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| ARI at SEA | CAR at JAX | CHI at WAS | CLE at NYJ | DAL at DET | IND at BAL | KC at DEN | MIA at BUF |
| MIN at SF | NO at ATL | NYG at PHI | OAK at GB | PIT at NE | SD at TEN | STL at CIN | TB at HOU |
Week 14 Game Recap: Cleveland Browns 24, New York Jets 18
What you need to know
| Cleveland Browns |
The Browns were able to survive a late rally by the Jets to hang on for a 24-18 win, putting the game away with a tough run by Jamal Lewis for a 31 yard touchdown on third down and four in the final two minutes. Lewis finished the game with 118 yards on twenty one carries, including the late touchdown. The Browns running game accounted for an additional 34 yards in addition to Lewis, with twenty one coming from Jerome Harrison on two carries. Fullback Lawrence Vickers added six yards on two carries, while Josh Cribbs gained four yards on his only attempt, and Derek Anderson was credited with three yards on three official rushes.
Anderson didn't have his best game of the season, but had enough against the Jets, completing 16 of 29 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. Braylon Edwards led all receivers with three catches for 63 yards and one touchdown, followed by Kellen Winslow, who caught four balls for 34 yards. The Jets tried to keep everything underneath, and as a result, Steve Heiden was open rolling off the line for twenty yards on two catches, while Jamal Lewis gained nineteen yards on three receptions, including a touchdown. Four other receivers caught one pass each, including Josh Cribbs (18 yards), Jason Wright (14 yards), Lawrence Vickers (ten yards) and Joe Jurevicius (seven yards).
| New York Jets |
Kellen Clemens did his best to try to bring the Jets back, but couldn't put the ball in the end zone frequently enough to do so. Clemens completed 24 of 41 passes for 286 yards with two interceptions and no passing touchdowns. Clemens benefited from the return of Jerricho Cotchery, who caught six balls for 119 yards, while counterpart Laverneus Coles pulled in seven receptions for 48 yards. From the tight end spot, Chris Baker added 48 yards on three catches, while third down back Leon Washington finished with four receptions for 31 yards. Third wide receiver Brad Smith caught three balls for twenty seven yards in his return to the slot, with starting running back Thomas Jones pulling in one reception for thirteen yards.
The Jets were able to move the ball on the ground with Thomas Jones until they got near the goal line, where Jones was unable to punch the ball in. Jones finished with 106 yards on twenty four carries, while Leon Washington netted five yards on three runs. The only run which crossed the goal line came from the legs of Kellen Clemens, who scored on a one yard plunge as part of his three official attempts for eight yards against the Browns.
What you ought to know
| QB Derek Anderson, Pass: 16 - 29 - 185 - 2 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 3 - 3 - 0 |
Anderson completed 55% of his passes for an average gain of 6.4 yards per attempt en route to a passer rating of 60.3. Despite the average day, he did what he needed to do win, highlighted by the Browns final drive of the first half, where he completed a fourth down pass to Braylon Edwards on the sideline and later scored on a play action fake to Jamal Lewis. Anderson continued his momentum by opening up the third quarter with a touchdown pass to Edwards to extend the lead and put the Browns in the driver's seat in this game.
| RB Jamal Lewis, Rush: 21 - 118 - 1, Rec: 3 - 19 - 1 (4 targets) |
Lewis averaged 5.6 yards per carry in this game, and added his eight and ninth scores in the last six games beyond a vastly improved Browns offensive line. Lewis' defining play came on third and four from the Jets 31 yard line in the final two minutes, with the Browns leading 17-15, where he broke a couple of tackles and bulled his way to the end zone to help put the Browns ahead by two scores.
| WR Braylon Edwards, Rec: 3 - 63 - 1 (7 targets) |
Edwards got off to a slow start, but ignited his afternoon with a fourth down catch for fourteen yards in the second quarter where he was able to get both feet down and extend a drive that would help break a scoreless tie.
| WR Joe Jurevicius, Rec: 1 - 7 - 0 (3 targets) |
Jurevicius had a relatively quiet afternoon with just three second half targets, but was part of the hands team on onside kicks and helped to seal the Browns win with two recoveries.
