The Browns have had some close, and memorable, games over the years with the Oakland Raiders, who visit FirstEnergy Stadium on Sunday to renew the teams’ 45-year-old rivalry.
Let’s take a look at three of the best:
*Browns 24, Los Angeles Raiders 17 — Dec. 20, 1987 – at Los Angeles – How much improvement as a team did the Browns make from 1986 to ’87? Plenty, and this victory proves it.
In 1986, the Browns went to Los Angeles in mid-November and got manhandled by the Raiders, 27-14. It wasn’t nearly that close. It was the only loss the Browns suffered in their final nine regular-season games as they finished 12-4, won their second straight Central Division title and earned home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.
The Browns returned the favor in this game 13 months later, winning by a much more decisive fashion that the final seven-point margin of victory might seem to indicate.
After spotting the Raiders a 3-0 first-quarter lead, the Browns scored 27 unanswered points on Bernie Kosar’s two touchdown passes, a two-yarder to running back Earnest Byner and an 18-yarder to wide receiver Webster Slaughter, Byner’s 15-yard TD run and Matt Bahr’s chip-shot 20-yard field goal.
Only two TDs late in the game helped the Raiders to save face. But those who watched the game knew better. It was a beatdown.
Kosar passed for 294 yards and the two TDs. Slaughter had seven receptions for 115 yards, while wideout Brian Brennan made six catches for 79 yards.
Byner, with 74 yards on 12 carries, and Kevin Mack (55 yards on 17 tries) provided a nice one-two rushing punch.
The Browns went on to finish 10-5-1, won the division crown again and, for a second straight time, advanced to the AFC Championship Game against the Denver Broncos.
As such, they looked a lot like the 1986 team, but this one was much better. Just ask the Raiders.
*Oakland Raiders 14, Browns 12 – 1980 AFC divisional playoffs – Jan. 4, 1981 – at Cleveland – We won’t go into this game too much. We discuss it only because any mention of significant moments in the Browns-Raiders series has to include this contest.
The brutally cold weather – it was zero degrees with a minus-37 wind-chill at kickoff, near the heat of the day – made for incredibly challenging playing conditions.
The Browns struck first with cornerback Ron Bolton’s 42-yard interception return for a touchdown in the second quarter. But Don Cockroft missed the extra point – another product of the weather – and the Browns trailed 7-6 at halftime.
Two 30-yard field goals by Cockroft in the third quarter provided a 12-7 lead, but the Raiders went back on top 14-12 on Mark van Eeghen’s one-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.
The Browns then held the Raiders on fourth-and-inches at the Cleveland 15 with 2:22 left, giving the Kardiac Kids one more chance to work their magic. But the clock struck midnight and Cinderella’s carriage turned back into a pumpkin when, on a play called Red Right 88, Brian Sipe’s pass to tight end Ozzie Newsome was intercepted in the end zone by Mike Davis with just 41 seconds remaining to preserve the victory.
*Oakland Raiders 23, Browns 20 – Dec. 8, 1970 – at Oakland – In a game made up of three dramatic swings, the Raiders got in the last swing, knocking out the Browns in stunning fashion as aging George Blanda kicked a 52-yard field goal with three seconds left.
The Raiders bolted to a 13-0 second-quarter lead, but the Browns, who lost for the second straight week to fall to 4-4, cut it to 13-10 at halftime on Bill Nelsen’s 10-yard touchdown pass to running back Leroy Kelly and Don Cockroft’s 42 yard field goal.
Bo Scott’s 63-yard TD run and another Cockroft field goal, this one from 32 yards, completed a 20-0 Browns run and gave them a 20-13 fourth-quarter lead. They seemed on their way to a victory.
But the Browns’ path began to be blocked when Blanda, replacing struggling Daryle Lamonica at quarterback, threw a 14-yard TD pass to Warren Wells to tie the score at 20-20.
The Raiders intercepted Nelsen at midfield and parlayed it into the winning field goal by Blanda, who had rescued the team with his heroics off the bench.
Just like Lamonica, Nelsen had a miserable day, completing just 9 of 28 passes for 110 yards and the one TD with three interceptions. He was replaced in the lineup the following week by rookie Mike Phipps. That was the beginning of the end of Nelsen’s great – but short – run in Cleveland.
