Embattled Browns coach Eric Mangini should thank them both.
Harrison scored his third touchdown
with 44 seconds left and rushed for a team-record 286 yards, and Cribbs
returned two kickoffs for touchdowns to lift the Cleveland Browns to a
41-34 win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.
Cribbs started the Browns (3-11) off
with kickoff returns of 100 and 103 yards in the first half, breaking
the NFL career record and tying the single-game mark.
Harrison took it from there, scoring
all of his touchdowns in the second half to break Jim Brown‘s team
record of 237 yards, set in 1957 and 1961. He closed it out with a
28-yard run off right tackle to finish behind only Adrian Peterson and
Jamal Lewis in the NFL record book, just ahead of Corey Dillon.
Not bad for a running back who had 301 total yards this season, including 73 on 27 carries the previous seven games.
Kansas City (3-11) got a career-high
154 yards and a touchdown from Jamaal Charles and tied the game at
34-all on Matt Cassel‘s 12-yard touchdown pass to Mark Bradley on a
fourth-and-6 with 2:20 left.
Playing in Arrowhead Stadium’s first
non-sellout in 19 years, the Chiefs fell short because of another
abysmal game on defense and at least a half dozen dropped passes to
finish 1-7 at home for the second straight season.
Coming off a huge win over Pittsburgh
last week, Mangini coached this game with the shadow of Mike Holmgren
looming over him. The former Seattle and Green Bay coach spent two days
meeting with owner Randy Lerner about becoming the Browns’ football
“czar” and even went house shopping, sparking a weeklong game of will
he or won’t he.
Holmgren, who won a Super Bowl with
Green Bay, turned down an offer Saturday to be Seattle’s president and
has expressed interest in coaching the Browns.
If Holmgren was at home watching this one, at least he was entertained.
Cribbs got it rolling by escaping a
jam at the 40 and at least six tacklers on the way to a 100-yard
touchdown. That broke the career record for kickoff returns held by
five others. Later, Cribbs veered right, veered left and was gone,
untouched for a 103-yard touchdown return — the eighth of his career.
With the Chiefs down 13-3, Cassel
hit Chris Chambers, who had a crucial drop last week, on a 39-yard
completion and a 9-yard touchdown on consecutive plays. Charles then
burst through the line, racing 47 yards up the middle for a touchdown.
Kansas City scored another touchdown
when Browns long snapper Ryan Pontbriand snapped the ball before anyone
was ready, hit upback Nick Sorensen on the arm and Andy Studebaker
recovered in the end zone.
And that was just in the first half.
Harrison opened the second by
scoring on a 71-yard run through the gut of Kansas City’s defense, then
added an 8-yard score to open the fourth quarter, putting the Browns up
34-24.
The Chiefs weren’t done, though.
Ryan Succop hit a 27-yard field goal, then Cassel took the Chiefs quickly down the field, hitting Bradley in the end zone.
Problem was, they left too much time for Harrison.