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Ohio Politics/Elections:
Boccieri Shows Up at Renacci Town Hall, Engages in Impromptu Debate
Cleveland Browns:
Marla Ridenour on Sports:
Browns find plenty of good men
Varsity Letters:
Gridlocks: Week 3
The330:
Kanakaredes says she’ll have ‘CSI’ memories to treasure
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Monday’s Tribe lineup
First Bell - On Education:
Report is filed on bus incident
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TNT Orders "Dallas" Pilot
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PAWS Pet of the Week: Meet Autumn!
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Scott believes Cavs can still win
Akron Zips:
No. 1 UA secures 2-0 win over No. 3 Wake Forest
Kent State Sports:
Around the MAC–Week 1
Akron Docs in Haiti:
Orphans in Fondwa
Buckeye Blogging:
‘The Shoe’ is Open for Business
All Da King's Men:
"They Talk About Me Like A Dog"
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Endangering U.S. Troops To Regain Power?
Akron Law Café:
Losing Common Ground
Car Chase:
Free Glenmoor Gathering Tickets
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Gossip Girl
Sound Check:
Robert Wilson, Gap Band bassist, dies
See Jane Style:
Making It Up
HRLite House:
From the White House – New Federal Approach to Hiring
By George M. Thomas Beacon Journal sportswriter
POSTED: 09:17 p.m. EST, Dec 16, 2007
CLEVELAND: With whipping winds swirling heavy snow, the type of game that NFL Films loves to immortalize, the last person you'd expect to have the most significant impact would be a football team's kicker.
But in the Browns' 8-0 victory over the Buffalo Bills (7-7) Sunday at Cleveland Browns Stadium, nine-year veteran Phil Dawson booted his team to victory in less-than-ideal conditions.
Mother Nature, with a little help from her friend Lake Erie, set a scene where fans should have expected an emphasis on the run and received it with Jamal Lewis rushing for 163 yards on 33 carries. But with that type of yardage, touchdowns should have been the norm. Not Sunday. This was a game of field position and it came down to Dawson's leg.
''I would have to say in my nine years here that was by far the worst day to kick a football,'' Dawson said. ''It would have been in the top five because of the wind and how it was blowing, the unpredictability of it. You factor in snow on top of that, it was just a brutal day.''
The Browns (9-5) scored with two field goals by Dawson and a safety. Though neither attempt was easy given the conditions, Dawson's first kick measured just 35 yards. It was the second that might just become part of Browns lore should the team find itself in the playoffs.
Given the conditions, Dawson might have had a better shot of buying a winning lottery ticket than making a 49-yard kick. Even he admitted that the weather froze any prospect that conventional wisdom would rule the day.
''There's an old rule: never aim outside the goalposts,'' he said. ''You can throw that out today.''
Apparently Browns coach Romeo Crennel felt the same.
''Tough call? It was right at the edge of what we had talked about,'' Crennel said. ''And we had got the ball down there and, conditions being what they were, I thought we'd give it a try. I told Phil just to put it through the uprights and he added a little English to it and made it.''
Punter and field-goal holder Dave Zastudil said that the ancillary factors didn't come into play during the attempt.
''I didn't really think about that. I thought if he keeps his steps short and drives the ball we've got a chance,'' Zastudil said. ''You can't practice in weather conditions like that. But he's had a great year and he hit a great ball and I'm just happy it went through.''
The ball barely sneaked over the crossbar, hitting the curvature of the goalposts' support pole. The kick reminded spectators of the one Dawson hit several weeks ago to send a game against the Baltimore Ravens into overtime. When reminded of the similarities between the kicks, Dawson smiled and said: ''When I'm a grandpa back in Texas and I'm telling my grandkids, that will be my story that I called it. But honestly, today, my thought was 'Put a solid foot on the ball and try to get it up.' ''
Tall tales aside, it impressed his teammates, including Browns quarterback Derek Anderson, who ran onto the field to congratulate Dawson after the ball cleared the crossbar.
''That was an amazing kick in these conditions,'' Anderson said. ''To get the snap and get the ball down is quite a great feat and then to get it that distance was amazing in itself. We were going to need every point we could muster up.''
But Dawson wouldn't take all the credit, offering praise to Zastudil and one of the handful of draft picks from the Butch Davis era who worked out.
