Arizona seemed to be the only team to have heard of Josh Cribbs before, and kicked away from him on their first two kickoffs. The third one, however, was kicked right to Cribbs. Unfortunately, his 33-yard return was diminished by a holding call on Leon Williams. The Browns started their drive at their own 27, and put together an 8-play 64-yard drive into field goal range, putting themselves on the board with 3 points.

Score After 1st Quarter: CLE 3 - ARI 14

Second Quarter:

D'Qwell Jackson made a nice stop around the line of scrimmage on 3rd down, forcing Arizona to punt the ball. The Browns promptly begin to drive down the field, pick up a penalty (false start - Tucker), and get intercepted. Eric Steinbach gave everyone a quick scare, going down on the play, but was back for the next series.

After the defense forced another punt, DA and the Browns were finally able to complete a 10-play, 80-yard touchdown drive. The touchdown is followed by an interception on a tipped ball by Sean Jones. They were unable to take advantage, however, and punted to end the half. Pretty unspectacular play, until Cribbs got a second shot at Steve Breaston and gave him a #16 tattoo.

Score After 2nd Quarter: CLE 10 - ARI 14

Third Quarter:

There wasn't much to report through most of the third quarter. A muffed punt in the final four minutes by Cribbs gave Arizona the ball on Cleveland's 22-yard line. The fumble was recovered by former Brown, Ralph Brown. The Cards took advantage again, and with the help of a 15-yard Horsecollar Tackle by Sean Jones, drove to the one to set up a 1-yard TD pass by Warner.

Upon getting the ball back, the Browns strike almost immediately on a 67-yard TD pass to Braylon Edwards. Arizona immediately challenged the play, as Edwards made the catch while rolling, and might have been down by contact. The call could have gone either way, but was upheld.

For the PAT, Cribbs lined up in the shotgun, while Anderson motioned to the slot. Cribbs faked the run up the middle, and pulled up to pass to a wide-open Kellen Winslow for the two-point conversion.

Score After 3rd Quarter: CLE 18 - ARI 21

Fourth Quarter:

The kickoff team opened the quarter by allowing a 59-yard return, the Browns' defense was able to hold the Cards to a 33-yard field goal.

A couple possessions later, Phil Dawson answered with a 22-yarder of his own. The kick was mostly set up by catches of 29 and 13 yards by Edwards and Kellen Winslow, respectively.

Arizona responded by putting together a nearly 80-yard drive - of course, with the help of a bogus Unnecessary Roughness call on Brodney Pool and an Offside penalty on Andra Davis. Fortunately, the Browns came up with two big stops at the one-yard line, forcing Arizona to take the FG.

I missed the ensuing kickoff, but the play-by-play records show that the catch was muffed by Jason Wright, and picked up by Cribbs, who was able to get 5 yards out of the situation. Naturally, Simon Fraser was called for Unnecessary Roughness, and the Browns start from their own 18. In true Anderson style, DA put the offense on his shoulders and put together a very nice drive, hitting four different receivers and running for a 10-yard gain.

For the last play, Anderson unloads a 33-yard pass to Winslow in the endzone. Winslow was pretty obviously pushed out, but the ruling was incomplete, and the call stood after the replay.

Final Score: CLE 21 - ARI 27

Overall Review:

Derek Anderson showed some poor choices early in the game, but seemed to regain his composure. His second pick was thrown into double coverage, however, I'd say 8 times out of 10, he makes that throw. I won't blame him for trying to put it in there. On the first INT, it appeared that Hood just got a good jump on the pass, but the ball was underthrown. Let's give credit where it's due: the Cardinals' secondary was simply ravaged with injuries, but managed to pull through.

The running game was somewhat of an afterthought with the Browns trailing through the entire game, and the offense was forced into a "pass-first" mentality. The team finished with just 84 yards rushing.

The big stories in this game, however, were turnovers (the Browns had 4 - three of which resulted in points for the Cardinals) and bone-headed mistakes. Cleveland entered the game with a turnover ratio of +2. They walked out -1. Add to that Bodden's inexcusable penalty (from 4th & 4 to 1st & 10 in Cleveland territory) and another slew of mental errors, and you come up with a game you just don't deserve to win.


Stats:

Derek Anderson: 21/41, 304 yds, 2 TD, 2 INT (71.6 Rating)

Jamal Lewis: 16 Car, 62 yds

Braylon Edwards: 7 Rec, 149 yds, 1 TD
Joe Jurevicius: 4 Rec, 44 yds
Kellen Winslow: 3 Rec, 35 yds

Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I missed some yolk.