ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Brady Quinn didn’t throw a touchdown pass. He completed less than half his throws. He settled for more field goals than touchdowns.
None of it mattered. He walked off Ralph Wilson Stadium with his first win as an NFL starting quarterback.
He owes Phil Dawson a huge hug.
Dawson nailed a career-long 56-yard field goal with 1:39 remaining on a windy Monday night to give the Browns a 29-27 win over the Buffalo Bills. Rian Lindell had a chance to put Buffalo back on top, but was wide right on a 47-yard field-goal try with 38 seconds left.
“Phil’s as clutch as can be. I can’t thank him enough for what he’s done for this team,” said Quinn, who downplayed the personal milestone. “It’s a big win for our team, and that’s the most important thing.”
Dawson went 5-for-5 on field goals to account for 15 points. He staked the Browns to a 6-0 first-quarter lead, then made two more kicks in the fourth quarter after Buffalo had rallied from deficits all night, including 13-0 in the second quarter.
Before the game, Dawson told coach Romeo Crennel his range was about 53 yards in the direction of the winner.
“You always stretch it a few yards at the end of a half,” Dawson said. “With the game on the line, there’s a lot of adrenaline.”
The Browns improved to 1-1 in the Quinn Era, 2-0 on Monday night and 4-6 on the season. The Bills (5-5) dropped their fourth straight game, while the Browns bounced back from two straight crushing home losses to keep their playoff hopes on life support.
The victory couldn’t have come at a better time for the Browns. Not only had they blown consecutive double-digit leads, they faced in-house accusations of quitting and mounting speculation that Crennel’s time on the job was limited.
“We’ve learned a lot in the past few weeks,” Quinn said.
“We needed this one,” left tackle Joe Thomas said. “We’ve got a lot of guys who want to fight and compete. We showed that to everyone tonight.”
While the win was appreciated and desperately needed, it wasn’t pretty.
The Browns turned four Buffalo turnovers into just nine points. They intercepted three Trent Edwards passes — Kamerion Wimbley, Andra Davis and Brandon McDonald got the picks — in the first quarter, but managed just six points.
“Frustration was the overall emotion of the first half,” Quinn said. “We just weren’t getting it in.”
Quinn finished 14-for-36 for 185 yards with no touchdowns, no interceptions and a 55.9 rating. He was at his best on the team’s most impressive drive of the season, extending the lead to 13-0 with 9:52 left in the first half.
He marched the Browns 96 yards in 12 plays and 5:57. The drive got going when safety Ko Simpson bumped Kellen Winslow well down the field to draw an illegal contact penalty on third-and-6 from the 8 that resulted in an automatic first down.
That’s when Quinn took over.
He threw a good ball to Winslow on a cross for 14 yards and followed with a 20-yard in to Braylon Edwards. Quinn went 4-for-5 for 62 yards on the drive, and Jamal Lewis (18 for 65) carried 16 yards to the 2-yard line.
Joshua Cribbs scored his first career rushing touchdown, taking an end-around and getting good blocks from fullback Charles Ali and tight end Steve Heiden.
Quinn also led the winning drive — something he didn’t do in his starting debut — but wasn’t satisfied.
“I’m extremely disappointed in my performance,” he said. “I left a lot of plays out there.”
The defense and special teams gave plenty of plays to the Bills. The reason: They couldn’t tackle.
Leodis McKelvin returned a kickoff 98 yards to pull the Bills within 23-20 early in the fourth quarter and give the frigid crowd hope. For the night, the Bills averaged 35.1 yards per kickoff return — despite a series of pop-ups and squib kicks — and 17.0 yards on punt returns.
“That’s the best performance by a kickoff return unit in my career,” Dawson said. “We tried everything.”
The defense had just as much trouble stopping Marshawn Lynch. He carried 23 times for 119 yards (5.2 average) and caught 10 passes for 58 yards, including an 18-yard touchdown in which he caught the ball near the line of scrimmage and weaved his way through a variety of flailing defenders.
In the end, the Browns were able to overcome all the mistakes.
Braylon Edwards caught eight passes for 104 yards to offset at least two drops. Jerome Harrison once again made the most of his limited time, carrying three times for 80 yards, including a 72-yard touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter, and catching a 21-yard pass before leaving with a hamstring injury. McDonald, benched for one play to begin the game, intercepted a pass and forced a fumble, leading to a pair of field goals.
And Quinn made two big throws —12 yards to Braylon Edwards and 16 yards to Winslow — as he barely moved the team within Dawson’s range for the winner.
After the Bills returned the ensuing kickoff to their 44-yard line, a pass to tight end Robert Royal put them in field-goal range. But the defense stuffed three straight runs, forcing the kick from long distance.
This time, the Browns caught a break as it missed about a yard right.
“We finished,” Dawson said. “It’s nice to win a game. I hope it’s the first of many.”
Contact Scott Petrak at 329-7253 or spetrak@chroniclet.com. 

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