''I call Ryan Pontbriand the great equalizer because on days like today, you already have enough variables to deal with, so when I saw the snap come back perfect, I knew the first step that was required for a successful kick had taken place,'' he said. ''And Dave deserves a lot of credit for catching all of those snaps. That's a tough day to catch the ball, and he had just gotten done cleaning off a spot for me, so I'm sure his hands were frozen.''
Dawson's success this season — 110 points on 24-of-27 field goals and 38-of-39 points after touchdowns — is representative of the team's success.
''Kicking's a funny thing. This time last year, I couldn't buy a break. I hit some really well-hit balls last year and struggled at the end of last season,'' he said. ''Now, for whatever reason, I'm getting all the breaks. I'm not necessarily doing anything all that different; the ball's just bouncing the right way. Hopefully, that's a sign of how this team and how this season is going for us.''
CLEVELAND: With whipping winds swirling heavy snow, the type of game that NFL Films loves to immortalize, the last person you'd expect to have the most significant impact would be a football team's kicker.
But in the Browns' 8-0 victory over the Buffalo Bills (7-7) Sunday at Cleveland Browns Stadium, nine-year veteran Phil Dawson booted his team to victory in less-than-ideal conditions.
Mother Nature, with a little help from her friend Lake Erie, set a scene where fans should have expected an emphasis on the run and received it with Jamal Lewis rushing for 163 yards on 33 carries. But with that type of yardage, touchdowns should have been the norm. Not Sunday. This was a game of field position and it came down to Dawson's leg.
''I would have to say in my nine years here that was by far the worst day to kick a football,'' Dawson said. ''It would have been in the top five because of the wind and how it was blowing, the unpredictability of it. You factor in snow on top of that, it was just a brutal day.''
The Browns (9-5) scored with two field goals by Dawson and a safety. Though neither attempt was easy given the conditions, Dawson's first kick measured just 35 yards. It was the second that might just become part of Browns lore should the team find itself in the playoffs.
Given the conditions, Dawson might have had a better shot of buying a winning lottery ticket than making a 49-yard kick. Even he admitted that the weather froze any prospect that conventional wisdom would rule the day.
''There's an old rule: never aim outside the goalposts,'' he said. ''You can throw that out today.''
Apparently Browns coach Romeo Crennel felt the same.
''Tough call? It was right at the edge of what we had talked about,'' Crennel said. ''And we had got the ball down there and, conditions being what they were, I thought we'd give it a try. I told Phil just to put it through the uprights and he added a little English to it and made it.''
Punter and field-goal holder Dave Zastudil said that the ancillary factors didn't come into play during the attempt.
''I didn't really think about that. I thought if he keeps his steps short and drives the ball we've got a chance,'' Zastudil said. ''You can't practice in weather conditions like that. But he's had a great year and he hit a great ball and I'm just happy it went through.''
The ball barely sneaked over the crossbar, hitting the curvature of the goalposts' support pole. The kick reminded spectators of the one Dawson hit several weeks ago to send a game against the Baltimore Ravens into overtime. When reminded of the similarities between the kicks, Dawson smiled and said: ''When I'm a grandpa back in Texas and I'm telling my grandkids, that will be my story that I called it. But honestly, today, my thought was 'Put a solid foot on the ball and try to get it up.' ''
Tall tales aside, it impressed his teammates, including Browns quarterback Derek Anderson, who ran onto the field to congratulate Dawson after the ball cleared the crossbar.
''That was an amazing kick in these conditions,'' Anderson said. ''To get the snap and get the ball down is quite a great feat and then to get it that distance was amazing in itself. We were going to need every point we could muster up.''
But Dawson wouldn't take all the credit, offering praise to Zastudil and one of the handful of draft picks from the Butch Davis era who worked out.
''I call Ryan Pontbriand the great equalizer because on days like today, you already have enough variables to deal with, so when I saw the snap come back perfect, I knew the first step that was required for a successful kick had taken place,'' he said. ''And Dave deserves a lot of credit for catching all of those snaps. That's a tough day to catch the ball, and he had just gotten done cleaning off a spot for me, so I'm sure his hands were frozen.''
Dawson's success this season — 110 points on 24-of-27 field goals and 38-of-39 points after touchdowns — is representative of the team's success.
''Kicking's a funny thing. This time last year, I couldn't buy a break. I hit some really well-hit balls last year and struggled at the end of last season,'' he said. ''Now, for whatever reason, I'm getting all the breaks. I'm not necessarily doing anything all that different; the ball's just bouncing the right way. Hopefully, that's a sign of how this team and how this season is going for us.''
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