Their offense had gotten a little staid and predictable.
 
The Browns needed to get some of the pizzazz back.
 
And they did just that 26 years ago today, on Oct. 29, 1989, but it took until the second half of their game against the Houston Oilers for it all to unfold.
 
Pulling out all the stops – and tricks – the Browns bedazzled the Oilers and a full house of 78,765 at Cleveland Stadium with a roundly entertaining 28-17 win.
 
The Browns trailed 10-0 at halftime and, offensively at least, looked bad doing it. Tough times call for tough measure, so at halftime, they decided to let it all hang out.
 
They scored three touchdowns in the third quarter – two of which came in unique ways – to go ahead 21-17.
 
The first was on a three-yard scramble by none other quarterback Bernie Kosar, who had just one career TD run going into the game.
 
Kosar then threw an 80-yard pass to wide receiver Webster Slaughter – on a flea-flicker play, no less.
 
With the Oilers looking for all kinds of crazy stuff, the Browns fooled them with something conventional when Kosar and Slaughter hooked up on another long pass, this one covering 77 yards.
 
Then, with one last surprise, the Browns added an exclamation point to their performance when Eric Metcalf found wide receiver Reggie Langhorne for a 32-yard TD on a halfback-option pass.
 
The Oilers, who were known for their high-flying offense run by Warren Moon, could only stand there in stunned silence with their mouths open. They had been one-upped by the Browns.
 
Buoyed by his two long scores, Slaughter had four receptions for 184 yards, which is still fifth-most in team history. It is two yards less than the total he had just six days before in a 27-7 win over the Chicago Bears.
 
Talk about a big week!
 
Langhorne added four catches for 59 yards, while Metcalf caught six catches for 46 yards to go along with his TD pass and a team-high 47 yards rushing.
 
Kosar attempted just 19 passes, but he completed 14 of them for 262 yards and the two TDs with two interceptions. As such, he bettered Moon, who was 15 of 25 for 241 yards and one TD with no interceptions.
 
The Browns, with just a .500 record after a disappointing home loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers two weeks earlier, were now 5-3 and in a first-place tie in the AFC Central.
 
And nearly as important was the fact that they had their offensive mojo back.