CLEVELAND (AP) – Pristine one week, penalized the next.

The second time around was sloppy for the Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions.

Colt McCoy threw three touchdown passes – two to tight end Evan Moore – in the first half, but the Browns blew a 15-point lead after halftime and lost 30-28 to the Lions on Friday night in a penalty-filled exhibition that showed both teams have plenty to fix in the next three weeks before the season opener.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” McCoy said. “There’s plenty to clean up.”

“Way too sloppy with penalties,” said Lions coach Jim Schwartz.

McCoy finished 10 of 18 for 96 yards, his second straight solid performance running first-year Browns coach Pat Shurmur’s new West Coast offense. McCoy was victimized by a few drops and wasn’t as sharp as in last week’s win over the Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers. However, the second-year QB showed poise, ran away from Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh and didn’t force any throws while playing most of the first half.

“A lot of people wanted to anoint us after last week,” said McCoy, who was pressured and knocked down several times. “There were a lot of rough things here and there.”

The Lions (2-0) trailed 28-13 early in the third but got a 20-yard TD pass from Drew Stanton in the third and Dave Rayner’s 48-yard field goal with 9:51 left.

Referee Mike Carey and his officiating crew had a busy night. The teams were assessed 26 penalties for 211 yards.

Moore caught TDs of 2 and 21 yards, rookie Greg Little grabbed a 13-yarder from McCoy, and rookie Armond Smith had an 81-yard TD run in the third for the Browns (1-1), who were without eight starters, including star running back Peyton Hillis. Smith also had two fumbles, helping the Lions rally.

“We went to getting pretty sloppy,” Shurmur said. “Numerous penalties and two fumbles. Those are killers. The guys in the game are in charge of winning the game.”

Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford threw one TD pass to Nate Burleson. Stafford, who threw two TDs in last week’s 34-3 blowout of Cincinnati, went 6 of 10 for 85 yards in four series.

Jason Hanson kicked two field goals for the Lions, who also rested several starters, including wide receiver Calvin Johnson, because of injuries.

“We did a good job considering we had a couple of key guys out,” Stafford said. “The guys who stepped in played well. Our other quarterbacks played well, too.”

McCoy seems perfectly suited for the West Coast attack, an offense that puts a premium on accuracy, timing and precision – by the QB and receivers. Earlier this week, McCoy revealed he spent time during the NFL lockout in Mississippi learning the offense’s many nuances from Brett Favre, who was taught it in Green Bay by Browns president Mike Holmgren.

With the Browns thin at wide receiver, Moore, who showed potential last season but has had injury issues, could become McCoy’s favorite target. The 6-foot-6, 250-pounder certainly looks the part, but it remains to be seen if he can handle it. McCoy found him twice in the first half, helping the Browns build a 21-10 lead.

Moore later took a hard hit on a 17-yard reception. He got up slowly and remained in the game. Moore didn’t return to the sideline after halftime, and Shurmur confirmed the fourth-year suffered a head injury.

“I don’t know exactly the final analysis on that,” Shurmur said.

The Browns’ first possession was poor – two dropped passes and a 1-yard run that set the tone for the night. But Cleveland got the ball back when rookie defensive end Jabaal Sheard stripped Lions running back Jahvid Best. McCoy made the Lions pay with his quick TD toss to Moore.

Stafford came back and tied it with his 4-yard strike to Burleson, who made a leaping catch in the back of the end zone and was able to get both feet down. Burleson then mocked Cleveland’s crowd by mimicking the chalk toss that NBA star LeBron James made famous with the Cavaliers.

McCoy’s second TD toss to Moore put the Browns ahead 14-10. After Jordan Norwood’s 20-yard punt return, McCoy lofted a pass into the end zone for Moore, who made a sliding over-the-shoulder catch in the right corner that was first ruled out of bounds. However, the call was overturned by a video replay.

McCoy’s TD pass to Little followed a sequence of five penalties – three by the Browns, two by the Lions – in six plays. It was Little’s first TD in over two years because he had to sit out last season at North Carolina for having improper dealings with an agent, and he celebrated by punting the ball into the stands.

That didn’t please Shurmur, who spoke with the second-round pick on the sideline.

“I told him not to do that,” Shurmur said.

Little seemed to get the message.

“I’m sorry I did it because of the scrutiny that comes after that type of thing,” he said. “I wish I could have it as a souvenir, but some lucky fan has it all his own.”

McCoy also avoided any major contact with Suh, fined $20,000 on Wednesday by the league for a hit on Cincinnati quarterback Andy Dalton last week. Suh only got his hands on McCoy once, pushing him out of bounds to end a scramble.

“He was definitely feeling pressure in the pocket,” said Lions defensive tackle Corey Williams. “He was kind of moving around, but we weren’t able to get him down.”

Detroit’s offense was missing one of its main cogs as Johnson was a late scratch with a bruised shoulder. A Lions spokesman said Johnson was held out as a precaution.

 (Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

CLEVELAND – It is a 172-mile drive, one way, from Cleveland Browns Stadium on the south shore of Lake Erie to Comerica Park in downtown Detroit.

