NOTEBOOK

Missed opportunities: Browns kicker Phil Dawson was wide right on a 35-yard field goal attempt in the second quarter. Although the snap and the hold appeared to be off, Dawson put the blame on himself. "I just missed it," he said. "I pushed it right. Everything was good. It is my job to make the field goal and I didn't do it." Midway through the fourth quarter, the Browns decided to go for it on fourth and 4 at the Cincinnati 28, rather than attempt a 45-yard field goal. "It was out of our range," Dawson said. "I give the coach my range on each end of the field and that was out of my range, going against the wind."
Different story: Cleveland's defense gave up its first passing touchdown of the season on Jon Kitna's 3-yard touchdown pass to Chad Johnson in the first quarter. It was also the first red zone touchdown given up by the Browns, who had surrendered two long touchdown runs to Jamal Lewis in its first three games. Cincinnati finished with three passing touchdowns and was 2-for-2 on red zone touchdown opportunities. The final touchdown -- a 1-yard touchdown from Kitna to Reggie Kelly early in the third quarter -- gave the Bengals their first lead in three games, a span of 16 quarters or 2 hours, 15 minutes and 59 seconds.
Penalty-prone: The Bengals were penalized 11 times for 60 yards -- including a defensive delay of game penalty for "movement unnatural to the game, causing the offense to false start."
Hobbling: Bengals running back Corey Dillon left the game in the first half with a groin injury and did not return. Dillon finished with four carries for 20 yards. "I have to get this thing right," Dillon said. "Each week I keep coming out and playing on it, which means I am not going to get healthy. I need some time off to get it healed."
Filling in: Bengals backup running back Rudi Johnson filled in for Dillon, finishing with 15 carries for a game-high 51 yards as the Bengals gained 80 yards on 29 carries (a 2.8 average).
Special guest: This year's British Open champion, Ben Curtis, was an honorary captain for the Browns during the coin toss. Curtis is a Kent State University graduate.
Up next: The Browns will travel to play Pittsburgh at 8:30 p.m. Sunday on ESPN's Sunday Night Football. Cleveland has lost six consecutive games to the Steelers. "It is a huge game for us," Browns quarterback Tim Couch said. "It's going to be a tough game on the road, but we have been there before."
-- Joe Scalzo