So you think wide-open wide receiver Corey Coleman’s dropped pass was big last Sunday in the Browns’ 28-24 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field, huh?
Yeah, it was. It likely cost the Browns the game, denying them their first win of the season.
But it pales in comparison to the magnitude of even more wide-open wide receiver Dennis Northcutt’s dropped pass against the Steelers at Heinz Field exactly 15 years ago. It likely cost the Browns the AFC divisional playoff game, denying them their first postseason win in the expansion era.
It was on Jan. 5, 2003 that the Browns, after Northcutt let a Kelly Holcomb pass slip through his fingers on a third-and-12 play with three minutes left that would have sealed a 33-28 victory, went on to lose 36-33.
Northcutt was so wide open that there was no one within about 18 yards of him. He might still be running if he had caught it.
But he didn’t. After having a great day with a team-leading six receptions for 92 yards and two touchdowns, Northcutt failed the Browns when they needed him the most.
What was even more frustrating for Northcutt and the Browns was that his second TD catch, a 15-yarder from Holcomb, provided them with a 24-7 lead with 12:11 left in the third quarter. It looked like they were headed to an easy victory. The score was set up by Northcutt’s 59-yard punt return. How’s that for the clincher?
Holcomb, who had come on in the 24-16 playoff-clinching win over the Atlanta Falcons the week before after Tim Couch broke his leg, had the game of his life by completing 26-of-43 passes for 429 yards, the second-most in Browns playoff history, and three touchdowns. Four of those completions went to wideout Kevin Johnson, who rolled up 140 receiving yards, 83 of which came on one grab.
But it still wasn’t enough.
In the Cleveland locker room afterward, middle linebacker Earl Holmes, a former Steeler, summed it up best when he said to strong-side linebacker Darren Hambrick sitting two stalls away, “Man, we really blew that one, didn’t we?”
Yes. Yes, they did.
In fact, in more ways than one, the Browns dropped the ball big-time that day, much more so than they did last Sunday.
