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Lewis, Browns hold off Jets' comeback

Dec 10, 2007 - 2:36 AM By Doug Mittler PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) - Nothing comes easy for the Cleveland Browns.

Derek Anderson threw two touchdowns and Jamal Lewis sealed the game with a late touchdown run as the Browns posted a 24-18 victory over the New York Jets on Sunday.

Anderson completed 16-of-29 for 185 yards and one interception and Lewis ran for 118 yards on 21 carries for Cleveland, which is vying for its first playoff berth since 2002.

"It came down to the wire. We seem to do that quite a bit," Browns coach Romeo Crennel said. "We feel fortunate to win the game. Nothing is ever guaranteed in the NFL."

The Browns (8-5), who already have won two overtime games this season, bounced back from a heartbreaking 27-21 loss to Arizona last week to move within one game of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFC North.

Cleveland led, 17-6, in the fourth quarter, but New York quarterback Kellen Clemens capped a nine-play 69-yard drive with a sneak to cut the lead to 17-12 with 2:59 to play.

The ensuing two-point conversion failed, but the Jets recovered the onside kick as Brad Smith leapt and deflected the ball, allowing linebacker Brad Kassell to wind up with it at the bottom of the pile.

Clemens then drove the Jets to the Cleveland 20-yard line, but coach Eric Mangini made a curious call on 4th-and-10 with 1:43 left. Mangini chose to take the points and Mike Nugent converted a 38-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 17-15.

"I just felt at that point we had a real opportunity to get the ball back with the timeouts and I wanted to take that opportunity," Mangini said. "I felt Nugent was doing a real nice job of kicking it. It was risk reward at that point."

The following onside kick was recovered by Browns receiver Joe Jurevicius at the 37-yard line. Lewis then sealed the outcome by dragging several tacklers en route to a 31-yard TD run with 1:22 to play.

"That kind of finished things off," Lewis said. "We couldn't get things going like we normally did, but we stuck with it."

New York drove to the 18-yard line and opted for a 35-yard field goal by Nugent in order to preserve time with 32 seconds left.

However, the strange sequence of events continued as the Jets lined up for yet another onside kick, but instead kicked it deep and watched the ball go out of bounds.

An offside penalty on the kickoff forced a third onside kick attempt and Jurevicius recovered again to finally end it.

"They just made more plays at the end than we did," said Jets safety Kerry Rhodes, who had an interception for the fourth straight game.

Cleveland was in control for most of the game, save for the late comeback attempt.

With the Browns ahead, 7-0, and the ball at midfield, Braylon Edwards made a great leaping catch and outran the New York defense before fumbling the ball out of bounds at the Jets' 5-yard line.

Edwards capped the drive by pulling down a fade pass for a 4-yard score to stretch the lead to 14-3 with 12:32 left in the third. It was the 13th TD catch of the season for Edwards, who tied the club record set by Gary Collins in 1963.

New York pulled with 14-6 on a 41-yard field goal from Nugent, but Phil Dawson drilled a 49-yarder to put Cleveland up 17-6 with 12:59 left in the fourth.

Clemens, who played against Anderson in college and in high school, was 24-of-41 for 286 yards with two interceptions.

Clemens went to Oregon while Anderson attended Oregon State.

"It was great to see him before the game," Anderson said. "It seemed like I was watching more of him than I wanted to."

After a scoreless first quarter Anderson engineered a 10-play, 80-yard drive that ended with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Lewis with 1:15 left in the half.

Nugent kicked a 35-yard field goal as time expired to make the score 7-3 at halftime.