Editor’s note: The following, about the contest against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Oct. 26 at Cleveland Stadium, is the eighth in a series of stories on the games that made up the Browns’ 1980 Kardiac Kids season. This is the 35th anniversary of that memorable year.
How does a team follow up a dramatic win?
By getting another one.
And that’s exactly what the Browns did 35 years ago today, on Oct. 26, 1980.
Brian Sipe passed for 349 yards and four touchdowns, including two in the decisive fourth quarter, as the Browns rallied from a 12-point deficit and edged past the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers 27-26 before a sellout crowd of 79,095 at Cleveland Stadium.
The win came a week after the Browns, rallying from a 21-13 fourth-quarter deficit, defeated the Green Bay Packers 26-21 on Sipe’s 46-yard TD pass to wide receiver Dave Logan with 16 seconds remaining.
In winning their third straight game to improve to 5-3 at the halfway point of the season, the Browns gained their first victory over Pittsburgh since 1976.
The Browns trailed 13-7 at halftime, and the deficit grew to 26-14 after three quarters. As such, things did not look good.
But Sipe, who was at his best when things were at their worst, had the Steelers right where he wanted them.
In the span of 3½ minutes midway through the fourth quarter, he threw a seven-yard touchdown pass to running back Greg Pruitt and then an 18-yarder to tight end Ozzie Newsome into the back right corner of the end zone to give the Browns a 27-26 advantage with 5:38 left.
Cornerback Ron Bolton then sealed the deal with an interception of quarterback Cliff Stoudt with 1:57 remaining.
The game started poorly for the Browns. Matt Bahr, who would begin a nine-year career with Cleveland the following season, booted a 27-yard field goal to give Pittsburgh a 10-0 lead in the first quarter.
Sipe’s five-yard scoring pass to running back Calvin Hill and another field goal by Bahr, a 22-yarder, in the second quarter had the Browns trailing by six, 13-7, at the break.
Sipe completed 28 of 46 passes and was intercepted once to go along with his four scores. Logan was his favorite receiver with eight catches with 131 yards. Greg Pruitt added eight receptions for 71, Newsome four grabs for 55 yards and wide receiver Reggie Rucker three catches for 47 yards.
Mike Pruitt had 82 yards rushing, averaging nearly five yards per attempt.
Now the Kardiac Kids, with those two comeback wins in a row, were rolling. And they would be hard to stop.
Next: Big win on a big stage.
