Editor's note: Tony Grossi covers the Cleveland Browns for ESPN 850 WKNR.

MIAMI GARDENS, Florida

Terrelle Pryor said last week he would cut off his finger to win a game for the Browns. On Sunday, all he needed to do was kick a field goal. He did just about everything else.

To ease the burden on rookie quarterback Cody Kessler, who was making his first NFL start, Pryor was used as a Wildcat quarterback and the spark he gave to the offense was almost too much for the Miami Dolphins to handle.

Pryor ran for 21 yards and a touchdown, threw for 35 yards and had eight receptions for 144 yards. He also played deep safety one play to defend a Hail Mary pass that never came.

“That was one of the single-handed, most impressive performances from a player that I’ve seen in a while,” said left tackle Joe Thomas. “Pretty amazing for a guy that wasn’t in the league last year.”

But all of it wasn’t enough.

The Browns lost to the Dolphins in overtime, 30-24, largely because emergency kicker Cody Parkey missed three field goal tries, the last from 46 yards on the final play of regulation.

Parkey joined the team on Friday night after regular kicker Patrick Murray suffered a knee injury. Word after the game was that Browns coaches preferred to sign long-time Chicago Bears kicker Robbie Gould to fill the spot, but they were overruled by the front office.

Parkey, who kicked in 2014 with the Philadelphia Eagles and was out of the NFL last season, left his home Friday evening in Jupiter, Florida, to have a physical in Cleveland, and then hopped on the team plane Saturday afternoon to make his Browns debut. He never kicked with the Browns’ placement team until pregame warmups.

Nobody could have envisioned the workload Parkey would have and the role he would play in extending the Browns’ winless streak to three games under new coach Hue Jackson.

“I know everybody will say it came down to field goals, but I’m not going to put that kind of pressure on Cody,” Jackson said. “Cody just got off a plane with us and I don’t know him as well as I know this chair right here. It was tough.”

Parkey made field goals from 46, 48 and 38 yards. All of his misses were pulled left, from 41, 42 -- which doinked the upright -- and the game-winning attempt from 46.

“If you play in this league long enough, you’re going to miss some kicks,” Parkey said. “Unfortunately, I missed some big ones today. I can’t have them back, can’t do anything about them now. I just have to move on.”

The misses eradicated a supreme effort by the Browns’ coaches to overcome a week of injuries that left holes on the field and scars on the team’s psyche.

They also erased clutch performances by obscure players such as cornerback Briean Boddy-Calhoun, who had a 27-yard interception return for a touchdown in his first NFL game; and reserve linebacker Corey Lemonier, whose strip-sack of Ryan Tannehill and recovery of the ball at the Miami 27 with 20 seconds in regulation set up Parkey’s biggest miss.

Pryor was exhausted after the game and admitted he lost his focus on one of the plays he did not make -- a pass from Kessler near mid-field that was defended by cornerback Byron Maxwell near the end of regulation.

“I’m very dissatisfied with myself, but I’m very proud of my teammates,” Pryor said.

Everybody was pleased with Kessler, who overcame a shaky first series that included a delay-of-game penalty on the first play, a lost snap on the third play and a lost fumble on his fourth play.

Kessler said the first hit on the sack by Cameron Wake “knocked the nerves out of me.”

Thereafter, Kessler displayed poise, pocket maneuverability, pretty good decision-making and accuracy on his passes. He also overcame a difficult outing by right tackle Austin Pasztor -- who had three holding penalties, two false starts and several hurries by Wake -- to make up a 24-13 deficit in the fourth quarter.

Kessler (21 of 33 for 244 yards, 85.9 rating) did not throw an interception and managed to connect with Pryor (for 25 yards) and rookie Ricardo Louis (28) on a TD drive to draw close, and with Pryor (40) on the game-tying field goal drive. He also lofted a nice touch pass to Gary Barnidge for a two-point conversion to cut the Miami lead to three points in the fourth quarter.

In the pivotal fourth quarter, Kessler outplayed Tannehill (25 of 39 for 319 yards, three TDs and two interceptions). Tannehill got the win on his second possession of overtime when a Browns blitz failed and he found Jarvis Landry wide open for a 32-yard gain. On the next play, running back Jay Ajayi scampered around left end 11 yards for the touchdown.

Kessler was sacked three times and hit unofficially another six times. After one, he lay on the ground long enough for officials to have him checked out for a concussion. Kessler said that hit was actually to his arm and he was fine.

“He was gritty,” Thomas said. “He played really, really well. Amazingly unflappable for a rookie third-string quarterback playing his first game in a surprisingly loud environment.”

All in all, Kessler’s performance had to leave the Browns encouraged about the coming games while Josh McCown heals a broken left collarbone.

But Jackson wanted nothing to do with moral victories.

“I think we’re getting better,” he said. “But the better part for me and for them is to lead to wins. That’s what we all want. There are no feel-good stories and ‘all you guys fought a good fight.’ I’m not into that. I’m into winning and losing, and right now we’re losing.”

The prospects of Pryor enlarging his Wildcat role, Kessler’s development and the future return of Josh Gordon and Corey Coleman suddenly have turned this Browns’ season a lot more interesting.

“This thing can get ugly [for defenses],” Pryor said.