The two venues were a galaxy apart in terms of any dramatic appeal their games provided Friday night.

While the Tigers were taking a tighter hold on their lead in the American League Central with a pulse-thumping 4-1 victory over the Indians in Detroit, the Browns and Lions slogged through a tedious exercise that for most of the first half and part of the second was an exhibition of the worst that exhibition football offers.

A week earlier, the Lions were sharp and crisp in all three phases — offense, defense and special teams — in a dominating 34-3 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals at Ford Field.

They were penalty prone and sloppy throughout the first half and part of the second before rallying to pull out a 30-28 victory over the Browns.

The victory made the Lions’ record 2-0 going into next Saturday night’s game against the powerful New England Patriots at Ford Field. The game will be televised nationally by CBS.

Coach Jim Schwartz didn’t like the sloppy play caused by penalties.

“We dominated a lot of the statistics, but it was close because of penalties,” Schwartz said. “We got outstanding play from all four quarterbacks.”

A late rally, started by third-string quarterback Drew Stanton after the Lions faced a 28-13 deficit, put some gloss on what had been a dreary night from the Lions’ perspective.

Stanton threw TD passes to Maurice Stovall and Joe Jon Finley to cut the deficit to 28-27. Dave Rayner’s 48-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter provided the winning margin.

Before that, there were a few bright spots for the Lions — Matthew Stafford’s passing and a 49-yard field goal by Jason Hanson most prominent among them.

But that didn’t excuse the shoddy play throughout the first half, and an early injury to running back Jahvid Best was cause for concern at least in the short term.

Schwartz did not have an update on Best’s condition after the game, but it did not seem like a serious injury.

Best went out on the Lions’ first series and did not return. Best had handled the ball on all three plays — a pass reception and two runs.

The third play was a run. Best fumbled when hit hard by Browns defensive tackle Jabaal Sheard. Sheard also recovered Best’s fumble.

“He got hit on the sideline and got a little woozy,” Schwartz said. “He was up and around.”

The Lions already are thin at running back because of a torn left Achilles sustained in the first week of training camp that ended rookie Mikel Leshoure’s season.

Despite the blizzard of penalty flags — 9 against the Lions in the first half alone — Stafford managed to make his presence felt.

Stafford led the offense for the first three series and completed 6 of 10 passes for 85 yards and a touchdown.

The touchdown was a 4-yard pass that Stafford threaded over the middle to Nate Burleson, just out of the reach of a defender. Burleson got his feet down in the back of the end zone to get the touchdown.

Two plays before the pass to Burleson, Stafford hit tight end Brandon Pettigrew with a 27-yard pass over the middle, to make it first and goal at the Browns’ 8-yard line.
Two of Stafford’s incomplete passes came when he rolled to his left to avoid the pass rush and flipped the ball out of bounds to avoid being sacked.

On both plays, the pass protection held up fairly well, but Stafford had to escape the rush when he couldn’t find an open receiver. He simply dumped the ball to the ground when he got near the sideline.

The game began on a bad note for the Lions. Hanson’s kickoff sailed deep into the end zone and could not be returned. However, Stefan Logan was offside, forcing Hanson to kick again from the 30 after a 5-yard penalty.

The penalty proved meaningless. Cleveland returned the second kickoff to the 25 — a net gain of 5 yards in the exchange — but wound up punting when it couldn’t gain a first down.

However, it was a sign of what was coming. The Lions were offside on two more kickoffs.
Early in the second quarter, Nick Harris punted a low 35-yarder from out of the end zone that the Browns returned to the Lions’ 21.

On the first play after the punt, Browns second-year quarterback Colt McCoy hit Evan Moore with a 21-yard TD pass.

The Browns looked like they’d put the game away when rookie Armond Smith ran 81 yards for a touchdown on the Browns’ first possession of the second half to increase the lead to 28-13.

But Stanton led the comeback, and Rayner finished it off with his winning kick.

Dramatic, it wasn’t.

CLEVELAND (AP)—Pristine one week, penalized the next.

The second time around was sloppy for the Cleveland Browns and Detroit
Lions.

Colt McCoy(notes) threw three touchdown passes—two to tight end Evan Moore(notes)—in
the first half, but the Browns blew a 15-point lead after halftime and lost
30-28 to the Lions on Friday night in a penalty-filled exhibition that showed
both teams have plenty to fix in the next three weeks before the season opener.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” McCoy said. “There’s plenty to clean
up.”

“Way too sloppy with penalties,” said Lions coach Jim Schwartz.

McCoy finished 10 of 18 for 96 yards, his second straight solid performance
running first-year Browns coach Pat Shurmur’s new West Coast offense. McCoy was
victimized by a few drops and wasn’t as sharp as in last week’s win over the
Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers. However, the second-year QB showed poise,
ran away from Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh(notes) and didn’t force any throws
while playing most of the first half.

“A lot of people wanted to anoint us after last week,” said McCoy, who was
pressured and knocked down several times. “There were a lot of rough things
here and there.”

