Phil Dawson’s 41-yard field goal with 2:42 to play lifted the Cleveland Browns past the visiting Carolina Panthers 24-23 on Sunday.
Peyton Hillis had a huge day for the Browns (4-7), who snapped a two-game losing skid. Hillis rushed for 131 yards on 26 carries and scored three touchdowns. He also caught six passes for 63 yards.
John Kasay had a chance to win it for the Panthers but missed a 42-yard field goal as time expired.
Jake Delhomme returned to the Browns’ lineup after missing several weeks with an ankle injury. He threw for 245 yards, hitting 24 of 35 attempts, but he also threw two costly interceptions.
Carolina (1-10) led 7-0 on a 26-yard touchdown run by Mike Goodson in the first quarter, but Hillis answered with three touchdowns in the first half. He scored on runs of 9, 5 and 6 yards to give Cleveland a 21-7 lead.
Kasay booted a pair of field goals to cut the deficit to 21-13 at the half.
Captain Munnerlyn intercepted a Delhomme pass and returned it 37 yards for a touchdown to trim the Cleveland lead to 21-20 before Kasay added a 43-yarder 7:01 left to play to put the Panthers ahead 23-20.
Dawson’s game-winning field goal capped a nine-play, 46-yard drive.
Carolina | Cleveland | |
Jonathan Stewart | Player | Peyton Hillis |
12 | Attempts | 26 |
98 | Yards | 131 |
8.2 | Avg Yards | 5.0 |
0 | Touchdowns | 3 |
31 | Long | 18 |
Carolina | Cleveland | |
Mike Goodson | Player | Peyton Hillis |
8 | Receptions | 6 |
81 | Yards | 63 |
10.1 | Avg Yards | 10.5 |
0 | Touchdowns | 0 |
32 | Long | 21 |
Yards | Scoring | Defense | ||||||
Team | Tot | Rus | Pas | TD | FG | INT | Sck | FF |
Carolina | 326 | 151 | 175 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2.0 | 2 |
Cleveland | 379 | 152 | 227 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3.0 | 0 |