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CLEVELAND, OH (CBS4/AP) ― The Miami Dolphins rallied from a 24-3 deficit only to come up short against the Cleveland Browns. Browns quarterback Derek Anderson threw three touchdown passes, all of them to receiver Braylon Edwards, as Cleveland beat Miami in a shootout 41-31.

The loss was the Dolphins' ninth consecutive defeat setting a franchise record.

The Browns (3-3) scored on three of their first four possessions to go up 17-3 before Leigh Bodden intercepted a Cleo Lemon pass and Anderson turned it into a 24-yard touchdown throw to Edwards on the very next play.

After the Dolphins (0-6) pulled within 27-24 in the third quarter, Anderson threw his second and third TD pass of the game to Edwards to put it out of reach.

Now Cleveland can go into its bye week with some peace of mind. After taking the week off, the Browns play at St. Louis in two weeks with a chance to go over .500 -- a rare treat for this downtrodden franchise.

Now it's Miami fans that are hurting. The Dolphins, who finished last year with three losses, snapped the team mark of eight consecutive losses set during the 1967 season. Cam Cameron remained winless as an NFL head coach. It was also the sixth road loss in a row for the Dolphins.

They were hamstrung without starting quarterback Trent Green, sidelined by a concussion suffered in last week's loss at Houston. Filling in for him was Lemon, who passed for two scores to tight end David Martin and ran for two more in his second career start.

Ronnie Brown added 101 yards on 19 carries to rack up his fourth consecutive game with more than 100 yards, becoming just the second Dolphin to pull off that feat. Ricky Williams holds the record of five straight, set in 2002.

The Browns were also missing a marquee name on offense. Running back Jamal Lewis, 10th in the league in rushing, sat out with a sprained right foot. His subs were more than adequate, with Jason Wright rushing for 59 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries and Jerome Harrison adding 57 yards on eight carries. Harrison had totaled 60 yards in his previous 11 NFL games.

Luckily for both offenses, they were facing defenses ranked among the worst in the NFL.

It took just five plays for the Browns to take the lead for good. The Dolphins did their share to help out, tacking 15 yards onto Joshua Cribbs' 39-yard kick return because of a late hit by kicker Jay Feely before cornerback Michael Lehan was called for pass interference in the end zone. That penalty set up Wright's 1-yard TD run.

After Feely converted a 43-yard field goal for his 24th make without a miss, Anderson scored on a 1-yard bootleg around right end for the touchdown. Anderson completed 18-of-25 passes for 245 yards and the three scores to Edwards without an interception.

Down 24-3, the Dolphins rallied. Lemon hit Martin for a 14-yard score, and then led the Dolphins 75 yards in just over 7 minutes, keeping the ball for a 5-yard touchdown.

After a Browns punt, Lemon scored again on a 1-yard keeper to cut the gap to 27-24.

But Anderson gave the Browns some breathing room. Wright carried on eight of the drive's 12 plays, and Anderson completed all three of his pass attempts and added a critical 8-yard scramble on third-and-6. On third down from the 5, Anderson threw into the end zone where Edwards shielded the ball from defender Will Allen to make the catch.

The Dolphins were then forced to punt after Lemon threw a pass behind a wide-open Ted Ginn Jr.

Anderson hit Edwards for a third touchdown pass to put the game out of reach.

(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)