BRONCOS FALL TO BROWNS, 19-16 4th Qtr Rally Falls Short September 30th, 2010: The Broncos spotted the Browns a 19-3 fourth quarter lead, then rallied to score two touchdowns in the final five minutes, but came up short when their onside kick in the final minute was recovered by the Browns to end the Broncos threat. The Browns won their first game of the season against five losses, while the Broncos fell to 0-6. The Broncos rally was led by Drew Stanton, who was a free agent a month ago and signed by the Broncos as an emergency quarterback when Daunte Culpepper went down in week one. Stanton replaced an ineffective Rex Grossman (5 of 11, 28 yards, two interceptions, 12.9 passing rating) in the third quarter after Grossman's second interception led to a Browns field goal by Neil Rackers and the Broncos fell behind 16-3. "I felt we needed a spark," Bronco head coach Hank Sienzant said after the game. "We weren't playing very well and a change might help." Asked if he considered inserting rookie first round Josh Freeman at any time, Sienzant said no. "It would not be fair to him. We tried to rush him a bit and that was a mistake. Josh will be a good one, but he is not ready yet." The Browns added another Rackers field goal to start the fourth quarter to go up 19-3 while Stanton was 0 for 2 getting his feet wet. After that field goal, the Broncos finally got a decent drive going, mostly on the ground, although Stanton threw two more incompletes to go to 0 for 4. The Broncos drove from their own 21 to a touchdown pass by Stanton of nine yards to Delanie Walker on a screen. The Broncos rushed 11 times on the 15-play drive and gained 57 of their 123 rushing yards on this drive alone, with recent acquisition Adrian Peterson (the other one) rushing three times for 24 yards. Stanton completed his final two passes of the possession, as the Broncos converted four different third down situations, none longer than third and five. The 15-play drive took nearly nine precious minutes off the clock, and left the Broncos (after a failed two-point conversion attempt) down by ten still at 19-9 with less than five minutes remaining in the game. The Browns picked up one first down and ran the clock down to the final 84 seconds before punting the ball back to the Broncos at their own 26. A penalty and a completion to Murphy gave the Broncos a first down at their own forty, and then, with the Browns protecting the sidelines, Stanton hit Murphy again, this time on a bomb down the middle, for a sixty yard touchdown pass to cut the Browns lead to 19-16. But the Broncos onside kick failed when wide out Earl Bennett fell on the ball and the Browns exited with the victory after a couple of kneel downs by Joe Flacco. The Browns went up 3-0 on a Rackers field goal (his first of four on the game) from 19 yards out late in the first quarter after the Broncos stopped the Browns on a third and goal from the two-yard line. But the Broncos weren't doing much, and after one first down, punted it back to the Browns at their own 22. They took only seven plays to cover the 78 yards, with the final 48 coming on a Flacco to Bennett 48-yard long connection down the sideline to give the Browns a 10-0 lead. After the Broncos could not get a play off on a fourth and inches, placekicker Mason Crosby (not punter Jon Ryan) was stuffed on fourth and five from the Broncos 29, turning the ball over on downs. The Browns made it 13-0 when Rackers converted a 30-yarder with just over five minutes remaining in the first half. After the Broncos were forced to punt, the Broncos veteran defensive tackle Ed Johnson forced a fumble by Ryan Moats, with rookie DE Connor Barwin falling on the ball at the Cleveland 35 with less than a minute remaining in the half. But the Broncos settled for a Crosby 49-yard field goal on the final play of the half after three plays gained only three yards. Game Notes: The Browns dominated the action for most of the contest, holding the Broncos to just three first downs and 94 yards from scrimmage until the Broncos fourth quarter rally. In their final two scoring drives, the Broncos picked up seven first downs and 148 of their 242 scrimmage yards. Louis Murphy continues to impress the Broncos faithful, catching three passes for 82 yards and scoring on the long 60-yard bomb in the final minute. The only other Bronco in double digits in receiving yards was Kevin Ogletree, who caught one for ten yards. By contrast, they had five rushers with double digits in rushing yards, with rookie Glen Coffee leading the team with 9 for 32. Cleveland's Earl Bennett got the MVP award with four receptions for 85 of the Browns 143 passing yards, but this writer's vote went to running back Thomas Jones (24 for 101). Injuries: The Broncos lost Lendale White for the next month or so. Cleveland returns home to face 2-3 Arizona, while Denver goes up against 4-1 Pittsburgh in their third straight home game, still looking for their first win.