Floundering Dolphins go 0-6 with loss to Browns

By Steve Keating

CLEVELAND, Ohio (Reuters) - Derek Anderson hit Braylon Edwards with three touchdown strikes as the Cleveland Browns rolled to a 41-31 win on Sunday to send the floundering Miami Dolphins to a club record ninth consecutive defeat.

While the resurgent Browns improved their record to 3-3 and raised hopes of a return to the playoffs among Cleveland supporters, the Dolphins continue to slip further into the abyss, absorbing their sixth straight defeat to match the worst start to a season in team history.

The winless start combined with three consecutive losses to close out last season also breaks the Dolphins team record of eight straight defeats set in 1967.

There will be little hope among Miami supporters that the Dolphins slide will end any time soon with Tom Brady and the New England Patriots set to invade South Beach next Sunday followed by a trip to London and a meeting with the improving New York Giants at Wembley Stadium.

The 1972 Dolphins hold the distinction of being the only NFL team to go through an entire season unbeaten but the current squad sits at the other end of the spectrum.

TOUGH TIMES

"I don't feel bad for myself, I don't feel bad for our coaching staff and our players know not to feel sorry for themselves," said Miami coach Cam Cameron, who continues to chase his first win as an NFL head coach.

"I feel sorry for our owner and I feel for our former players and I feel for our fans.

"These are tough times but this is the business and we have to get these things solved."

If there was any positive news for the Dolphins on Sunday it was the play of quarterback Cleo Lemon, who threw for a pair of touchdowns and ran for two more scores.

After the Browns had jumped out to a 27-10 half-time lead, Lemon, who took over the starting job when Trent Green sustained a severe concussion last weekend, led a Miami fightback, engineering a pair of third quarter touchdown drives of 75 and 62 yards, slicing the Cleveland lead to 27-24.

But Anderson ended any thoughts of a Miami comeback capping off two fourth quarter drives with 16 and five-yard touchdown passes to Edwards restoring a commanding 41-24 lead.