Monday, November 26, 2001
Browns defense savors first shutout
The Associated Press
CLEVELAND — Of all the lofty numbers the Cleveland Browns put up Sunday, the most impressive was a zero.
Phil Dawson kicked four field goals, Kevin Johnson caught a touchdown pass and the Browns got their first shutout since returning to the league with an 18-0 victory over the bumbling Bengals.
“I'll be celebrating 'til Tuesday,” linebacker Jamir Miller said. “It's our first shutout, a milestone. My first one in years and it feels great.”
The Browns (6-4) forced seven turnovers, including five interceptions, and got more than enough offense to handle Cincinnati (4-6).
Cleveland came in focused on stopping running back Corey Dillon, who had averaged 144 yards in his five previous games against the Browns. But despite missing suspended tackle Gerard Warren, they held Dillon to 63 yards on 20 carries.
“Cincy goes as Corey Dillon goes,” Miller said. “We knew if we could contain him that we'd have a pretty good chance. Once we did that, we could really go after them.”
The shutout was the Browns' first since blanking Arizona 32-0 on Sept. 18, 1994. And with five more interceptions, Cleveland now leads the NFL with 25 picks after getting just 20 in the last two seasons combined.
Miller said the shutout should do more than help the Browns improve their rankings.
“People's perception of our team is changing,” Miller said. “If it hadn't, it should now.”
Johnson caught a 6-yard TD pass in the first half and Dawson kicked field goals of 23, 27, 22 and 33 yards as the Browns avenged a loss earlier this season to the Bengals.
Tim Couch went 16-of-27 for 189 yards with two interceptions.
Cincinnati's best scoring chance ended like all of the Bengals' other drives — with nothing.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, T.J. Houshmandzadeh returned a punt 86 yards before being caught from behind at Cleveland's 5. But instead of giving Dillon the ball on first down, Mitchell threw an incomplete pass.
Dillon picked up three yards on two straight tries and the Bengals decided to got for it on fourth down. Mitchell, one of the NFL's slowest QBs, tried to roll left, but was sacked for a 9-yard loss by Courtney Brown and Dwayne Rudd.
“When we got the fourth-down stop, we felt like we could put the goose egg up,” Brown said.
Cornerback Corey Fuller said the Browns didn't start talking about a shutout until the final few minutes.
“I went to the sideline and said, 'Let's shut them out',” Fuller said. “We weren't really worried about them scoring a TD after that.”
The Browns made four trips inside the Bengals 20 in the first half, but didn't get their first touchdown until just 26 seconds before halftime.
Jon Kitna's pass was deflected and intercepted by Ray Jackson, who returned it 52 yards to the Cincinnati 10. Two plays later, Couch hit Johnson in the corner of the end zone. But the Browns missed the extra point and led 12-0 at halftime.
Brant Boyer's interception set up Dawson's 23-yard field goal that gave the Browns a 3-0 lead in the first quarter. After Cleveland failed to get into the end zone again, Dawson kicked a 27-yarder to make it 6-0.
The Browns now lead the “Battle of Ohio” 29-28. ... Dawson made 51 straight PATs before his miss. ... Four of Johnson's five 100-yard career receiving games have come against Cincinnati. ... Cleveland is 4-2 vs. AFC Central opponents after going 3-17 in 1999-00.
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Browns defense savors first shutout 
