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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 6:26 p.m., Monday, October 13, 2008

NFL: Browns deal Giants first loss of season

By TOM PEDULLA
USA TODAY

CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns breathed new life into their season with a shocking 35-14 rout of the unbeaten New York Giants Monday night that abruptly ended the road dominance of the defending Super Bowl champions.

The Giants were bidding for the second-longest winning streak away from home in NFL history after the San Francisco 49ers' 18 in a row from 1988-90. Instead, their run ended at 11 with their first road defeat since a 45-35 shootout loss to the Dallas Cowboys to open last season.

Cleveland, which began the evening ranked last in the league at 11.5 points a game, rediscovered its offense by piling up 454 yards to improve to 2-3. The Giants slipped to 4-1, leaving the AFC South-leading Tennessee Titans as the league's only undefeated team.

The Browns moved the ball with remarkable ease against the Giants, producing touchdown drives of 74, 77 and 87 yards.

Much-maligned quarterback Derek Anderson quieted his critics by hitting 18 of 29 passes for 310 yards with two touchdowns, for 22 yards to Darnell Dinkins and 11 yards to Braylon Edwards.

The latter climaxed a painstaking 14-play, 87-yard march that burned 8 minutes, 16 seconds off the clock and created a 27-14 margin to begin the fourth quarter.

"D.A. played at a level I've never seen him play at before," Edwards said. "He was the best quarterback in the league tonight."

Cleveland intercepted Eli Manning three times. The last of those was returned by Eric Wright 94 yards for a TD midway through the final quarter. Anderson tossed to Edwards for a two-point conversion that closed the scoring.

The Browns quickly put the Giants on their heels by amassing 277 yards in the opening half. A nine-play, 69-yard drive on the first possession of the game positioned Phil Dawson's 28-yard field goal.