Brownies Out For Playoffs

The Cleveland Browns sat and watched the agony Sunday night.

The Brownies had 10 victories during the 2007 season after only four in 2006.

Cleveland dispatched the San Francisco 49ers earlier in the day and headed for the big screens in hopes of the Indianapolis Colts defeating the Tennessee Titans.

A Colts win would have sent the Browns packing for the Left Coast and an engagement with the San Diego Chargers in the first round of the AFC Playoffs.

Nevertheless, somewhere in the third quarter of the Titans and Colts game something strange happened that turned Cleveland's postseason trip into a journey home for the season.

During the third period in the RCA Dome, Titans robust running back LenDale White fumbled away the pigskin and Tennessee quarterback Vince Young left the game with a pulled right quad with his team trailing the defending Super Bowl champions 10-7.

The Browns and their fans had to be cheering as the end appeared to be near for Tennessee.

Enter Kerry Collins an aging veteran who has spent most of the season walking the Titans sidelines.

The change of scenery for the Indianapolis defense wasn't good for Cleveland.

The fourth-leading active passer in the NFL, Collins completed 10-of-13 passes for 106 yards and got Rob Bironas close enough to kick field goals of 40 and 54 yards to end the Browns hopes.

Tennessee made the playoffs instead of the Browns due to the third tiebreaker. The Titans had a better record against common opponents.

Browns coach Romeo Crennel said his team had "learned a lot, grown a lot and look forward to continuing to build on what we've accomplished this season."

Cleveland (10-6) is the only NFL team with 10 wins that didn't make the playoffs.

The Browns can't blame anybody but themselves. Cleveland lost to instate rival Cincinnati last week.

Cleveland wide receiver Braylon Edwards said his team had a chance, "but we forfeited it by losing to a lesser team."

The Browns 10 wins are the most since its expansion rebirth. Cleveland won 11 games in 1994.

The Titans will play San Diego at 4:30 on Sunday.

Tennessee coach Jeff Fisher said he expected Vince Young to be ready to play in the game.

"I expect everybody to be ready," Fisher said.

Collins' performance should not come as a surprise. He led teams to the playoffs three times as a starter, including an appearance in the NFC Championship Game following the 1996 season with the Panthers and a Super Bowl appearance following the 2000 season with the Giants.

Collins Facts: When the season started, the only active quarterbacks with more passing yards than Collins were Brett Favre (57,500), Vinny Testaverde (45,281) and Peyton Manning (37,586).

In 2000 and 2001, the durable quarterback became first player in NFL history to throw every pass for one team in two consecutive seasons, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

Collins and his wife, Brooke, and daughter, Riley live on his 1,580-acre farm in Asheboro, N.C. The “Blue Q Ranch” was named that because every team Collins ever played quarterback (Q) for except the Oakland Raiders had blue as one of the team's primary colors. He has more than 300 head of registered Angus cattle on his farm.

Collins loves to fish and hunt deer, wild boar, and turkey.

The Associated Press and NFL.com contributed to this blog