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The Honolulu Advertiser

Updated at 1:56 p.m., Sunday, September 23, 2007

NFL: Raiders block FG to seal 26-24 win over Browns

Associated Press

OAKLAND, Calif. - Lane Kiffin showed he's a quick learner at NFL coaching strategy.

A week after a late timeout wiped out Sebastian Janikowski's game-winning kick for Oakland, Kiffin successfully used the same strategy to help the Raiders beat the Cleveland Browns 26-24 today when Tommy Kelly blocked Phil Dawson's last-second field goal attempt.

Derek Anderson had driven the Browns (1-2) from their own 9 to the Oakland 23 in the final 1:04 without a timeout to set up Dawson's 40-yard try. Right before the snap, Kiffin called timeout just as Denver coach Mike Shanahan did to him a week ago in the Broncos' 23-20 overtime win.

Like Janikowski a week ago, Dawson split the uprights with the kick that did not count. His attempt when it did was low and blocked by Kelly, setting off a midfield celebration by the Raiders following their first win since last Oct. 29 against Pittsburgh. Kiffin, the NFL's youngest coach in more than four decades at age 32, got his first win.

LaMont Jordan for 121 yards and a go-ahead touchdown late in the third quarter after Daunte Culpepper relieved an injured Josh McCown to lead the Raiders (1-2). McCown threw a 41-yard TD pass to Ronald Curry in the first half and Janikowski made all four field goal attempts after missing four the first two weeks — including last week's potential game-winner from 52 yards after Shanahan's timely timeout.

The late-game dramatics overshadowed another big performance by Jordan, who has 350 yards rushing after three games. He carried nine times on an 80-yard drive after Cleveland had taken the lead, and put Oakland back on top 23-17 with a 1-yard run with 10 seconds left in the third quarter.

Jordan also scampered 27 yards on a screen pass on third-and-23 to set up Janikowski's 48-yard field goal that made it 26-17 midway through the fourth.

The Raiders defense made Anderson look ordinary a week after tying a team record with five TD passes in a 51-45 win over Cincinnati. Anderson was intercepted twice in the first half and finished 18-for-37 for 248 yards and a touchdown. He also scored on a 1-yard run with 3:33 remaining to cut Oakland's lead to 26-24.

The Browns, who trailed 16-0 late in the first half, took the lead midway through the third quarter when they capitalized on a fumble by Mike Williams. The turnover gave Cleveland the ball at its 48, and four plays later Anderson hit Braylon Edwards on a 21-yard score that made it 17-16.

Culpepper then led a methodical 15-play drive that included a 3-yard run by Jordan on fourth-and-1. Culpepper completed both his passes on the drive and drew penalties on two more throws.

The Raiders fans made their preference for Culpepper to start at quarterback known, booing McCown after he was sacked on the first play and cheering when he left for one play late in the first quarter after getting nicked up. Culpepper was greeted with a standing ovation before throwing a 5-yard pass to Jordan that did not gain enough for a first down. Janikowski followed with a 32-yard field goal for the first score of the game.

McCown finished the first half but was replaced by Culpepper in the second half because of a sore left foot.

The Raiders controlled most of the first half, turning a pair of interceptions by Anderson into short field goals by Janikowski and getting the long TD from McCown to Curry on third-and-inches.

But just when it seemed as if the Raiders would take a 16-0 lead into halftime, Joshua Cribbs returned a kick 99 yards for a score. Simon Fraser recovered a botched handoff between McCown and Jordan on Oakland's first play from scrimmage after the score, setting up a 23-yard field goal by Dawson with 11 seconds left in the half that made it 16-10.