Six games remain for the Browns in the 2008 season, and if they have any chance at all of playing in January, they have to play better defensively, starting Sunday when they host the Houston Texans.

The Browns carry a 4-6 record into the game. The Texans are 3-7. This has been a season of lament for the Browns, starting with Braylon Edwards and 14 or 15 dropped passes, depending on who is doing the counting.

Defense has been an issue as well. Opponents have rushed for 11 touchdowns. That is already three more than they allowed all last season when an inability to stop the run kept them out of the playoffs despite a 10-6 record.

Inches from infamy, the only thing that stopped the Cleveland Browns from making unwanted history was another miss off the foot of a Buffalo kicker. In jeopardy of becoming the first NFL team to blow leads of at least 13 points in three consecutive games, the Browns survived with a 29-27 win on Monday night when Bills kicker Rian Lindell pushed a 47-yard field goal to the right -- a hauntingly...

Phil Dawson wasn't about to quit during Cleveland's latest fourth-quarter meltdown. Turned out, neither did the rest of the Browns. With a confident nod to coach Romeo Crennel, Dawson went out and calmly hit a career-long 56-yard field goal with 1:39 left that sent Cleveland to a 29-27 win over the Buffalo Bills on Monday night Dawson's fifth field goal of the game capped a wild finish.