ORCHARD PARK - It might not have been the way Eric Mangini envisioned getting his first win as coach in Cleveland.

But with the struggling Browns desperate to buck their losing ways, the first-year coach was more than happy with the end result.

The Browns’ performance wasn’t pretty - but the Bills were even worse - as Cleveland snapped a 10-game losing streak by topping Buffalo in a battle of ineptitude, 6-3, Sunday afternoon at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

“The way it turned out, I thought it was beautiful,” a relieved Mangini said of the Browns’ first victory since dispatching the same Bills on Monday Night Football last November. “It’s great. It’s fantastic. I couldn’t be happier.”

In a game that featured 16 punts, 175 combined passing yards and zero touchdowns, it was Cleveland (1-4) that did just enough to eek out a win in what could be considered the NFL’s first-ever junior varsity match-up.

Lacking any offensive punch, the Browns turned to punter Dave Zastudil to make it happen. Zastudil landed seven of his nine punts inside the 20, keeping Buffalo pushed back deep in its own territory for virtually the entire game.

His last punt was the difference-maker as Roscoe Parrish whiffed on the return, allowing the Browns to take over at the Buffalo 16 with only three minutes left to play. Taking advantage of the gift-wrapped field position, the Browns ran off six plays before back-up kicker Billy Cundiff put his team up for good with an 18-yard field goal.

All that was left to do was sweat out an out-of-bounds penalty on the ensuing kick-off, one that gave the Bills a brief glimmer of hope, before Mangini could finally get rid of that weight on his shoulders.

“I’m happy for the guys, too, because they’ve been working extremely hard for a long time,” he said. “I thought we made significant progress as a team last week (an overtime loss to Cincinnati) and we just fell short. This week, to be able to come up with a win, is a huge confidence booster for us.

“I wasn’t sure when it (the first win) was going to come or how it was going to come. I’m just happy that it’s here.”

The Browns were fortunate Zastudil, who placed two punts on the Buffalo 1 and one on the 4, and the rest of their special teams were on top of their game.

The offense certainly didn’t do much to help. Derek Anderson, the starter for now, finished a paltry 2-of-17 for 23 yards and an interception for a passer rating of 15.1. The two completions were the fewest for a winning team since the Bengals did it in a 31-21 win over Denver in 2000. Then, too, Cleveland converted just 4-of-16 third down attempts and only made it into the red zone twice.

“A win’s a win,” said Anderson, who noted the swirling winds inside the stadium made it difficult on both quarterbacks. “I knew it was going to be a grind. You could tell. It was hard to throw.”

But it did just enough.

Jamaal Lewis, in his first game back after missing the last two with a hamstring injury, rushed for 117 yards on 31 carries - being stopped just inches short of a touchdown on the final drive - while Josh Cribbs added a 31-yard run to set up the Browns’ first field goal.

The Bills (1-4), meanwhile, continued to make their opponent appear as if it owned the best defense in the league. The Browns picked off Trent Edwards once, held Buffalo to only two trips to the red zone and gave up only one real big play - a 35-yard catch and run by Marshawn Lynch.

And now the Browns have some life in them once again.

“I think the special teams, Dave’s punting, the turnover there at the end - just being able to complement each other like that was critical,” Mangini said. “We’ve been talking about being able to finish a game. That’s something that we’ve been stressing and working on, and it finally paid off for us.”

“Ultimately, finishing a game is winning game and we were able to do that today. To me, that’s progress.”

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RKT wrote on Oct 13, 2009 1:47 AM:

" Of course they won against the hapless Buffalo Bills. I'm wondering if the Bills are looking at 1-15 this year. Wouldn't matter, they'd still mess up their draft pick and select some Big 10 Defensive Back with their firstround top 5 pick rather than a star QB. "

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