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Browns Miss Chance To Seal Playoff Spot

The Associated Press

Published: December 24, 2007

CINCINNATI - Like one of Derek Anderson's wind-blown passes, the chance to clinch a playoff spot slipped right through the Cleveland Browns' hands.

No surprise, really. Nothing comes easy to these guys.

Anderson threw four interceptions, two of them setting up rapid-fire touchdowns in a 19-14 victory by the Cincinnati Bengals that left the upstart Browns scrambling for a playoff spot instead of celebrating.

"We're getting close," receiver Joe Jurevicius said. "We're still a young team. We've got to correct a few mistakes. It's not time to put our heads down and sulk."

Instead, it's time to sweat a little.

Cleveland (9-6) could have clinched with a victory over the down-and-out Bengals (6-9), who had nothing more than pride on the line and several starters out with injuries. The Browns acted more like the team playing it out.

They dropped passes. They botched a field-goal attempt. They came up short on fourth-and-short. Ultimately, they couldn't overcome a bad game by Anderson, who had his best moments when the intrastate rivals met in September.

"It's a tough battle to fight when you're throwing four picks," Anderson said. "A couple of them were bad decisions, and a couple of them got hung up in the air."

He tied his career high with the four interceptions, leaving the Browns scuffling with Tennessee for a wild-card berth. With Cleveland's loss, the Pittsburgh Steelers clinched the AFC North title.

Cleveland	0	0	7	7	-	14
Cincinnati	0	19	0	0	-	19

Second Quarter

Cin-FG Graham 29, 12:52.

Cin-FG Graham 38, 5:04.

Cin-Houshmandzadeh 5 pass from Palmer (Graham kick), 1:05.

Cin-Watson 1 run (pass failed), :26.

Third Quarter

Cle-Edwards 2 pass from Anderson (Dawson kick), :40.

Fourth Quarter

Cle-Edwards 5 pass from Anderson (Dawson kick), 5:57.

A-66,023

	Cle	Cin
First downs	25	15
Total Net Yards	379	270
Rushes-yards	26-136	33-155
Passing	243	115
Punt Returns	2-27	1-3
Kickoff Returns	4-115	2-58
Interceptions Ret.	2-42	4-79
Comp-Att-Int	29-48-4	11-21-2
Sacked-Yards Lost	1-7	0-0
Punts	2-33.0	5-37.2
Fumbles-Lost	2-0	2-1
Penalties-Yards	4-33	4-34
Time of Possession	33:06	26:54

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING-Cleveland, Lewis 21-92, J.Wright 3-38, Anderson 1-6, Zastudil 1-0. Cincinnati, Watson 30-130, C.Johnson 1-16, Dorsey 1-8, Holt 1-1.

PASSING-Cleveland, Anderson 29-48-4-250. Cincinnati, Palmer 11-21-2-115.

RECEIVING-Cleveland, Edwards 8-52, Winslow 7-73, Lewis 5-42, Jurevicius 4-31, J.Wright 3-33, Cribbs 1-12, Carter 1-7. Cincinnati, C.Johnson 4-44, Watson 3-20, Houshmandzadeh 2-25, Kelly 1-24, Chatman 1-2.

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