Gang Green wins Easy

COMBINED DISPATCHES
NEW ORLEANS -- William Green was running. Deuce McAllister was pacing.
Green had his second straight big game, rushing for 114 yards and a touchdown, as the Cleveland Browns won for the fourth time in their last five games.
With the 24-15 victory over the New Orleans Saints (7-4) Cleveland (6-5) stayed in contention in the AFC North, trailing Pittsburgh by a half-game.
"It felt good," Green said. "That's what we work hard on all week."
McAllister, the NFC's leading runner with 950 yards rushing, had a sprained right ankle. He was on the active roster, but spent the game pacing the sideline with his helmet in his hand.
"When the game was on the line, I felt I could go in and be productive," McAllister said. "I'm a player and I wanted to be in there."
The Saints have lost three of four to fall into third place in the NFC South.
"I was just disappointed in the whole team," Saints coach Jim Haslett said.
"I really thought we would play better than that."
Turnovers
Without McAllister New Orleans had just 74 yards rushing. The Saints scored only one touchdown on six trips inside the Cleveland 20. Cleveland forced three red-zone turnovers -- two interceptions and a fumble by Aaron Brooks -- and twice held the Saints to field goals.
"We take pride in holding teams down in the red zone," said Cleveland safety Earl Little.
Second-year cornerback Anthony Henry, who tied for the league lead with 10 interceptions a year ago, ended his season-long drought with two picks, and Little had one. The Browns also recovered three fumbles, one off a muffed punt.
Brooks completed 23-of-40 passes for 318 yards.
Tim Couch was 12-for-21 for 182 yards and a touchdown for Cleveland. He was intercepted twice.
"I've got that gunslinger mentality," Couch said. "No matter what happens I'm going out there and throwing the ball.
"This is such a huge game for us," Couch said. "To come in here and beat a quality football team in their home stadium, it kept us in the playoff hunt."
Browns coach Butch Davis felt the same way but said his team must continue its mission next week at home against Carolina.
"These are one-week crusades in the next five weeks," Davis said. "Today will become somewhat insignificant if we don't maintain this momentum. Then what we did today and what we did in Cincinnati is insignificant."
Scoring
Couch's third pass of the game was intercepted by Dale Carter, who returned it 23 yards to give New Orleans the ball at the Browns' 37. John Carney's 33-yard field goal gave the Saints their only lead, 3-0.
Cleveland went up 7-3 on a 1-yard touchdown run by Green.
New Orleans opened the second quarter with a 27-yard field goal after their drive stalled at the 8. The Saints then missed a chance to regain the lead when Brooks fumbled at the Cleveland 17.
The Saints stopped the Browns, but Michael Lewis muffed the punt, which Andra Davis recovered for Cleveland.
Two plays later, wide receiver Dennis Northcutt took a handoff and ran 36 yards for the touchdown, making it 14-6 with 3:50 remaining in the half.
The Saints made it 14-9 with a 30-yard field goal.
Late in the half, New Orleans drove to the 2 before Brooks threw an interception on third down to Anthony Henry.
The Saints opened the second half with their only touchdown of the game.
The drive was keyed by an 11-yard run on a fake punt by Fred McAfee. James Fenderson capped the drive with a 17-yard run, but the Saints missed on a two-point conversion and trailed 14-12.
Couch's 24-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Johnson with 4:44 remaining in the third quarter made it 21-12.
The Saints then drove to the Cleveland 17, but on third-and-7, Brooks' pass was intercepted by Little in the end zone.
A 49-yard Saints field goal made it 21-15 with 10:14 remaining in the game.
A 28-yard field goal by Phil Dawson with 3:25 remaining provided Cleveland's final margin.