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You won't see many kicks like Phil Dawson's as the clock ran out in regulation. It hit one upright, ricocheted off the back of the crossbar and back out. The crowd went wild, the Ravens went wild and Baltimore's playoff hopes were jolted back to life. But just for a second. The kick hit a part of the crossbar that was through the uprights and the Browns protested that the call was wrong. The officials conferred and ruled that the kick was good. That sent the game to overtime where Dawson plugged another kick, in more conventional style, and won the game 33-30 for the Browns.

Here's the rub. Field goals aren't reviewable plays and the kick was ruled no good by one official in the end zone while the other one saw it good. Referee Pete Morelli brought them together and, after much deliberation, called the kick good. Morelli termed it a discussion between the officials, as opposed to a review (it appeared that he did give the play a look on replay but NFL Head of Officiating Mike Periera said he didn't, according to Bill Cowher on CBS), and they ended up getting the call right. I doubt Brian Billick takes much comfort from that, however.

The confusion was fitting on an afternoon overflowing with miscues by both teams and the officiating crew.

The Browns went to the locker room after the first half with a 13-7 lead despite turning the ball over twice, missing a field goal and committing a ridiculous six penalties, including four false starts, on one drive. The Ravens, however, were up to their old tricks. Kyle Boller was picked and fumbled, kick returner Cory Ross added another fumble and the offense mustered a grand total of two first downs before the break.

The Browns didn't turn that poor play into enough points, however, and Baltimore's offense in the second half looked better than it has all year. Boller hooked up with Devard Darling for 107 yards and a touchdown, Willis McGahee ran 14 times for 85 yards and they erased a 13-point Browns lead over the last 13 minutes. Then they made another mistake -- they kicked to Joshua Cribbs. After Matt Stover put them up 30-27, the explosive Brown returner returned the kickoff 39 yards to the Cleveland 43. Two Derek Anderson passes set up Dawson's eventful tying kick.

The same thing happened after Cleveland won the OT coin toss. Cribbs busted a 41-yard return to put the Browns in business and nine plays later the Browns had a sweep of the season series. To keep their playoff push alive, however, they need to start playing with more care. They had 12 penalties, those two turnovers and allowed the Ravens to hang around when they should have put their lights out in the first half.