Overall, it was an ugly game for Cleveland Browns starting quarterback Colt McCoy, who completed under 50% of his passes. The Miami Dolphins played pretty well defensively, but for the most part, McCoy lacked accuracy and did not have very good decision-making. He missed a wide open Joshua Cribbs on a deep pass early in the game, and he also missed a potentially big-yardage play to tight end Ben Watson later. He also threw an interception in the first quarter that led to Miami's only touchdown of the game,
He dug down deep the rest of the way though and managed to capitalize on Miami's ineptness in the red zone. In the second quarter, McCoy hit Cribbs in the right corner of the end zone for a 33-yard touchdown reception. Cribbs went up really high to snatch the football out of the air, tying the game at 7-7. Miami added a field goal before halftime to make it a 10-7 game.
To start off the third quarter, Cleveland had a pretty good drive thanks to some nice runs by Montario Hardesty on the ground. The drive stalled shy of the end zone though, so the Browns had to settle for another tie at 10-10.
The Browns had the Dolphins backed up on their next drive, and fans thought Cleveland had just notched a safety on a third-down play as Miami was backed up into their own end zone. Cleveland was flagged for roughing the passer though, and the drive continued for most of the third quarter. Cleveland's defense held it together and kept Miami to another field goal.
The offense stalled again in the fourth quarter, and Miami tacked on another field goal with just over three minutes to play. That put Miami ahead 16-10, but it meant that if McCoy could somehow pull it together for a clutch drive to close out the game, the Browns could win. That's exactly what he did. McCoy's passes were much more accurate than they had been up until that point, and receivers made some clutch plays (see Greg Little and Hardesty). The drive was capped off with a great throw-and-catch combination in the right corner of the end zone from McCoy to Mohamed Massaquoi. Ball game...or was it?
The Browns were flagged 15 yards for celebrating too much in the end zone, which was a terrible call. On the kickoff, the Browns were flagged 15 yards for a horse collar tackle, which was not brutal but was understandable. The Browns' defense held it together for four plays to prevent Miami from getting into field goal range. The game ended when Chad Henne's final pass was picked off by safety Mike Adams.