ATLANTA -- Forty-four seconds remained in the Georgia Dome on Sunday.

The Atlanta Falcons had just gone ahead by one, turning a brutally bad Brian Hoyer interception into the go-ahead field goal.

That pick was the third of the day for Hoyer, all poor decisions or throws, all leading to him lamenting the fact he had let his team down.

But with 44 seconds left, Hoyer had one last chance.

What was the Cleveland Browns quarterback thinking as he trotted on the field with three timeouts, down one?

“Nothing to lose, really,” he said. “Go out and play the best I can. I’ve already played probably the worst game of my career as it is. Go out and play fearless.”

The worst game of his career included three interceptions and no touchdowns.

It included a bad first-half throw on the run to an open Jim Dray that was intercepted.

It included a bad decision on first-and-goal from the 6 as he tried to float a pass in the back of the end zone to Josh Gordon that was intercepted. And it included another bad interception on a misread to Gordon that set up Matt Bryant’s 53-yard field goal that put the Falcons ahead.

“The last one,” Hoyer said, “I thought I lost the game for us.”

Except it didn’t. Because Hoyer didn’t let it.

On the sideline, left tackle Joe Thomas told Hoyer the Browns would drive and win on a field goal. He wasn’t the only believer.

“We didn’t ever think he wouldn’t be able to do it,” Joe Haden said.

“Our faith never wavered,” tight end Gary Barnidge said. “We have complete trust in him. He made a few bad throws, but that happens. That happens to everybody.”

That’s all easy to say after a win of course, but sometimes the key to getting that win is having that belief -- which was buttressed by the fact the Browns had three timeouts.

“If it’s one timeout and 30-some seconds, then it gets a little iffy,” Donte Whitner said.

Atlanta went against what the Browns expected in coverage, and the Browns took advantage. The Falcons brought pressure all game, which opened up throwing lanes in the middle of the field. Instead of playing protect and forcing the Browns to take short throws, they continued to pressure on the final possession.

After a first-down incompletion, Hoyer threw in the face of the blitz to Miles Austin for 11 yards on an out route.

After a timeout, Hoyer stepped up and to the right to avoid pressure from Kroy Biermann and found Gordon for the throw that brought hope to life -- a 24-yard gain to the Atlanta 45. It was catch No. 8 on the day for Gordon in his first game back from a 10-game suspension.

“I know those guys weren’t going to quit on me,” Gordon said, “so I made sure I wasn’t the one who was going to quit on them.”

After the second timeout, Hoyer found Barnidge over the middle for a catch between Dwight Lowery and Kemal Ishmael for 15 yards. Barnidge has made many big catches this season -- against New Orleans especially -- and keeps coming through in clutch circumstances.

“I appreciate him having the trust to throw it,” Barnidge said.

With 16 seconds left, the Browns could have tried a 47-yard field goal, but chose to run one more play, even though they used their last timeout after Barnidge’s catch.

Austin lined up alongside Barnidge, who drove upfield and took coverage with him. Austin cut underneath and caught Hoyer’s throw for 11 yards to the 19. He quickly got to the ground, which allowed the Browns to line and spike the ball to stop clock with five seconds left.

“We have worked that situation,” coach Mike Pettine said.

Hoyer, though, said the team worked on it last week for the first time in a month. Timing sometimes can be everything.

Billy Cundiff’s game-winner from 37 yards went inside the left upright as time expired.

It was a game of missed opportunities, mistakes, ebb and flow and two field goals in the final 49 seconds. But it was a game that the Browns in the past would lose.

This group didn’t, in part thanks to its perseverance as a whole, and in big part thanks to its quarterback’s ability to grind through a tough game and come through in the end (4-of-6 on the game-winning drive with a spike).

His effort might not have been good enough against some teams, but it was against Atlanta.

Sometimes they happen that way.