Brady Quinn did his part in his first NFL start. Trouble is, Jay Cutler was better and Denver rallied to beat Cleveland 34-30 in the first Thursday night game of the season.
CLEVELAND (AP) --
Brandon Marshall caught the game-winning 11-yard touchdown pass from Cutler with 1:14 remaining.
Quinn threw for 239 yards and two touchdowns to Kellen Winslow, but a Winslow fumble led to one of Cutler's three fourth-quarter TD passes.
Cutler brought the Broncos back from a 23-10, third-quarter deficit with a 93-yard scoring strike to Eddie Royal and a 28-yard touchdown pass to Daniel Graham. Graham's trip to the end zone was helped along by two missed tackles.
Cutler threw for a career-high 447 yards with 204 of those coming in the final period. And like John Elway, Cutler has become quite adept at fourth-quarter comebacks. This was the fifth of his career.
Denver improves to 5-and-4 after its eighth straight win over Cleveland. The Browns, who blew a 14-point lead to Baltimore last Sunday, fall to 3-and-6.
The Browns defense was torched for 564 total yards.
(Copyright ©2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