The Lions (2-0) trailed 28-13 early in the third but got a 20-yard TD pass
from Drew Stanton(notes) in the third and Dave Rayner’s(notes) 48-yard field goal with 9:51
left.

Referee Mike Carey and his officiating crew had a busy night. The teams were
assessed 26 penalties for 211 yards.

Moore caught TDs of 2 and 21 yards, rookie Greg Little(notes) grabbed a 13-yarder
from McCoy, and rookie Armond Smith(notes) had an 81-yard TD run in the third for the
Browns (1-1), who were without eight starters, including star running back
Peyton Hillis(notes). Smith also had two fumbles, helping the Lions rally.

“We went to getting pretty sloppy,” Shurmur said. “Numerous penalties and
two fumbles. Those are killers. The guys in the game are in charge of winning
the game.”

Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford(notes) threw one TD pass to Nate Burleson(notes).
Stafford, who threw two TDs in last week’s 34-3 blowout of Cincinnati, went 6 of
10 for 85 yards in four series.

Jason Hanson(notes) kicked two field goals for the Lions, who also rested several
starters, including wide receiver Calvin Johnson(notes), because of injuries.

“We did a good job considering we had a couple of key guys out,” Stafford
said. “The guys who stepped in played well. Our other quarterbacks played well,
too.”

McCoy seems perfectly suited for the West Coast attack, an offense that puts
a premium on accuracy, timing and precision—by the QB and receivers. Earlier
this week, McCoy revealed he spent time during the NFL lockout in Mississippi
learning the offense’s many nuances from Brett Favre(notes), who was taught it in Green
Bay by Browns president Mike Holmgren.

With the Browns thin at wide receiver, Moore, who showed potential last
season but has had injury issues, could become McCoy’s favorite target. The
6-foot-6, 250-pounder certainly looks the part, but it remains to be seen if he
can handle it. McCoy found him twice in the first half, helping the Browns build
a 21-10 lead.

Moore later took a hard hit on a 17-yard reception. He got up slowly and
remained in the game. Moore didn’t return to the sideline after halftime, and
Shurmur confirmed the fourth-year suffered a head injury.

“I don’t know exactly the final analysis on that,” Shurmur said.

The Browns’ first possession was poor—two dropped passes and a 1-yard run
that set the tone for the night. But Cleveland got the ball back when rookie
defensive end Jabaal Sheard(notes) stripped Lions running back Jahvid Best(notes). McCoy made
the Lions pay with his quick TD toss to Moore.

Stafford came back and tied it with his 4-yard strike to Burleson, who made
a leaping catch in the back of the end zone and was able to get both feet down.
Burleson then mocked Cleveland’s crowd by mimicking the chalk toss that NBA star
LeBron James made famous with the Cavaliers.

McCoy’s second TD toss to Moore put the Browns ahead 14-10. After Jordan
Norwood’s(notes) 20-yard punt return, McCoy lofted a pass into the end zone for Moore,
who made a sliding over-the-shoulder catch in the right corner that was first
ruled out of bounds. However, the call was overturned by a video replay.

McCoy’s TD pass to Little followed a sequence of five penalties—three by
the Browns, two by the Lions—in six plays. It was Little’s first TD in over
two years because he had to sit out last season at North Carolina for having
improper dealings with an agent, and he celebrated by punting the ball into the
stands.

That didn’t please Shurmur, who spoke with the second-round pick on the
sideline.

“I told him not to do that,” Shurmur said.

Little seemed to get the message.

“I’m sorry I did it because of the scrutiny that comes after that type of
thing,” he said. “I wish I could have it as a souvenir, but some lucky fan has
it all his own.”

McCoy also avoided any major contact with Suh, fined $20,000 on Wednesday by
the league for a hit on Cincinnati quarterback Andy Dalton(notes) last week. Suh only
got his hands on McCoy once, pushing him out of bounds to end a scramble.

“He was definitely feeling pressure in the pocket,” said Lions defensive
tackle Corey Williams(notes). “He was kind of moving around, but we weren’t able to
get him down.”

Detroit’s offense was missing one of its main cogs as Johnson was a late
scratch with a bruised shoulder. A Lions spokesman said Johnson was held out as
a precaution.

Notes: Schwartz said Best felt “a little woozy” after a hit in the first
half. He did not return, but Schwartz provided no other details. … Browns RB
Brandon Jackson(notes) suffered a turf toe, Shurmur said. … Hillis (hamstring) didn’t
dress and he wasn’t alone as the Browns rested starting G Eric Steinbach(notes) (back)
LBs Scott Fujita(notes) (hamstring) and Chris Gocong(notes) (stinger), safeties T.J. Ward(notes)
(hamstring) and Usama Young(notes) (hamstring), and RB Montario Hardesty(notes) (knee), who
took part in contact drills for the first time this week. … The Lions were
without starting CB Chris Houston(notes) (groin), T Jeff Backus(notes) (chest) and TE Tony
Scheffler(notes) (cut hand).. … The Browns will be at former Ohio State quarterback
Terrelle Pryor’s workout on Saturday in Pennsylvania. Pryor is eligible for
Monday’s rescheduled supplemental draft.