| TE Kellen Winslow Jr, Rec: 4 - 34 - 0 (8 targets) |
The Jets tried to jam Winslow at the line and throw off the rhythm between Winslow and Derek Anderson. Winslow didn't come up with any big catches in this game, but his presence helped hold the linebackers and open up the running game for Jamal Lewis. Winslow was the target of Anderson's interception, a ball Anderson tried to force to Winslow.
| PK Phil Dawson 1 - 1 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 6 points |
Dawson connected on a forty nine yarder in the freezing rain at the beginning of the fourth quarter to extend the lead to 17-6 and make it a two score game. Dawson was perfect on all three extra point attempts.
| CLE Rush Defense |
The rush defense gave up 111 yards to the Jets primary running backs, but made their biggest plays early in the second quarter, stuffing Thomas Jones twice, and then coming up with an interception on the next play at the goal line.
| CLE Pass Defense |
Despite giving up 286 yards through the air, the secondary buckled down in the red zone, and came up with a pair of interceptions and kept Clemens and company of the end zone. The Browns were able to rush the quarterback, and came up with four sacks in this game.
| QB Kellen Clemens, Pass: 24 - 41 - 286 - 0 TD / 2 INT, Rush: 3 - 8 - 1 |
Clemens completed 59% of his passes for an average gain of seven yards per attempt to finish with a passer rating of 59.6. His gritty performance, including a one yard touchdown run was not enough to bring the Jets back at home against the Browns.
| RB Thomas Jones, Rush: 24 - 106 - 0, Rec: 1 - 13 - 0 (1 targets) |
Jones averaged 4.4 yards per carry and had a long run of seventeen yards on his way to eclipsing the hundred yard mark, but failed to get the ball into the end zone on a pair of carries from the one yard line early in the second quarter as the Browns defense penetrated and kept him from hitting the hole. Jones moved within 56 yards on his third straight 1000 yard season, however has only one touchdown on the season.
| RB Leon Washington, Rush: 3 - 5 - 0, Rec: 4 - 31 - 0 (6 targets) |
Washington did not play a significant role in this game, receiving only three rushes, and not seeing time in goal line packages with the exception of third down. Washington fumbled the opening kickoff, and though the Jets recovered the coaches may have opted to keep the ball in Jones' hands on a rainy afternoon.
| WR Laveranues Coles, Rec: 7 - 48 - 0 (11 targets) |
Coles averaged less than seven yards per catch, and while able to get open, was unable to shake tacklers in this game, with a twelve yard gain representing his biggest play of the day. Coles left briefly in this game before returning.
| WR Jerricho Cotchery, Rec: 6 - 119 - 0 (10 targets) |
Cotchery's return was a solid one, showing no lingering effects as he came up with a couple of early catches and built on the afternoon as Clemens' favorite deep receiver, however couldn't find the end zone despite multiple targets there, one of which was intercepted.
| TE Chris Baker, Rec: 3 - 48 - 0 (6 targets) |
Baker provided an option for Kellen Clemens when he released off the line as the linebackers seemed intent on blitzing and keeping the Jets running backs from making long gains on screen passes, catching half of the targets thrown his way.
| PK Mike Nugent 4 - 4 FG, 0 - 0 XP, 12 points |
Nugent had an active afternoon, connecting on field goals from 35, 35, 38 and 41 yards, a perfect afternoon. He did not attempt an extra point in this game, as the Jets opted to go for two following Kellen Clemens' one yard touchdown run and trailing 17-12.
| NYJ Rush Defense |
The Jets were unable to contain Jamal Lewis for much of the afternoon, and most importantly when it mattered most, a third and four play from their 31 in the final two minutes, a play which Lewis broke a couple of tackles en route to a touchdown, opening up a two score game.
| NYJ Pass Defense |
The Jets did a solid job of slowing down Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow and frustrating Derek Anderson, forcing him to dump the ball underneath, but an effective ground game opened up the play action and allowed Anderson to complete a couple of short passing touchdowns as a result. The Jets were unable to get to Anderson as they kept their safeties deep and kept everything underneath.
