CLEVELAND – This week, the New York Jets beat the clock.

Quincy Carter threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Justin McCareins with 5:32 remaining as the Jets bounced back from an embarrassing loss with an ugly 10-7 win over the Cleveland Browns yesterday.

A week ago, the Jets (7-3) bungled away a victory against Baltimore when they failed to manage time wisely and because of some questionable play calling. New York cleaned up those issues, but there wasn’t much else the Jets did well offensively until Carter rallied them from a 7-3 deficit with a 75-yard TD drive.

Sacked six times and under pressure all afternoon, Carter completed a crucial third-and-11 pass to McCareins, who stretched out to pick up the first down at Cleveland’s 24. After a 13-yard pass to Santana Moss, Carter hit Mc-Careins, who stepped out of a tackle and went in for the TD.

New York’s LaMont Jordan, filling in for a banged-up Curtis Martin, rushed for 61 yards in the fourth quarter. He ground out 34 yards as the Jets ran out the final 3:55 to hand the Browns (3-7) their fourth straight loss.

Safety Erik Coleman had a key sack to end Cleveland’s final drive.

Martin rushed for 88 yards on 17 carries. In the first quarter, he went over 1,000 this season and joined Hall of Famer Barry Sanders as the only players in NFL history to begin their careers with 10 straight 1,000-yard seasons.

However, Martin bruised his right knee in the second quarter and carried the ball just twice in the fourth as the Jets rode the powerful Jordan, who came in with 180 yards this season.

The Browns were booed off the field by their fans after dropping their fifth in six games.

Quarterback Jeff Garcia didn’t play after halftime after injuring his throwing shoulder late in the first half. Kelly Holcomb couldn’t rally Cleveland, completing just 4 of 10 passes for 32 yards.

Garcia appeared ready to come in, but embattled Browns coach Butch Davis stuck with Holcomb.

Browns kicker Phil Dawson missed two field goals. He entered the game having made 27 in a row, the NFL’s longest current streak. Dawson’s miss with 11:27 left gave the ball to the Jets at their 25. Jordan powered up the middle on four straight runs as New York moved into Cleveland territory. Carter, who finished 11-of-20 for 116 yards, then had three straight completions to cap a scoring drive that kept New York in the thick of the AFC playoff race.

The Browns, who came in with just 14 sacks, got to Carter five times in the first half while holding the anemic Jets to just 79 yards.

New York’s biggest gain of the first half was a 19-yard run by Martin on the final play of the first quarter. However, on the next snap, Carter was dropped for a 4-yard loss by Gerard Warren. He was just 4-of-10 for 42 yards before halftime. The teams combined to go 0-for-15 on third downs during the first half.

Garcia’s 3-yard TD pass to Steve Heiden gave the Browns a 7-0 lead in the second quarter. New York pulled within 7-3 in the third quarter on Doug Brien’s 41-yard field goal.