Zac Jackson, Staff Writer
11.05.2006
SAN DIEGO--The Browns got their kicks, but no touchdowns until the
end.

And when LaDainian Tomlinson kicked into gear, the Browns' upset bid
fell apart.

Tomlinson ran for three second-half touchdowns, propelling the
Chargers to a 32-25 decision at QUALCOMM Stadium Sunday in a wild
game that took 3 hours and 37 minutes to play and saw both teams
deliver big plays and squander opportunities.

The Chargers' plays were a little bigger (a defensive touchdown and a
41-yard touchdown run), the Browns' mistakes a bit more costly.

Six Phil Dawson field goals set a Browns franchise record, but in the
end they weren't enough to keep pace with Tomlinson and Company.

The Browns slipped to 2-6 and lost another opportunity to deliver
consecutive wins for the first time since October 2003. The Chargers
improved to 6-2, and 4-0 at home.

The Browns led, 12-10, at halftime and were in it until the final
minute, when Charlie Frye hit Braylon Edwards on a 4-yard touchdown
pass but the subsequent onside kick attempt failed. It was too
little, too late, as they'd been chasing Tomlinson and a deficit
since late in the third quarter, when Tomlinson got loose on a 41-
yard touchdown run to put his team up, 17-12.

He scored from 7 and 8 yards out in the fourth, putting the
exclamation point on a day that saw him get 129 of his 172 rushing
yards in the second half and average 9.6 yards per carry. The
Chargers swung field position and momentum when it counted most,
answering and one-upping everything the Browns were able to do.

Most importantly, the Chargers ran when the Browns couldn't (190
rushing yards to 89) had Charlie Frye running for most of the day and
were especially good when the Browns got into the red zone.

"Our guys played a good game for three quarters," Browns coach Romeo
Crennel said. "When we needed to stop them in the fourth quarter, we
weren't able to.

"Tomlinson was gashing us off tackle."

The game's only first-half touchdown came on a Marques Harris fumble
recovery following a Randall Godfrey sack for the Chargers. Frye was
sacked five times in all, intercepted once and had another fumble
overturned by a penalty.

The Chargers overcame 113 penalty yards and a 3-of-10 third-down
conversion rate with those sacks and big plays by the offense. Five
of the seven players who caught passes from Philip Rivers averaged
double-digit yards per reception, and the Chargers had scoring drives
of 86, 77 and 69 yards.

Late in the third quarter Chargers punter Mike Scifres pinned the
Browns at their own 2, and Reuben Droughns was stopped at the line of
scrimmage on three consecutive runs. Eric Parker returned Dave
Zastudil's punt from deep in his own endzone to the Browns' 41, and
Tomlinson got free for the 41-yard touchdown on the Chargers' first
play.

Tomlinson ran untouched off the right side for 7-yard touchdown with
9:15 left to make it 24-15.

The stat sheet shows it was a productive day for Frye (25-of-43, 236
yards), but the Browns stalled inside the Chargers' 25 four times in
the first half and twice more in the fourth quarter before Edwards'
touchdown.

Frye's 52-yard escape and pass to Joe Jurevicius in the first quarter
and Dennis Northcutt's 81-yard punt return to the Chargers' 10 a few
minutes energized the Browns, but coming away with three points --
not seven -- both times was both frustrating and a dubious sign of
things to come.

"Being down there that many times and not scoring, that makes it even
tougher," Frye said. "They tightened it up down there in the red
zone. I thought they made some good adjustments."

Frye completed 11 passes for 78 yards to Kellen Winslow, 3 for 76 to
Jurevicius and 6 for 61 to Edwards. Rivers had a quiet, turnover-free
day, completing 19-of-28 for 211 yards

The Browns got a valiant effort from a defense that was missing three
injured starters and lost top cornerback Leigh Bodden to ankle injury
on the first series, but they couldn't catch Tomlinson in the end.

"You can say we played good, played a good team down to the end at
their place," Crennel said. "But still, we didn't win the game. We
were in it right to the end, but we didn't win it."