Sunday, August 18, 2002
Browns 24, Lions 23
By TOM WITHERS
AP Sports Writer
CLEVELAND — Apparently, Joey Harrington doesn't like this idea of standing on the sideline.
Detroit's rookie quarterback, who is supposed to spend his first season learning the NFL ropes as a backup, looked like a seasoned veteran Saturday night in the Lions' 24-23 loss to the Cleveland Browns.
“I enjoyed myself out there,” Harrington said. “Did I improve? Yes. But we still lost.”
Harrington, the No. 3 overall pick in this year's draft, went 17-for-31 for 236 yards with two touchdowns and nearly rallied the Lions (1-1) in the inaugural “Great Lakes Classic”.
The Lions were hoping to avoid a quarterback controversy this season between Harrington and incumbent starter Mike McMahon.
Well, whether Detroit coach Marty Mornhinweg likes it or not, they got one.
“Both quarterbacks played well,” said Mornhinweg, who went to great lengths to avoid picking a favorite. “But remember, Mike is much farther ahead in the process. Joey improved, but so did Mike.”
On a night when quarterbacks from both teams shined, Harrington's performance was the brightest.
Harrington's second TD pass, a 30-yarder to Eddie Drummond with 9:02 remaining gave the Lions a 23-17 lead.
But Josh Booty, Cleveland's No. 3 quarterback, threw a 27-yard TD pass in the fourth quarter to JaJuan Dawson for the Browns (2-0).
Harrington had a final chance to bring the Lions back, but his completion to Labrone Mitchell on fourth down with 1:24 left came up inches short of a first down.
Browns backup quarterback Kelly Holcomb threw two TD passes and went 14-of-18 for 149 yards.
Tim Couch was 9-of-12 for 60 yards for Cleveland, and twice hooked up with wide receiver Kevin Johnson, who agreed to terms on a four-year, $13.35 million contract extension before the game.
“It's good to get it out of the way,” said Johnson, who has been the Browns' leading receiver in each of his three seasons. “It's great that I'll be here a little longer to finish what we started.”
Mornhinweg plans to have Harrington spend his first season as an understudy to McMahon, who last year worked his way up from third-string to a starter.
But another performance like this, and Harrington may make his coach rethink things.
Mornhinweg, a former quarterbacks coach in San Francisco and Green Bay, understands the pressure on a first-year passer.
“Rookie quarterbacks get beat up,” he said. “Go look up the stats. Look at Troy Aikman. He went 0-11 as a rookie and that year took years off his career.”
Harrington threw two crucial interceptions in his pro debut last week at Baltimore, but the former Oregon All-American looked like a 10-year veteran from the moment he walked on the field.
He replaced McMahon with 2:17 remaining in the first half and calmly took the Lions' first-unit offense on a 57-yard drive, capped by a 7-yard TD pass to Scotty Anderson with 25 seconds left, giving the Lions a 13-10 lead.
On the play, Harrington threw to his second option.
“I came to the sideline and said, 'I want to run this play',” he said. “The thing was it didn't go like I thought. Scott was the second read, he came open underneath and took it in.”
Harrington, who went 7-for-8 in the brief series, was mobbed by his teammates as he returned to the sideline.
He opened the second half by taking the Lions on another scoring drive with Jason Hanson's 41-yard field goal putting Detroit ahead 16-10.
Early in that drive, Harrington made his best throw of the night.
On 3rd-and-19 from Cleveland's 36, Harrington cooly stepped up in the pocket to avoid trouble and rifled a 32-yard pass between two Cleveland defenders to Anderson, who was streaking down the sideline.
Later, Harrington showed off his arm strength with a 43-yard completion to Drummond.
Holcomb, too, showed off his talents during his two quarters.
With the Browns trailing by six, Holcomb lofted an 18-yard TD pass to tight end Mark Campbell to put the Browns up 17-16.
McMahon finished 5-of-9 for 64 yards, and hit tight end Mikhael Hicks for a 30-yard TD in the second quarter to bring the Lions within 10-6.
Cleveland took a 10-0 lead on Phil Dawson's 23-yard field goal and Holcomb's 24-yard scoring strike to wide receiver Dennis Northcutt.
Notes: Anderson, who started in place of injured Bill Schroeder (groin), had five catches for 59 yards. ... Browns rookie LB Kevin Bentley had six tackles and looks like he may replace Jamir Miller, who is out for the season with a torn Achilles' tendon. ... Browns C Dave Wohlabaugh sustained a hip flexor strain in the first quarter and didn't return. ... The Lions came out a little nicked up with LB Barrett Green (sprained ankle), G Tyrone Hopson (bruised hand) and WR Larry Foster (Achilles' tendinitis) all sustaining minor injuries.
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Browns 24, Lions 23
