| In the interest of speed and timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain spelling or grammatical errors. |
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) From an uncustomary spot in the visitors' locker room, Carmen Policy flipped through his mental catalogue of the dramatic comeback victories he has seen at Candlestick Park.
``Off the top of my head, I can't come up with one that was this good,'' the Cleveland Browns' president said with a grin.
Andre Davis caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Kelly Holcomb with 29 seconds left as the Browns pulled off another comeback thriller, rallying for two late scores and a 13-12 victory Sunday over the San Francisco 49ers.
The Browns (1-2) had one touchdown in their first 11 quarters this season before scoring two in the fourth against San Francisco's defense, which held them to 113 yards in the first three quarters. It was all leading up to another come-from-behind win for a franchise that has specialized in them since rejoining the NFL four seasons ago.
``I think we saved the season today,'' said Policy, who held the same job for eight years with the 49ers. ``When you go 0-3, everybody is focused on where you aren't. Now, we can focus on moving forward to where we want to be. ... We were Nineresque at the end.''
Holcomb beat out Tim Couch in training camp, but two middling performances in losses had put his job and Cleveland's season in jeopardy. His first three quarters against San Francisco weren't much better but with two sore ankles and a 12-point deficit, he led the Browns on two stirring drives for the victory.
``We just hung in there, and when we had to make plays, we made them,'' said Holcomb, who went 25-of-38 for 222 yards. ``It's just satisfying that when we had to do it, we stepped up.''
Both scoring drives ended in TD passes to Davis the second capping a 91-yard drive comprised mostly of short, expertly thrown passes. Kevin Johnson caught 11 passes for 109 yards.
Both offenses sputtered and stalled on a stifling day, but Cleveland's offense finally helped out its defense, which kept Terrell Owens and Jeff Garcia out of the end zone despite several decent drives.
Humiliated by Jamal Lewis' NFL-record 295 yards rushing last week, the Cleveland defense clamped down on the tailback tandem of Garrison Hearst and Kevan Barlow, holding them to 32 yards combined.
New kicker Owen Pochman made four field goals for the 49ers (1-2), who had exactly the type of timid, inconsistent offensive game that supposedly wouldn't happen after Steve Mariucci was fired.
Garcia went 21-of-35 for 198 yards. Owens caught eight passes for 90 yards and in a familiar refrain, he broke his media boycott long enough to demand a bigger role in San Francisco's offense.
``I don't know how many times we've been in the red zone and my number hasn't been called,'' said Owens, who had a helmet-throwing tantrum on the sideline. ``I feel bad from an offensive standpoint, because we're letting the defense down. They're playing their tails off, and we can't help them out.''
On their first 75-yard scoring drive, the Browns capitalized on key penalties leading up to Davis' diving 2-yard TD catch.
The Browns got the ball back at their 9 a few minutes later, and Holcomb picked at San Francisco across the middle, moving Cleveland to the 49ers 11 on Kevin Johnson's 19-yard catch with 44 seconds left. After two incompletions, Holcomb found Davis among four San Francisco defenders for a leaping catch.
``They stayed strong when things weren't going their way, and then they outplayed us in the fourth quarter,'' said 49ers cornerback Mike Rumph, who committed two key pass-interference penalties in the second half. ``It seemed like they wanted it more than we did.''< ^Notes:@ Jimmy Williams, San Francisco's punt returner and nickel defensive back, left the game in the first half with a concussion. ... WR Dennis Northcutt missed the game for Cleveland with a chest injury.