BEREA, Ohio -- The Browns hit the seasons halfway point in an all-too-familiar funk. Steve Bartkowski Jersey . They have lost three straight games, sensational punt returner Travis Benjamin is done for the year with a knee injury, trade rumours about top wide receiver Josh Gordon persist and Cleveland appears headed toward another disappointing finish. Theres the usual doom. Just not as much gloom. "I feel like a lot of good things are happening," said linebacker Paul Kruger. Less than 24 hours after a 23-17 loss at Kansas City -- a game the Browns could have won if they had minimized their mistakes in the second half -- there were reasons for optimism in Cleveland. A strong performance by quarterback Jason Campbell, making his first start in 11 months, gave the Browns (3-5) a welcomed boost after starter Brian Hoyer sustained a season-ending knee injury on Oct. 3 and Brandon Weeden played so poorly in consecutive losses. Campbell shook off a sluggish start and finished 22 of 36 for 293 yards and two touchdowns against the Chiefs tough defence. Campbells outing was a much-needed shot in the arm, and coach Rob Chudzinski didnt waste any time in naming the nine-year veteran his starter for this weeks home game against Baltimore. "I thought Jason played very well," said Chudzinski, already on his third quarterback through eight weeks of his first season. "After looking at the tape, he was able to manage the game. He was able to escape and get out of some trouble and create some plays. He did a good job from a decision-making standpoint as far as protecting the football and he gave us a lift in that game, so were real pleased with how he played." Kruger said Campbell invigorated the Browns on both sides of the ball. "He did a great job," Kruger said. "He made plays and put us in a position to win." Campbells composure allowed the Browns offence, which didnt get its initial first down until the final four minutes of the second quarter, to turn things around in the second half. Cleveland was a play or two away from an upset, but couldnt finish the job. "The guys did a great job stepping up protecting for him," said wide receiver Davone Bess, who dropped three passes and fumbled away a critical punt. "Jason stood in the pocket and made some crucial, crucial throws. He had a really solid game. ... We just fell short." Bess blunder with 7:13 left in the fourth was Clevelands most costly miscue. After Benjamin tore his anterior cruciate ligament, Bess took the speedsters spot returning punts. With Kansas City leading 20-17, Bess tried to catch a punt on the run, but took his eyes off the ball, coughed it up and Kansas City recovered. If Bess had held on, the Browns would have had the ball near midfield with a chance to tie the score or possibly take the lead. "I had it," said Bess, who also didnt handle a fourth-down pass from Campbell with 2:12 remaining. "When I got my eyes up to see where the defenders were, they were there and I must not have had it 100 per cent. Its just discipline. Those can be game-changing plays. It was just an opportunity I saw and I swung." Hell get another swing or two as Chudzinski plans to stick with Bess as Benjamins replacement. "I think that Davone is everything you could ask for in terms of a guy working and doing the things to be the very best he can," Chudzinski said. "Hes a pros pro in that way. I have faith in him that hell make the corrections." As the Browns begin focusing on the Ravens (3-4), theres still a chance Gordon wont be with them. The second-year wide receiver has been the subject of trade speculation for weeks and the Browns will listen to offers on Gordon up until Tuesdays 4 p.m. deadline. Theres a market for Gordon, who had five catches for 132 yards and a TD on Sunday. Hes arguably Clevelands best player, but hes also their most enigmatic as another failed drug test could lead to a minimum one-year league suspension. CEO Joe Banner and general manager Michael Lombardi could make a deal for the right package. Chudzinski, though, said the Browns have no intention of letting Gordon leave. "We have no plans of trading any of our guys, including Josh," he said. "Were not shopping him." Chudzinskis first eight games have been challenging with injuries, quarterback changes and tough losses. Its only been half a season and felt like several. But through it all, the Browns have shown resiliency and Chudzinski is confident his team will continue to improve over the final eight games. "Its been a tough stretch," he said. "What guys have learned playing some very good teams is weve played -- whether its a half, whether its a quarter, whether its a couple series or three quarters of games weve played very well at times. Its a matter of consistently putting it together for four quarters. Thats what the mission is were on right now." Dwight LoweryJersey For Sale . Bryan Murray made an announcement after the GMs meetings - and as was reported by Pierre LeBrun a couple of weeks ago - that Jason Spezza wants a trade out of Ottawa. Whats the latest on that? Pierre LeBrun: Yes, he made it public. Falcons Jerseys . -- Kyle Blanks homered in his home debut at the Coliseum and Derek Norris capped Oaklands five-homer day with a grand slam and the Athletics snapped a season-long four-game losing streak with a 10-0 win over the Detroit Tigers on Monday.PARIS - Three-time world champion Patrick Chan improved his own world record in the mens short program to take the lead at the Trophee Bompard on Friday. The Toronto native warmed up with a perfectly executed quad toeloop-triple toeloop jump, nailed a triple axel and a triple lutz and rounded his program off with a lightning fast step sequence to score 98.52 points. He earned 98.37 at the worlds in March. That inspired Japanese skaterr Yuzuru Hanyu, who followed Chan onto the ice and got the crowd going with an energetic performance to move into second place with 95. Kroy Biermann Elite Jersey. 7. American skater Jason Brown is in third place with 84.77 heading into Saturdays free skate. Earlier, Olympic runners-up Pang Qing and Tong Jian took the lead in the pairs competition after the short program ahead of world bronze medallists Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford. ' ' '
