Cleveland – Just days after apologizing to teammates and Cleveland fans following his arrest on a drunken driving charge, Reuben Droughns rushed for 116 yards and caught a crucial third-down pass for 51 more, powering the Browns over the Tennessee Titans 20-14 on Sunday.
The 27-year-old former Bronco, who had expressed deep regret for his mistake, made up for it with his best all-around game this season. By the fourth quarter, as Droughns fought painful leg cramps, fans chanted “Reu-ben, Reu-ben.”
“For me, this is like my cathedral,” said Droughns, who also caught four passes for 73 yards. “But I wasn’t using what happened to me as motivation.”
With the Browns clinging to a six-point lead, Droughns spent most of the final six minutes in the locker room being treated for dehydration, something he could laugh about later.
“It might be old age,” he said. “I’m in great shape. It’s just one of those things when I put so much into it.”
In the third quarter, Droughns caught a short screen pass over the middle and weaved 51 yards to set up Jason Wright’s 6-yard TD run – Cleveland’s first rushing touchdown in nearly a year.
Dennis Northcutt caught a 58-yard TD pass and had a 31-yard run on a reverse, and Phil Dawson kicked field goals of 37 and 19 yards as the Browns (3-5) held off the Titans to snap a three-game losing streak.
“It feels good,” Browns rookie coach Romeo Crennel said. “But it still came down to the last play. This week we made it.”
Dawson’s miss from 39 yards – his first miss in 17 tries this season – with 39 seconds left gave the Titans a final chance.
Without any timeouts, Tennessee quarterback Steve McNair drove the Titans (2-7) to Cleveland’s 28 with two seconds left.
McNair was nearly sacked by Kenard Lang but managed to muscle a pass toward the goal line on the game’s final play that was picked off by Brodney Pool.
Cleveland quarterback Trent Dilfer, whose job security was becoming less certain with each loss, finished 18-of-34 for 272 yards in blustery conditions and threw his only interception on a desperation heave to end the first half.
“We showed really good resolve,” Dilfer said. “We pumped each other up. All week in practice we had our pompoms and skirts on and we were cheerleaders for each other.”
