By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The Cleveland Browns under coach Butch Davis are the NFL's newest version of the Cardiac Kids.

Davis has coached 25 games with the Browns, and 13 of them have been decided in the last minute. Six have been decided on the last play.

"It's not by design, trust me," Davis said. "Some of it is certainly the youth and inexperience of our football team. We've either not managed to keep a lead or we've gotten off to a slow start and had to fight our way back."

The Browns, who will play the Bengals on Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium, finally won a last-play decision on Sept. 29. They rallied from a 14-point, fourth-quarter deficit at Tennessee to win 31-28 in overtime on Phil Dawson's 33-yard field goal.

Almost unbelievably, Cleveland had lost five of its first 20 games coached by Davis on the last play.

This season, a week after winning in overtime at Tennessee, the Browns lost in OT at Pittsburgh on Todd Peterson's 31-yard field goal. Four of Cleveland's five losses have come by five or fewer points.

The most infamous of the losses came in the season opener when Browns linebacker Dwayne Rudd took off his helmet and tossed it in celebration, thinking Cleveland had won after a defensive stop. Kansas City got one more play when Rudd was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct, and Morten Andersen made a 30-yard field goal for a 40-39 Chiefs victory.

The Browns have a 10-point scoring advantage this season, 205-195. The Bengals have been outscored by 112 points and have fallen behind by 20 or more in five of their eight losses.

The Bengals' only game this year decided in the late minutes was against Tennessee, a 30-24 loss in which Corey Dillon was stopped at the 1-yard line with 1:08 to play.

Davis says close games are the rule, not the exception, around the league.

"So many (games) come down to the last possession, the last four or five plays," Davis said. "Seems like it's not only us. It's everybody."

Browns' close calls

Thirteen of the Cleveland Browns' 25 games since the start of the 2001 season have been decided in the last minute. The Browns are 5-8 in those games.

Some highlights:

Sept. 9, 2001: Seattle's Rian Lindell makes a 52-yard field goal with three seconds left in a 9-6 Cleveland loss.

Nov. 4, 2001: Defensive back Mike Brown returns an interception 16 yards for a touchdown in overtime to give the Bears their only lead in the game, a 27-21 Chicago victory.

Nov. 11, 2001: Pittsburgh's Kris Brown makes a 32-yard field goal in overtime for a 15-12 Steelers win.

Dec. 16, 2001: Trailing against Jacksonville, the Browns drive to the Jaguars 9-yard line when a previous pass is ruled incomplete, resulting in a 15-10 Browns loss. Cleveland fans shower the field with beer bottles.

Dec. 30, 2001: Phil Dawson makes a 44-yard field goal with 55 seconds remaining in a 41-38 Cleveland victory at Tennessee.

Sept. 8: Dwayne Rudd throws his helmet in celebration before the game ends, giving Kansas City another play. Morten Anderson makes a 30-yard field goal and the Chiefs win 40-39.

Oct. 6: Kelly Holcomb, playing at quarterback in place of the injured Tim Couch, is intercepted in the end zone by Baltimore's Ed Reed, preserving the Ravens' 26-21 victory.

Oct. 27: The Browns rally from a 15-point, third-quarter deficit to take a 24-21 lead over the New York Jets. Cleveland deflects John Hall's 44-yard field-goal attempt with 16 seconds remaining to preserve the victory.

E-mail: mcurnutte@enquirer.com

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