Even though the Browns lost their third straight game and dropped to 3-5, one problem wasn't the quarterback.
Jason Campbell made his first start for the Browns and his start was similar to past performances by Browns quarterbacks. Campbell, the 20th different starting quarterback for the Browns since the team returned to the NFL in 1999, finished 22-of-36 for 293 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. He was sacked just once by the NFL's league leaders in that category.
The Browns gave up an opening-drive field goal to the Chiefs and went three-and-out on the their first possession. After Willis McGahee was dropped for a two-yard loss, Campbell threw his first pass to Marqueis Gray for a five-yard gain. On third down, Campbell overthrew Josh Gordon down the sideline.
After punting back to the Chiefs, the Chiefs marched down field and kicked another field goal to give them a 6-0 lead.
Campbell and the offense got it going just before the half.
After a Chiefs missed field goal, the Browns started at their 42 and Campbell threw to Jordan Cameron for 19 yards to the Chiefs' 39. Then a flea-flicker from Campbell to Gordon for a touchdown made it 13-7 with 2:44 to play in the first half. McGahee took the handoff from Campbell and he pitched it back to him before he launched the deep pass to a wide open Gordon for the score. The Browns had 18 yards on their first three possessions and no first downs. On the fourth drive, they went 58 yards in two plays and picked up their first two first downs.
Campbell finished the first half 9-of-14 for 131 yards and a touchdown and no interceptions. He was not sacked.
The Browns got the ball to start the second half and marched 80 yards in nine plays to cut the lead to 20-17. Campbell hit Bess to start the half for 15 yards and then hit Gordon on back-to-back passes for 14 and 23 yards to the Chiefs' 28. After picking up a first down on fourth-and-1, Campbell found Fozzy Whittaker for a 17-yard touchdown pass and his second touchdown of the game.
In the fourth quarter, Campbell tried to rally the Browns, but big penalties and dropped passes hurt the their' chances.
Trailing by three, with 11:48 to play in the game, Campbell hit Cameron for 37 yards to the Chiefs' 36. However, Joe Thomas was called for holding on the next play to move the ball back to the 46 after Willis McGahee rushed for nine yards to the 27. Campbell was sacked on the following play and the Browns were out of field goal range.
With 3:55 to play, the Browns got the ball back, and after Thomas had a false start, Campbell hit Cameron for a first down on third-and-9 for an 11-yard gain. Campbell scrambled 13 yards for a first down, but another holding penalty on Thomas took the Browns back to the 18 and the Browns ended up turning the ball over on downs failing on a fourth down attempt.
EXTRA POINTS
-- The Browns were going up against the vaunted Chiefs sack attack and came out with the better numbers. The Browns had sacks from LB Paul Kruger, LB Barkevious Mingo, LB Craig Robertson, DL Phil Taylor, LB D'Qwell Jackson and DB T.J. Ward. LB Chris Houston had the Chiefs sack. Kruger had been quiet in terms of sacks until the last two weeks. He combined for a sack against the Packers with DB Chris Owens to give him 1.5 through seven games. He sacked QB Alex Smith in the first quarter to give him 2.5. Mingo picked up his fourth sack. The Chiefs came into the game averaging five sacks a game. Robertson and Ward led the Browns with 10 tackles.
-- WR Josh Gordon had his third 100-yard NFL game with five receptions for 132 yards and a touchdown. Gordon had two big plays in the first. His first reception was a 39-yard touchdown and then he caught a short crossing pass and raced 47 yards before the half. He beat DB Shawn Smith on the play. Despite being the subject of trade rumors, Gordon continues to be the Browns only legitimate play maker. On the Browns opening drive of the second half, he a 14-yard catch and a 23 yard reception.
-- WR Davone Bess had a day to forget. He dropped three passes, including a fourth down pass that would've kept the Browns hopes alive. He also fumbled a punt subbing for Travis Benjamin in the fourth quarter when the Browns would've had the ball near midfield trailing by a field goal. The Chiefs took the ball near mid field and were able to add a field goal. Bess dropped the first ball thrown to him. Bess leads the Browns with eight drops, and the Browns lead the NFL with 23 dropped passes.
-- The Browns had no running game in the first half. On just three carries, the Browns had three rushes for (-1) yard. McGahee had two carries for (-2) yards and RB Chris Ogbonnaya had one carry for one yard. McGahee caught two passes in the first half for zero yards. In the third quarter, Ogbonnaya and McGahee had back-to-back runs of 11 and 14 run. The Browns finished with 57 yards rushing. McGahee had 28 yards on nine carries.
-- The Browns held RB Jamaal Charles to 74 yards on 18 rushes and five receptions for 46 yards. He didn't score a touchdown and was slowed by a knee injury.
-- The Browns defense allowed the Chiefs to convert 9-of-12 attempts on third down in the first half. Meanwhile, the Browns were just 1-of-5. The Browns forced punts on the first four possessions for the Chiefs in the second half. In the second half, the defense held the Chiefs to just 1-of-7 and 10-of-19, overall.
-- The Chiefs had the ball 22:46 to the Browns 7:14 in the first half and yet the Browns trailed just 20-10.
-- Andy Reid challenged a spot and was successful to give the Chiefs a first down in the second quarter.
--LB Quentin Groves (ankle) and DL Billy Winn (quad) missed the game. Groves re-injured his ankle against the Packers after returning from a high ankle sprain. Winn has been out since the third game of the season. Other in actives were OL Garrett Gilkey, OL Martin Wallace, OL Patrick Lewis and TE Keavon Milton.
