Do you believe it? 

Even the late Robert (Believe It Or Not) Ripley would have had a difficult time believing what unfolded on the floor of AT&T Stadium Sunday in Dallas.

No, it's not that the Browns won their third straight game and handed the Cowboys their third loss in four games with a highly entertaining, but teeth-gnashing 49-38 victory.

Ripley would not have believed the Browns scored that many points against the Cowboys and held a 41-14 lead after three quarters, twice taking advantage of turnovers in a 24-point second quarter. They were playing elite type football. On both sides of the football. Believe it. 

Even ardent Browns fans had to blink as the Cleveland offensive line created one hole after another. At times, it seemed surreal. This was not supposed to happen, especially on the road. A laugher loomed. Were those really the Browns?

Head coach Kevin Stefanski discovered the hard way that the depth at running back is more talented than at first thought. After Nick Chubb went down late in the opening quarter, Kareem Hunt, D'Ernest Johnson and Dontrell Hilliard all stepped up to the point where Chubb was not missed.

The offensive line, which seems to get better by the possession, manhandled the Dallas defensive line when Stefanski dialed up a run. Strong blocking on the flanks and at points of attack from the tight ends and receivers provided necessary space to gain chunks of yardage.

Ripley also would not have believed the Cleveland defense, which can be labeled mediocre with little argument, rose up after Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott burned it with a pair of first-quarter touchdown throws and stopped the red-hot Cowboys quarterback cold in the middle two quarters.

He definitely would not have believed the Cowboys then scored touchdowns on three straight possessions and converted all three two-point attempts in about eight minutes in the final quarter to pull within three points at 41-38 with 4:20 still left.

He would have believed, though, that Browns fans by then were reaching for any medicine they could get their hands on to quell their rising anxiety as the defense sagged. The inevitable Browns collapse loomed, playing out in what seemed like slow motion.

And he certainly would not have believed the Browns, with all their fine work in the first three quarters on the verge of turning to human excrement, had something they have been searching for for two decades: A clutch play with the game on the line. They got  two.

The first arrived in the form of a gadget play. One had worked earlier on their first possession of the game when Jarvis Landry, circling back against the formation, took a pitch from Chubb, stopped and left-handed a perfect throw to Odell Beckham Jr. from 37 yards.

This time, Stefanski called for a reverse from midfield with Beckham, who had caught a four-yard scoring pass on a play fake from Baker Mayfield early in the fourth quarter, the trigger on another play fake. And then he became OBJ, the playmaker.

Dallas defensive end Aldon Smith stayed home and waited for Beckham, who peeled all the way back to his 36 to avoid the slower Smith after taking a backward pitch from Mayfield. He broke up the right sideline, cut back inside at the Dallas 45 and wove his away to the end zone.

A game that was slipping away suddenly looked a lot more winnable than moments earlier. The sigh of relief from Cleveland probably seemed refreshing and yet relieving. 

But this was now a game where the Cleveland defense was absolutely spent and the Dallas offense still had fuel in the tank. Four minutes remained. It probably seemed like an eternity to Browns fans. And that's when clutch play No. 2 triggered the eventual celebration.

Prescott, who torched the Browns' secondary for an incredible 502 yards, negotiated his offense down to the Cleveland 8 with 1:40 still remaining. Anything was still possible at this point. Even Ripley might have believed that considering everything that had eventuated up to that point.

But cornerback Denzel Ward,  questionable for the game with a groin, made unquestionably the play of the game for the weary defense, barging in front of Cowboys receiver Amari Cooper (12 receptions, 134 yards and a TD) at the goal line for takeaway number three on the afternoon. 

Ripley for certain would not have believed these two teams would rack up 87 points, 1,074 total yards (508 for the Browns) and 68 first downs (33 for the Browns). And he definitely would not have believed the vaunted Cleveland running game would blast away for a preposterous 307 yards (7.7 yards a pop). 

Johnson (95 surprising and very welcome yards) and Hunt (71 yards and two touchdowns) more than made Chubb's absence a non-factor after he had gained 43 yards on six carries before departing. Hilliard contributed 19 yards on five attempts.

Kevin Burkhardt, who provided the television play-by-play for Fox, sure believed what had just witnessed. "I don't think these are the same old Browns anymore," he said. Ripley probably would have agreed.

Mayfield for the third straight game was a solid game manager, throwing just 30 times, completing 19 for a modest 165 yards and two touchdowns. Stefanski does not want glitz and scads of yardage from his quarterback. He wants victories.

Prescott dropped back to throw 61 times for his 502 yards. He completed 41 with just the one pick, although Browns defenders should have swiped two others. Very impressive, no? No. He was the losing quarterback in this one.

This unquestionably was a confidence builder for a team that was drilled by Baltimore getting out of the starting gate a month ago. Since then, the Browns have scored -- yes, unbelievably -- 118 points (39.3 a game). But the defense has belched 88. 

The offense has come through. And for a while Sunday, it looked as though the defense had come on strong to fulfill its end of the bargain. In the end, though, 3-1 never looked so good. It's the first time since 2001 they enter week five with that record and definitely on a roll.

Next up: The Indianapolis Colts at home, where the resurgent-- and should be taken seriously -- Browns are unbeaten in two games.