Titans, Colts now control Browns' fate

Zac Jackson, Staff Writer

12.23.2007

CINCINNATI -- Now, it's out of the Browns' hands.

The Browns' loss in Cincinnati combined with the Titans' win over the Jets means this for their playoff chances...

**The Browns and Titans are both 9-6 heading into the season's final week.

**The Titans play at Indianapolis in a game that means nothing to the Colts, who have clinched a first-round bye. If the Colts win, the Browns are in. If the Titans win, the Browns are out. Here's why...

**The Titans are 6-5 in AFC play; the Browns are 7-5. If the Titans win next week and finish 7-5, it goes to the third tiebreaker, common opponents, and the Titans win that based on the Browns' losses to Oakland and Cincinnati. The Titans lost to Cincinnati but beat Oakland, the Jets and Houston twice.

**The only way the Browns' result next week against San Francisco means anything in regards to the playoff race is if the Titans and Colts would tie. In that case, the Browns would be in with a win.

**Assuming the Titans and Colts don't tie, here's what lies ahead for the Browns: A win, and they're 10-6 and looking at the tiebreakers. A loss, and they'd still be in if Tennessee loses at Indy based on their 7-5 conference record.

**If the Browns do get in, they'll be the sixth seed and play at Pittsburgh or San Diego.

Missed opportunities haunt Browns

Zac Jackson, Staff Writer

12.23.2007

CINCINNATI -- In one second quarter flurry, the Browns' chances of clinching a playoff spot all but ended.

And though they came flying back, four interceptions and several other missed opportunities were too much to overcome.

The Bengals won, 19-14, without scoring a point in the second half. Two Bengals turnovers in the fourth quarter kept the Browns in the game, but the Browns' last-gasp drive fell short. Derek Anderson ran for a first down at the 29 with one second left to set up one last shot, but his last pass was overthrown and batted away.

It wasn't the only pass he wanted back. Both second-half interceptions came in the red zone; both first half interceptions came in the final 1:30 of the second quarter as the Bengals turned a 6-0 lead into a 19-0 lead.

"Right there, that won them the game," Anderson said.

The Browns slip to 9-6 and no longer control their own playoff destiny. They need Tennessee to lose next week in Indianapolis or they'll miss the postseason.

The Titans stayed alive by beating the Jets Sunday, 10-6.

"We didn't get it done," Browns coach Romeo Crennel said. "And that's disappointing in regards to the position we'd put ourselves in and what was on the line."

The Browns pulled to within five, at 19-14, with 5:57 left in the game on their second Anderson to Braylon Edwards touchdown pass of the second half.

That touchdown came after Anderson's his fourth interception of the day with 7:35 to go looked like it would end the Browns' chances. But Leigh Bodden returned the favor and returned his second interception of the day to the Bengals' 16. Three plays later, the Browns pulled as close as they'd been since the second quarter.

Edwards has a franchise record 15 touchdown catches on the year. His first of the day, a 2-yarder, got the Browns on the board late in the third quarter.

Still, the missed opportunities loomed large. Anderson's third interception ended a promising drive to open the second half. A floating pass for Kellen Winslow in the back of the endzone was short, and it was deflected by Marvin White and intercepted by Chinedum Ndukwe, the rookie's second interception of the day.

One play after Ndukwe's first interception, Carson Palmer hit T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the endzone on the next play to make it 13-0.

Leon Hall picked off Anderson on the Browns' next play, leading to a 1-yard touchdown run by Kenny Watson with 26 seconds left in the half that made it 19-0.

In addition to the interceptions, the Browns turned the ball over on downs on the Bengals' 29 with 11:29 left in the fourth quarter, and in the first quarter the Browns also botched a field goal try and turned the ball over on downs inside the Bengals' 20.

The final "what-if" may have stung the worst. The final drive started with an offensive pass interference call on Edwards that negated a 40-yard reception.

"The guys made a valiant effort in the second half," Crennel said. "We just made too many mistakes in the first half to overcome."