After Cleveland kicker Phil Dawson hit a 56-yard field goal to give Cleveland its 29-27 lead in the final two minutes of the “Monday Night Football” game with Buffalo, ESPN commentator Tony Kornheiser was commiserating with Bills’ fans.

Noting that Dallas’ Nick Folk beat the Bills a year ago with a 53-yard, last-second kick on “Monday Night Football,” Kornheiser asked: “Can you be beaten on two Monday night home games on two impossibly long field goals?”

Undoubtedly, even some apolitical, long-suffering Bills’ fans were thinking: “Yes, we can.”

Sure enough, Dawson’s kick was the game winner in the Browns’ 29-27 victory, leading Kornheiser to remark about “the cruel fate” of the Bills.

The fate was sealed because the only Western New York quarterback who had a strong game Monday was Lackawanna’s Ron Jaworski. He was the star of ESPN’s show.

“Jaws” was all over the failures of Bills quarterback Trent Edwards. The analyst quickly noted that Edwards was waiting too long for receivers to make their breaks rather than anticipating their moves. “He’s not confident and seeing the field with clarity,” explained Jaworski. “He is staying in the pocket, waiting, waiting, not anticipating. If you wait for a receiver to get open, that is too late.”

Late in the game, he added that Bills offensive coordinator Turk Schonert had to “hide” his quarterback after his three early interceptions.

Jaworski also dissected the different running styles of Bills backs Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch. Jaworski said that Lynch spends too much time looking to make the big play rather than accept four-yard runs. He said Jackson hits the hole quicker and stays with it. The points seemed valid enough, even if Lynch had his best game of the season.

Jaworski also questioned the Bills’ decision to go with an empty backfield on a third down and one yard, telling the Browns a pass was called. And he was annoyed that the Bills had to call a timeout when the Browns defense was winded after a long Lynch run to the Browns’ 1-yard line.

Jaworski also smartly anticipated that the Browns only needed to get in position to give Dawson a 59-yard field goal try, since he was hitting them in warmups. “That’s not what a Bills’ fan wants to hear based on what happened against Dallas,” added “Jaws,” alluding to Folk’s 53-yarder. Sure enough, the Browns got Dawson in his range for the 56-yard game-winner.

But Jaworski and the ESPN crew didn’t address everything that many Bills’ fans may have wondering about. For instance, where was Bills receiver Lee Evans? It wasn’t until midway through the third quarter that play-by-play man Mike Tirico mentioned that the Bills top receiver hadn’t caught a ball.

At that point, you might have hoped that Jaworski would have explained how the Browns were shutting Evans down and ESPN’s cameras had shown some overhead shots to determine if he was open and Edwards was even looking for him.

Bills’ fans also might have expected Jaworski to weigh in on the Bills’ decision to have three running plays in the final minute to set up Rian Lindell’s 47-yard field goal attempt rather than attempt or risk a pass that might have gotten the kick closer. Jaworski said he expected the Bills would play it conservatively, but he didn’t say if he agreed with it.

It also would have been reasonable of Kornheiser — who acts like ESPN’s sports columnist — to raise the L word during the game. You know, J.P. Losman.

Kornheiser has raised some sillier things, and just asking the question might have led Jaworski to explain why Bills Coach Dick Jauron wouldn’t go to his backup quarterback even though the Bills coaches were “hiding” Edwards.

About the 12th time that Edwards checked down to Lynch on a short pass rather than throw downfield, the issue deserved to be raised. Then Jaworski could have explained how much more damaging a quarterback move would have been to Edwards’ sagging confidence.

Of course, the Bills had time to come back after Dawson’s kick. Tirico, who had his usual strong game, raised one thing surely on the minds of Bills’ fans as Lindell eerily lined up a for the 47-yard field goal that would have given the Bills a 30-29 lead.

Before Tirico even said the words “Scott Norwood” and “wide right,” they were undoubtedly on the minds of Bills’ fans. Then Lindell repeated history by hitting his kick wide right.

But hey, let’s look at the bright side. ESPN’s pictures of Niagara Falls and the area were fantastic, and the announcers were more than kind.

Kornheiser noted the three men all had upstate ties: He graduated from Binghamton; Jaworski is from Lackawanna; and Tirico graduated from Syracuse University. And the columnist noted before the game that people ROOT for teams like Buffalo and Green Bay in small cities “where the weather is tough, there is not a lot of money and you need to be resolute and hardy.”

Some more notes and quotes from ESPN’s game day coverage:

* The game had a combined 37.9 rating — 24.4 on Channel 7 and 13.5 on ESPN. That means 37.9 percent of area households were tuned in.

* The MNF crew gave some decent plugs to the area. On the afternoon program “Pardon the Interruption,” Kornheiser wore a Buffalo State College cap. Jaworski wore a black LaNova jacket that Kornheiser praised.

* In its pregame fantasy “projections,” ESPN had Edwards completing 19 of 27 passes for 228 yards, with a touchdown and an interception.

* Evans was projected to have caught four passes for 86 yards and a touchdown. Yeah, and it’s going to be 80 degrees and sunny in Orchard Park today.

e-mail: apergament@buffnews.com

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