Dawson's field goal drives spike in Bills' hopes
Nick Folk of Dallas in 2007. Phil Dawson of Cleveland in 2008.
Two years in a row, the Buffalo Bills had their hearts broken just as the clock was approaching midnight by the kind of field goal no one in Ralph Wilson Stadium expected would be made.
Folk's 53-yarder at the gun gave the Cowboys a 25-24 win last year. Monday night, Dawson's career-long 56-yarder with 1:39 left — his fifth of the game — stunned The Ralph and let the Browns get out of town with a 29-27 shot to the gut of Buffalo's playoff hopes.
"The ball was carrying but with the temperatures that were out there, it wasn't a favorable night for deep kicks," said Dawson, who also connected from 40, 33, 43 and 22 yards. "I had six one time and we lost to San Diego so I'll certainly take five and a win any time. I just want to make kicks to help this team win."
The Browns were in desperation mode on fourth-and-10 when most folks thought they had to go for the first down. But they were thinking otherwise.
"The decision was that if you don't kick it and you go for it and you don't make it, you're not going to win," said coach Romeo Crennel. "If you make it, you're ahead. That was the deal. We felt it was within his range so we decided to try it."
"In the spur of the moment, you've got to be confident," Dawson said. "As soon as we threw the incomplete pass on third down, I was ready to go and gave Romeo the nod. He had the confidence to send me out there which I appreciate and we were able to get the job done."
The tendency on long kicks is to drive the ball low to make sure you have enough distance, but that can leave you susceptible to a block or to a ball that drifts wide. Dawson made sure to avoid those pitfalls, as his game-winner would have been good from 3 or 4 more yards out.
"I naturally get the ball up pretty high anyway," he said. "I was more focused on the line. I had a 50-plus against Washington to tie it and I got it too much and left the ball out to the right, which you do when you overstride. I was concentrating on staying short, trusting my technique and hitting the ball well."
The Browns battled to the end in this one after a tough week in which running back Jamal Lewis openly accused them of quitting near the end of their 34-30 loss to Denver. And Dawson's kick allowed them to escape the indignity of becoming the first team in history to blow a lead of at least 13 points and lose three straight games.
"We feel very fortunate," Crennel said. "They played hard. They didn't quit and they kept going. It wasn't all pretty but it was good enough."
And it was good enough even though the Browns had a terrible time against the Buffalo special teams. The Bills posted 246 yards in kickoff returns, including Leodis McKelvin's 98-yarder for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
"Give them credit. That was the best performance by a return unit I've seen in my career," Dawson said. "Other than a squib kick, I didn't do the same kick twice. We tried everything. Moving the ball all around. Deep, short, left, right. Up high, down low and they had an answer for it."
Dawson had enough answers early as the Cleveland offense failed to do much with Trent Edwards' three early interceptions. But the veteran kicker's 5-for-5 night allowed the Browns to survive.
"Take your hat off to Phil," said quarterback Brady Quinn, who hit just 14 of 36 passes for 185 yards but got his first NFL win. "It's frustrating as an offense to not score touchdowns but he just comes through. I can't thank him enough for getting it done for this team.
"It was awesome to get a first win, especially that way."
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