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Kick-start performance Bears get four field goals to beat Browns 19-6
CHICAGO (AP) -- Cade McNown and Eddie Kennison got it right on the second try, helping the Chicago Bears beat the Cleveland Browns 19-6 on Saturday night. McNown overthrew a wide open Kennison on the game's first scrimmage play for what would have been an easy touchdown. They called the same play again later in the first quarter and the result was different. McNown again froze the defense with a play fake and then found Kennison open far behind the secondary for a 41-yard scoring play, the game's only touchdown. "The first time we weren't on the same page," Kennison said. "I took the route too far inside and Cade threw it outside. We talked about it and the second time it worked." Kennison, getting more playing time with injuries hitting Chicago's receiving corps, made up for a fumble on a punt that set up Phil Dawson's 20-yard field goal and gave the Browns a 3-0 lead. "I threw the same exact ball the second time and he widened it out perfectly and got underneath it," McNown said. "If we hadn't completed that one, I would have come over to the sideline and been pretty upset. It worked out, he did a good job of adjusting." It was a costly loss for the Browns. Ty Detmer, who played so well in the Browns' opening preseason win over Philadelphia, was lost for the season after rupturing his right Achilles' tendon on the third scrimmage play of the second half as he was scrambling to avoid a sack. The Browns also lost backup offensive lineman Jeremy McKinney, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee when he bumped into a teammate and collapsed. The Bears (2-0) got two long field goals from Jaret Holmes and their defense picked off three Couch passes. Paul Edinger, battling Holmes for the Bears' kicking job, also kicked two field goals. They are each 3-for-3 in the preseason. "If nobody misses, it will be a very hard decision," Holmes said. "I don't wish any bad luck for either one of us. But it's a crazy business and who knows." Holmes, who was the Bears' kicker in the season finale a year ago, hit from 54 yards on the final play of the first half to give Chicago a 13-6 lead. He also made a 48-yarder. The Bears led the NFL with 15 missed field goals last season and earlier brought veterans Jeff Jaeger and Michael Husted to their training camp. After McNown faked a handoff and froze the Browns' defense, Kennison got behind the secondary and made a nice over-the-shoulder catch for the 41-yard touchdown that made it 7-3. The Bears had tried the same play on their first attempt from scrimmage but McNown overthrew Kennison. Walt Harris' interception of Couch set up Edinger's 34-yard field goal for a 10-3 Chicago lead in the final seconds of the first quarter. The Browns reached Chicago's 8 with a first down early in the second quarter, thanks to a 17-yard Couch-to-Aaron Shea pass. But Errict Recht netted a yard on three consecutive carries and Cleveland settled for a 25-yard field goal from Dawson. Tony Parrish and Shaw Wooden had second-quarter interceptions of Couch to end Browns' drives. McNown played all but the final two series of the first half, completing 7-of-12 for 106 yards, before being replaced by Shane Matthews, who hit 11-of-17 for 100. Couch was 11-for-19 for 81 yards. Bears running back Curtis Enis, who managed only 8 yards on five carries in a victory against the Giants last week, gained 37 yards on 10 carries, at one juncture left the field waving his arms in anger.
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