Falcons Hang On After Building an Early Lead : Interconference: Cleveland’s rally falls short in 17-14 loss, as Atlanta wins for fifth time in six games.

Jerry Glanville spent the week fretting over the punt-return ability of Eric Metcalf.

The Atlanta Falcons bottled up Metcalf on Sunday and still turned the makings of a rout into a close game, holding on for a 17-14 victory over the Cleveland Browns.

After building a 17-0 first-half lead while holding Cleveland to 42 yards, the Falcons had to survive a comeback led by Todd Philcox.

“We knew this game would come down to special teams and it would be the difference with Metcalf’s returns,” Glanville said.

The Falcons held Metcalf, who returned two punts for touchdowns against the Pittsburgh Steelers this season, to 17 yards on three returns. He also had a fair catch.

“I hurt my hand on one of the punts, but I don’t know what happened otherwise out there today,” Metcalf said.

Bobby Hebert passed for touchdowns of 14 yards to Andre Rison and eight yards to Mike Pritchard, and Norm Johnson kicked a 51-yard field goal as the Falcons won their third in a row and fifth in six games.

Both teams are 5-6.

Cleveland, losing its fourth in a row, started its comeback on the final play of the third quarter, when Philcox connected with Mark Carrier on a 35-yard touchdown pass.

The Browns cut their deficit to 17-14 with 3:31 to play when Philcox scored on a three-yard quarterback draw.

Cleveland spent its timeouts, eventually forcing a punt that gave the Browns possession on their 34 with 53 seconds to play. Chuck Smith’s eight-yard sack on the first play helped Atlanta survive. The Browns reached midfield as time expired.

“We had some ground to make up, but we just ran out of time in the end,” Brown Coach Bill Belichick said. “We were just a couple of plays away from winning the game.”

Hebert passed for 144 yards in the first half, then tailed off to 70 in the second.

“He was off a little in the second half because his elbow got stiff on him,” Glanville said.

Said Hebert, who didn’t mention the stiffness after completing 21 of 29 passes: “It felt better than last week. I think it will be even better next week.”