“Wide right” is the cruelest phrase a person can utter in western New York.

Brady Quinn and the Browns used it to their advantage and escaped Buffalo with a narrow 29-27 win on Monday night. The victory moves Cleveland to 4-6 on the season and keeps its razor-thin-playoff hopes alive, while Buffalo’s setback drops them to 5-5 and last place in the AFC East.

The game was back and forth from start to finish, and ultimately came down to a Bills missed field goal with under a minute remaining to seal Cleveland’s win. It wasn’t pretty by any means on a night in which the defenses came to play.

From 56 or 47, you just can’t miss with……

The U’s Primetime Players:

Quarterbacks:

Brady Quinn, Cleveland
Quinn has to get the game ball in the locker room from his coach after this one. If we’re comparing him to the rest of the quarterbacks in the league, we could say he had a below average night. No touchdowns while completing only 14-of-36 passes, turning in a 40 percent passing night. However, for the kid to earn his first victory as a pro with a gutsy performance is what it’s all about. Sure the numbers weren’t there, but for the second week in a row Quinn put his team in a position to win, something Derek Anderson had failed to do. MNF Grade: C +

Trent Edwards, Buffalo
THREE FIRST QUARTER INTERCEPTIONS. I’m not sure we need to continue, although we will. Edwards had possibly the most miserable opening 15 minutes of any quarterback this season, giving up three turnovers that led to six Cleveland points. After the setbacks though, Edwards turned in a pretty good game the rest of the way. Like Quinn, he even led his offense into field goal range, giving his kicker a chance to win the game. Edwards will clearly need to evaluate his play on Monday night going into next week’s game against Kansas City. Don’t be surprised if J.P. Losman makes an appearance if Edwards can’t right Buffalo’s sinking ship. MNF Grade: D +

Running backs:

Jamal Lewis/Jerome Harrison, Cleveland
It never seems like Lewis gains any more than four or five yards at a time. Somehow, the huge back put up 65 yards on 18 carries, setting up the suddenly dangerous change-of-pace back Harrison. Coming out of basically nowhere this season, the third-year rusher unleashed a monster 72-yard touchdown scamper to put Cleveland up by 10 points. Harrison also caught a huge 21-yard touch pass from Quinn to set up a key field goal with only three minutes remaining. Neither of these players could match Marshawn Lynch’s fantastic night, but Harrison definitely came the closest. MNF Grade: B

Marshawn Lynch/Fred Jackson, Buffalo
Lynch was an absolute beast in the second half. After the Browns defense appeared to have solved the Bills tailback for a good part of the first half, Lynch exploded out of the backfield for big plays en route to his biggest game in 2008. He ran for 119 yards on 23 carries, and led the team in receiving with 10 catches, 58 yards and a touchdown. Lynch was all-around Buffalo’s best player on Monday night. Jackson’s complementary role was mixed as a running back: he did collect 12 carries and 60 yards, but fumbled twice and did little on a big special teams night for the Bills. Lynch’s performance alone almost makes this grade. MNF Grade: B +

Wide receivers:

Braylon Edwards, Cleveland
We’re not sure whether to praise or denounce the standout Browns wide receiver. Once again, Edwards had one of his best performances of the season on Monday Night Football (Week 6 vs. the Giants). Against Buffalo, Edwards caught eight passes for 104 yards. Those are the numbers that the fans and fantasy owners will see on paper; looks like a very good night. What they won’t see is his drops, most of which came on key third down plays. Edwards was thrown to 17 times by Quinn in the ball game, and nine passes were incomplete. Although the coverage by Bills CB Terrance McGee was outstanding all night, Edwards dropped several of those would-be completions, and lowered Quinn’s numbers. He needs to cure the illness he’s had all season: a very bad case of the “drops.” MNF Grade: C +

Paging the Bills receivers …
You have Lee Evans. You have James Hardy. You have Josh Reed. You have Roscoe Parrish. The Bills leading receiver (that wasn’t a running back) on Monday night……..rookie Steve Johnson? That would be all well and good for the Bills and Johnson, had he not made only three catches for 41 yards. The only other Buffalo receiver to catch a pass was Parrish, a 21-yard completion over the middle. Other than that, there was zero. Nothing for Evans, Hardy or Reed. A terribly disappointing night for the Buffalo wide receiving corps; we don’t remember Cleveland’s secondary being so good. This group has a lot of accounting for in the next week. MNF Grade: D -

Tight Ends:

Kellen Winslow, Cleveland
Not really sure things are working out the way Winslow expected it to go this season. Only weeks after feeling betrayed by the team, the former star tight end just has not produced the numbers we’re sure most of Cleveland expects him to. Three catches for 40 yards against Buffalo is just average for a prolific tight end that used to be a dynamic play-maker for this Browns team. Much like Edwards, Winslow caught less than half the passes that were thrown his way. This isn’t going to cut it for a once viable fantasy option. MNF Grade: C

Bills tight ends?
With both quarterbacks under 200 yards passing, it was an all-around slow night for most receivers and tight ends. It was certainly no exception for the Bills, who had only six catches between four targets while Lynch alone had 10 receptions. Robert Royal and Derek Fine each made only one catch apiece, for a total of 28 combined yards. These guys shouldn’t feel too bad; Buffalo’s offense isn’t tailored around tight end production and the receivers didn’t have a much better night (see above). MNF Grade: C

Defense/Special Teams:

Cleveland
The Browns forced four Buffalo turnovers, including three interceptions off Edwards in the first quarter alone. Cleveland only scored nine points off the four takeaways, but their defense played steady for most of the night. Of the 334 total yards given up, 177 were earned by Marshawn Lynch alone. The Browns defense shut down Lee Evans and James Hardy, which is a positive for a questionable secondary. MNF Grade: B -

Buffalo
This night was all about Leodis McKelvin on special teams. His 98-yard touchdown return immediately after Cleveland’s touchdown put the Bills back in the game and had fans in Ralph Wilson Stadium erupting. Other than that, the Bills defense did a fairly good job against Brady Quinn’s offense, limiting him to under 50 percent passing. The bad news: no turnovers forced. MNF Grade: C

Kickers:

Phil Dawson, Cleveland
Dawson did his job on Monday night and then some. The Browns placekicker nailed all of his five field goal attempts, from 40, 33, 43, 22, and of course, the eventual game-winning 56-yarder with the wind at his back. Two successful extra points raised his scoring total to 17 points on a great kicking night. MNF Grade: A

Rian Lindell, Buffalo
There usually has to be a goat in a close game, and unfortunately Lindell takes the honors in this one. He did make all three of his extra points, and two field goals from 26 and 31 before the fourth quarter. Regrettably, his night came down to one missed Bills field goal that fittingly sailed “wide right.” MNF Grade: C +

Join us next Monday night from the Big Easy as the suddenly first-place Green Bay Packers (5-5) battle the New Orleans Saints (5-5) inside the Superdome.