THIRD QUARTER
Mr. Automatic
Phil Dawson might as well be the Abominable Snowman as far as the Buffalo Bills are concerned. The Cleveland Browns’ 10th’-year kicker once again showed his class in the third quarter by kicking a 44-yard field goal to stake his team to a 16-10 lead.
The 29-degree weather and light winds were no problem for Dawson, who was the star of Cleveland’s 8-0 win over Buffalo in blizzard conditions last December. Dawson booted field goals of 35 and 49 yards in that game. The last one was a hook shot that bounced over the crossbar.
Dawson ranks fifth all time in field-goal accuracy, with a career percentage of 83.3. The 44-yard kick improved him to 20 of 22 this season.
Lindell’s streak: The Bills’ kicker booted a 31-yarder to push his streak of 40-or-closer boots to 49 straight.
Turnover city: The Bills opened the quarter with their fourth turnover of the game. Fred Jackson was trying to make an extra effort on a run after the Bills had driven to the Browns’ 27. But the ball was knocked out of his arms as he was falling to the ground and the Browns recovered.
