CLEVELAND: Somehow it just does not seem right.

The Cleveland Browns' season ended so suddenly.

Late Sunday night when Jim Sorgi and the rest of the backups had struggled and the Indianapolis Colts had lost to the Tennessee Titans, it was over.

The Browns will not go to the playoffs.

Despite a 10-6 record, the same as the AFC North Champion Pittsburgh Steelers.

Despite a record seven wins at home.

Despite all the good things that had been accomplished, the Browns would go home while the Titans would plan for a playoff trip to San Diego.

No, it does not seem fair, but as Phil Dawson said, the Browns had things in their hands in Cincinnati and did not take care of business.

Win there and the Browns are in the playoffs and Tennessee is playing for pride Sunday night.

Instead the Browns opened the door for the Titans, and Jeff Fisher is too good a coach not to lead his team through it.

So instead of talking about a turnaround season that went to the playoffs, the talk will be of a turnaround season that points to 2008.

Nothing takes away from what the Browns accomplished this season. But ending it this way sure is bittersweet, and not making the playoffs is more than disappointing.

As for Sunday's 20-7 win over San Francisco, the Browns won because of the amazing return abilities of Joshua Cribbs, the running of Jamal Lewis and the fact San Francisco was using a quarterback who signed Dec. 12.

Too, Crennel solidified his feelings about Derek Anderson by putting him back in the game after X-rays on an injured pinky finger proved negative.

Had the Browns wanted, they easily could have left rookie Brady Quinn in the game. Quinn had led one drive down the field, and it would have ended in a touchdown had Kellen Winslow not dropped a pass in the end zone.

When Anderson returned, Crennel asked what he wanted to do. Play, Anderson said.

So he did.

And it was the right thing.

Anderson went 10-5 as a starter, threw 29 touchdown passes and was named Pro Bowl alternate. He did not deserve to be yanked.

Strange officiating calls wiped out a Cribbs return for a
touchdown and a Kellen Winslow catch for a first down or the margin of victory might have been wider.

The win left Crennel glassy-eyed at his postgame news conference as he talked of how appreciative he was of his players, his coaches and the Browns organization.

Dawson said Crennel was more emotional than he ever had been because his team did not go through the motions even though this game did not affect Cleveland's playoff chances.

With the win, the Browns won 10 games for the first time since 1994 and set a team mark by winning seven games at home.

They had a bunch of individual marks set by Braylon Edwards, Phil Dawson and Cribbs.

They had an amazing turnaround that was disappointing only because it ended Sunday night.

Bad breaks

The ending gets a person to thinking of the play or plays that might have changed the way the season ended. Which will you think of?

The interceptions in Cincinnati, perhaps? Those interceptions cost the Browns a game that would have clinched a playoff spot.

How about the blocked field goal in Oakland?

Dawson made the first kick, but a timeout negated the three points. Nat Dorsey relaxed on the retry, and Dawson had the kick blocked.

That one hurt.

Dawson's 51-yard field goal on the last play in Pittsburgh also comes to mind. It went into the open end of Heinz Field, the worst end of a stadium to kick in the league. It came up short by 3 yards.

Too, the holding penalty on Darnell Dinkins before that last drive stands out. The Browns disagreed with the call, and it made Dawson's last kick 51 yards instead of 36.

Winslow's catch

To me, the one that stands out was the catch by Kellen Winslow on the last play of the game in Arizona.

Winslow made an amazing effort to come down with the pass, and it sure looked like he was knocked out of bounds by a Cardinals defender.

''If that's not a forceout, I don't know what is'' was a common lament of the Browns. Instead, the pass was ruled incomplete.

That play, that catch, would have won a game and would have lived in Browns lore forever. It almost seemed Winslow deserved that catch, just as it seems the Browns deserved to go to the playoffs.

Winning 10 games and missing the playoffs is excruciating.

After that game in Arizona, Winslow asked about the Browns' remaining schedule.

He then said, ''Eleven and five. That's what I've said we'll need.''

Turns out he was right.

Sadly, Winslow was too right.