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Frye rallies Browns to first win of season

Oct 2, 2006 - 12:03 AM OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- Charlie Frye showed he can lead a comeback. The Oakland Raiders found another way to lose.

Frye passed for three touchdowns as the Cleveland Browns rallied from an 18-point deficit and defeated the Raiders, 24-21.

A third-round pick out of Akron in 2005, Frye hit tight ends Darnell Dinkins and Kellen Winslow II and wide receiver Joe Jurevicius with scoring passes to give the Browns (1-3) their first win of the season.

The Raiders (0-3) stormed to a 21-3 lead and appeared headed to their first win under new coach Art Shell. Instead, they are off to their first 0-3 start since 1961.

Linebacker Sam Williams returned a fumble 30 yards for a touchdown, Randy Moss caught a five-yard touchdown pass and LaMont Jordan scored on a 59-yard run to stake Oakland to its lead.

But Frye and the Browns showed their resiliency. The comeback started with a three-yard touchdown pass to Dinkins with 58 seconds left in the second quarter.

"It just happened so fast," said Frye of the early hole. "The Raiders' fumble recovery for a touchdown and before you blink your eyes, we're down a couple scores. So we knew the biggest thing was we wanted to score before the half and I thought that was big."

Cleveland then started the second half with a 14-play, 69-yard drive that consumed nearly seven minutes. Frye capped it with a two-yard touchdown pass to Winslow, pulling the Browns within 21-17. Frye kept the drive alive with a 22-yard pass to Winslow on a 4th-and-8 play from the Oakland 31.

"We came out after halftime and scored again and we were right back in the game," Frye said.

Dennis Northcutt's 58-yard punt return set up the go-ahead touchdown. Four plays after the return, Frye hit Jurevicius in the corner of the end zone on a five-yard scoring play with 1:40 left in the third quarter.

"We just stuck together and things finally started to open up," said Frye, who completed 22-of-32 passes for 192 yards. "We went out there and played our butts off in the second half."

Frye drove the Browns to the Oakland 6 in the fourth quarter, but threw an ill-advised pass across the field that was intercepted by cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha with 3:58 left.

"That was a no-no late in the game," Frye said. "It was a bonehead play by me."

"We just feel fortunate to come out here and get a win, especially after we fell behind by so many points," Browns coach Romeo Crennel said.

Andrew Walter made his first start for the Raiders and completed just 9-of-23 passes for 68 yards and a touchdown with an interception.

"I felt like I did a pretty good job," said Walter, who was sacked four times. "I forced some balls. It was nice, but it was disappointing we didn't win. The fans deserve a lot better than that."

Jordan ran for 128 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries.

"We played better," Jordan said. "The quarterback wasn't under as much pressure, but we have to play better football. We've got to finish."

Oakland jumped ahead, 7-0, when Williams scooped up a fumble by Reuben Droughns and raced 30 yards to the end zone with 7:50 left in the first quarter. Droughns, who missed Cleveland's last game with a shoulder injury, rushed for 100 yards on 25 carries.

Walter threw his first career touchdown pass, connecting with Moss with 10:16 remaining in the second quarter to increase the lead to 14-0. It was the only catch of the game for Moss.

Phil Dawson kicked a 28-yard field goal for the Browns with 5:08 left in the half. But just a minute later, Jordan broke off his 59-yard touchdown run.