHAUB (KRIS BROWN KICK). Drive: 6 plays, 61 yards in 2:37. Key plays: Schaub 18-yard pass to A Johnson to Cleveland 41; Schaub 12-yard pass to Daniels to Cleveland 29; Schaub 12-yard pass to Walter to Cleveland 17. HOUSTON 7-0. 2ND QUARTER: 5:05 CLE - TD, BRAYLON EDWARDS 19 YD PASS FROM DEREK ANDERSON (PHIL DAWSON KICK). Drive: 6 plays, 70 yards in 2:39. Key plays: Anderson 25-yard pass to Jurevicius on 3rd-and-1 to Houston 36; Lewis 17-yard run to Houston 19. HOUSTON 7-7. 7:51 HST - FG, KRIS BROWN 41 YD. Drive: 7 plays, 37 yards in 2:46. Key plays: Schaub 18-yard pass to Davis to Cleveland 36; Schaub 11-yard pass to A Johnson to Cleveland 25. HOUSTON 10-7. 14:44 CLE - TD, KELLEN WINSLOW 7 YD PASS FROM DEREK ANDERSON (PHIL DAWSON KICK). Drive: 11 plays, 64 yards in 3:37. Key plays: Anderson 12-yard pass to Winslow to Houston 32; Anderson 9-yard pass to Edwards on 4th-and-3 to Houston 23; Anderson 12-yard pass to Wright to Houston 11. CLEVELAND 14-10. 3RD QUARTER: 7:36 CLE - FG, PHIL DAWSON 25 YD. Drive: 10 plays, 64 yards in 5:31. Key plays: Anderson 14-yard pass to Jurevicius to Cleveland 42; Lewis 15-yard run to Houston 43; Wright 10-yard run to Houston 28; Lewis 10-yard run to Houston 13; Lewis 4 carries for 35 yards. CLEVELAND 17-10. 4TH QUARTER: 6:28 CLE - FG, PHIL DAWSON 27 YD. Drive: 6 plays, 25 yards in 2:51. Key plays: Cribbs 8-yard punt return to houston 34; Anderson 21-yard pass to Winslow to Houston 13. CLEVELAND 20-10. 9:12 CLE - TD, JAMAL LEWIS 1 YD RUN (PHIL DAWSON KICK). Drive: 4 plays, 30 yards in 1:59. Key plays: McDonald interception at Houston 30; Anderson 20-yard pass to Winslow to Houston 8. CLEVELAND 27-10. 11:48 HST - TD, OWEN DANIELS 6 YD PASS FROM MATT SCHAUB (KRIS BROWN KICK). Drive: 8 plays, 80 yards in 2:36. Key plays: Schaub 22-yard pass to Daniels to midfield; Schaub 29-yard pass to Davis to Cleveland 21; Dayne 5-yard run on 3rd-and-2 to Cleveland 8. CLEVELAND 27-17. HOUSTON - CLEVELAND Final Statistics TEAM STATISTICS HOUSTON CLEVELAND FIRST DOWNS 17 21 Rushing 3 8 Passing 13 13 Penalty 1 0 THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY 2-10-20% 3-13-23% FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY 0-1-0% 2-3-67% TOTAL NET YARDS 314 397 Total offensive plays 56 69 Average gain per play 5.6 5.8 NET YARDS RUSHING 77 148 Rushing attempts 18 33 Average gain per rush 4.3 4.5 Tackles for loss-yards 1-8 2-3 NET YARDS PASSING 237 249 Times sacked: Number-Yards 2-19 1-4 Gross passing yards 256 253 PASS ATTEMPTS-COMPLETIONS-HAD INTERCEPTED 36-22-2 35-24-1 Avg gain per pass play 6.2 6.9 KICKOFFS: Number-In End Zone-Touchbacks 4-1-1 6-1-0 PUNTS: Number and Average 4-34.3 5-34.0 Had blocked 0 0 Net punting average 30.3 29.8 TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE (Not including kickoffs) 49 22 Number-Yards: Punt Returns 1-16 2-21 Number-Yards: Kickoff Returns 5-95 2-54 Number-Yards: Interception Returns 1-33 2-1 PENALTIES: Number-Yards 5-26 7-71 FUMBLES: Number-Lost 1-1 2-0 TOUCHDOWNS 2 3 Rushing 0 1 Passing 2 2 Interceptions 0 0 Other (blocked kicks, etc.) 0 0 EXTRA POINTS: Made-Attempts 2-2 3-3 Kicking: Made-Attempts 2-2 3-3 Passing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0 Rushing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0 FIELD GOALS: Made-Attempts 1-2 2-2 FGs - PATs had blocked 0-0 0-0 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY 2-2-100% 3-6-50% GOAL TO GO EFFICIENCY 1-1-100% 1-1-100% SAFETIES 0 0 TIME OF POSSESSION 24:37 35:23 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS HOUSTON CLEVELAND RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- R DAYNE 16 78 4.9 14 0 J LEWIS 29 134 4.6 17 1 M SCHAUB 1 7 7.0 7 0 J WRIGHT 3 14 4.7 10 0 J JONES 1 -8 -8.0 0 0 L VICKERS 1 0 0.0 0 0 PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- M SCHAUB 22-36-256 2 2 29 D ANDERSON 24-35-253 1 2 25 Sacked-Yards Lost: M SCHAUB 2-19. Sacked-Yards Lost: D ANDERSON 1-4. RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- O DANIELS 7 82 11.7 22 1 K WINSLOW 10 107 10.7 22 1 K WALTER 6 65 10.8 17 1 J JUREVICI 5 55 11.0 25 0 A DAVIS 3 51 17.0 29 0 B EDWARDS 4 57 14.3 20 1 A JOHNSON 3 37 12.3 18 0 J WRIGHT 3 21 7.0 12 0 R DAYNE 2 7 3.5 5 0 J LEWIS 2 13 6.5 8 0 J JONES 1 14 14.0 14 0 INTERCEPTIONS NO YDS AVG LG TD INTERCEPTIONS NO YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- F BENNETT 1 33 33.0 33 0 D JACKSON 1 1 1.0 1 0 B MCDONALD 1 0 0.0 0 0 PUNTING NO YDS AVG T I LG PUNTING NO YDS AVG T I LG -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- M TURK 4 137 34.3 0 0 37 D ZASTUDIL 5 170 34.0 0 2 45 T = Touchbacks, I = Inside 20 PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- J JONES 1 16 16.0 16 0 J CRIBBS 2 21 10.5 13 0 KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- D WYNN 3 65 21.7 26 0 J CRIBBS 2 54 27.0 29 0 J JONES 1 18 18.0 18 0 V LEACH 1 12 12.0 12 0 KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA ---------------------------------- ---------------------------------- K BROWN 2/2 1/2 P DAWSON 3/3 2/2 Dist.: 41 (46) Dist.: 25 27 O-D O-D FUMBLES NO LOST FF REC FUMBLES NO LOST FF REC ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------ O DANIELS 1 1 0 0-0 D ANDERSON 1 0 0 0-0 M WILLIAMS 0 0 1 0-0 J CRIBBS 1 0 0 0-0 K WIMBLEY 0 0 1 0-0 L BODDEN 0 0 0 0-1 J THOMAS 0 0 0 1-0 DEFENSE TK SO AS SK-YD DEFENSE TK SO AS SK-YD ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------ D RYANS 11 9 2 0-0 D JACKSON 12 10 2 0-0 V HUTCHINS 10 10 0 0-0 L BODDEN 7 7 0 0-0 M GREENWOOD 8 6 2 0-0 S JONES 4 4 0 0-0 F BENNETT 6 5 1 0-0 K WIMBLEY 3 3 0 0-0 D CLARK 6 4 2 0-0 W MCGINEST 3 2 1 0-0 C BROWN 5 5 0 0-0 S SMITH 3 1 2 1-7 M WILLIAMS 4 4 0 1-4 O ROYE 2 2 0 0-0 T JOHNSON 4 4 0 0-0 L WILLIAMS 2 2 0 0-0 A WEAVER 4 2 2 0-0 D HOLLY 2 2 0 0-0 W DEMPS 3 3 0 0-0 R SMITH 2 2 0 0-0 J ZGONINA 1 1 0 0-0 A DAVIS 2 1 1 0-0 N KALU 1 1 0 0-0 A PEEK 1 1 0 1-12 Z DILES 1 1 0 0-0 S FRASER 1 1 0 0-0 E COCHRAN 1 0 1 0-0 B MCDONALD 1 1 0 0-0 A OKOYE 1 0 1 0-0 B POOL 1 1 0 0-0 K WINSLOW 1 0 1 0-0 Officials: Referee-Terry Mcaulay, Umpire-Bruce Stritesky, Head Linesman-Jim Mello, Line Judge-Mark Steinkerchner, Field Judge-Greg Gautreaux, Side Judge-Michael Banks, Back Judge-Steve Freeman. Att: 72,730 Time of Game: 2:56</div>
CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- D'Qwell Jackson and the Cleveland Browns'much-maligned defense delivered its best effort of the season. Jackson recorded 12 tackles and an interception Sunday to leadthe Browns to their fifth straight home victory, a 27-17 triumphover the Houston Texans. Derek Anderson tossed a pair of first-half touchdowns and JamalLewis plowed for a 1-yard score in the second half for Cleveland(7-4), which is on its first five-game home winning since the1994 season. But the story Sunday was the Browns' defense, which enteredranked last in the NFL in both opponents' scoring and yardage. Browns rookie defensive back Brandon McDonald enjoyed the finestgame of his young career, recording his first careerinterception while deflecting four passes. The fifth-rounddraft selection also had three tackles, including two on specialteams. Facing a 7-0 deficit in the second quarter, Cleveland capturedmomentum when Jackson intercepted Matt Schaub at the Browns'30-yard line. Anderson found Braylon Edwards for a 19-yardtouchdown six plays later to forge a 7-7 tie. After Anderson was intercepted in Cleveland territory, theBrowns' defense stood strong again, allowing only six yards onthe next three plays. Houston failed to capitalize on a drivewhich started at the Cleveland 34, as Kris Brown missed a46-yard field goal. The Browns took the lead for good with 16 seconds left in thefirst half, when Anderson zipped a 7-yard TD to tight end KellenWinslow to cap an 11-play drive and give Cleveland a 14-10halftime cushion.
CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- D'Qwell Jackson and the Cleveland Browns'much-maligned defense delivered its best effort of the season. Jackson recorded 12 tackles and an interception Sunday to leadthe Browns to their fifth straight home victory, a 27-17 triumphover the Houston Texans. Derek Anderson tossed a pair of first-half touchdowns and JamalLewis plowed for a 1-yard score in the second half for Cleveland(7-4), which is on its first five-game home winning since the1994 season. But the story Sunday was the Browns' defense, which enteredranked last in the NFL in both opponents' scoring and yardage. "If we hadn't given up that last touchdown, I would have said itwas a pretty good defensive performance," Browns coach RomeoCrennel said. "Our defense helped to put us in a position to win. I thinkwe're playing a complementary game (to our offense)," Clevelandoutside linebacker Kamerion Wimbley added. "We were gettingpressure from different angles and different guys were steppingup. We're starting to put some separation between big plays." Browns rookie defensive back Brandon McDonald enjoyed the finestgame of his young career, recording his first careerinterception while deflecting four passes. The fifth-rounddraft selection also had three tackles, including two on specialteams. "I saw it as an opportunity to make a name for myself and tohelp this team win," said McDonald, who was covering Texans starwide receiver Andre Johnson for most of the contest. "I wasn'treally focused on Johnson as much as I was set on what I wassupposed to do." Facing a 7-0 deficit in the second quarter, Cleveland capturedmomentum when Jackson intercepted Matt Schaub at the Browns'30-yard line. Anderson found Braylon Edwards for a 19-yardtouchdown six plays later to forge a 7-7 tie. After Anderson was intercepted in Cleveland territory, theBrowns' defense stood strong again, allowing only six yards onthe next three plays. Houston failed to capitalize on a drivewhich started at the Cleveland 34, as Kris Brown missed a46-yard field goal. The Browns took the lead for good with 16 seconds left in thefirst half, when Anderson zipped a 7-yard TD to tight end KellenWinslow to cap an 11-play drive and give Cleveland a 14-10halftime cushion. "We have a bunch of perfectionists on our team," Winslow said."We still left a lot of points on the field. We can only getbetter." Anderson completed 24-of-35 passes for 253 yards and wasintercepted once. Winslow caught 10 passes for 107 yards whileLewis carried 29 times for 134 yards, including 91 in the secondhalf. "You are going to have two- and three-yard runs, but you makeadjustments and those runs start to open up," Lewis said. "It'smy time of year to run the football, in November and December." Houston coach Gary Kubiak was frustrated his offense was unableto regain its rhythm after the opening possession. "The bottom line was we turned the ball over," Kubiak said. "Ifyou aren't making third downs in this league, you have to makebig plays. We don't have anything to show (for) today." Two of the Texans' turnovers came in Browns territory. Thethird miscue, McDonald's interception of Schaub, gave Clevelanda short field and resulted in Lewis' touchdown run, which madeit 27-10 with 5:51 to play. "It's the same old story (with turnovers)," said Schaub, whocompleted 22-of-36 passes for 256 yards and two TDs. "It hurtus today, especially with good field position."
