Bears top Browns 16-10 in exhibition finale

CLEVELAND - If this is the defense that's supposed to carry the Bears this season, they shouldn't plan on going very far.

Behind second-string quarterback Brady Quinn and without top receiver Braylon Edwards and featured running back Jamal Lewis, the Browns still marched almost unimpeded through the Bears' defense on their first two possessions for a total of 138 yards on 22 plays and 10 points, all in the first quarter.

But thanks to backups and players who won't be around after the roster is trimmed to 53 Saturday afternoon, the Bears came out on top 16-10, finishing the preseason 1-3, while the Browns slipped to 0-4.

The Bears' defense was without tackles Tommie Harris and Dusty Dvoracek and safety Mike Brown, but it was still a disappointing performance, coming on the heels of last week's 37-30 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, in which the defense yielded 425 yards.

Coach Lovie Smith had threatened to play his starters until they produced some positive results to take into the regular season.

"You want to have a good taste in your mouth about everything we do - special teams, offense and defense," Smith said earlier in the week. "We may play the guys until we feel that way."

Evidently, Smith abandoned that plan. Either that or after two possessions he had seen as much as he could take from a first-team defense that allowed opponents to score on seven of their last nine possessions to end the preseason.

"I'm disappointed," Smith said. "The plan was to get a couple of three-and-outs and then take the players out, but it didn't turn out that way.

"We didn't play well. We have not played well; that's all you can say about it. We have not made all the effort we need to play well."

Players weren't pleased with their performance, but they weren't in panic mode either, even with the season opener against the Colts just nine days away.

"We have to get it cleaned up before we play Indianapolis," cornerback Charles Tillman said. "We don't have any room for error right now. Time is not on our side. I know something needs to happen."

The Bears' first-team offense wasn't much better than the defense Thursday night, failing to score and picking up just 2 first downs and 57 total yards on two possessions before taking the remainder of the night off.

The second-team offense got the Bears back in the game with a 95-yard TD drive that cut the deficit to 10-7 with 3:04 left in the first half.

Adrian Peterson rushed for 36 yards on 6 carries and caught a 7-yard pass. Rex Grossman, who completed 5 of 7 passes on his only possession of the night, connected with Brandon Rideau on a crossing route for a 19-yard touchdown.

It was Rideau's fourth catch of the preseason and team-best third touchdown reception. Rideau, a longshot to survive the final cut before the game started, added a 38-yard reception from third-team quarterback Caleb Hanie in the third quarter to set up Robbie Gould's 29-yard field goal that gave the Bears a 13-10 lead.

"He's played well in every game," offensive coordinator Ron Turner said of Rideau. "He's definitely piqued our interest."

On the final possession of the first half, Hanie hooked up with Mark Bradley five times for 52 yards to set up Robbie Gould's 48-yard field goal that tied the game at 10-10 as time expired.

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