The Browns of the last half of the 1980s had a lot of offense.
In fact, the 1988 season could have been called The Year of the Quarterbacks. The Browns went through four different starting quarterbacks and yet, because of all the talent on the rest of the offense, they still managed to finish 10-6 and make the playoffs as a wild card. As such, it’s one of the greatest stories in team history.
But within The Year of the Quarterbacks was The Day of the Defense, and it occurred 27 years ago today, on Oct. 16, 1988, against the Philadelphia Eagles.
The defense sacked Randall Cunningham nine times, tied for the second-most in team history, and intercepted him twice, both by cornerback Frank Minnifield. The Eagles managed just 119 total yards as the Browns gained a dominant 19-3 win before another capacity crowd of 78,787 at Cleveland Stadium. It marked the third time on the year that the defense had not allowed a touchdown.
By this, their seventh game of the year, the Browns (4-3) were already on their fourth quarterback in Don Strock, a longtime former Miami Dolphins backup who was signed on a golf course as Bernie Kosar, Gary Danielson and Mike Pagel began succumbing to injuries in lightning-quick fashion.
Strock, who had come on in relief the previous week when Pagel was knocked out with a separated shoulder in a disappointing 16-10 home loss to the Seattle Seahawks, got his first start and turned in his second straight good performance. He completed 11 of 18 attempts for 189 yards and two touchdowns, a 15-yarder to Webster Slaughter and an 18-yarder to fellow wide receiver Reggie Langhorne. Those two scores, sandwiched around Matt Bahr’s second field goal of the day, a 37-yarder, allowed the Browns to outscore the Eagles 16-0 in the second half to break open a 3-3 halftime tie.
But Slaughter, who had a team-high four receptions for 50 yards, broke his forearm in the fourth quarter and missed eight games.
Brian Brennan added three catches for 79 yards.
With a season-best total of 182, the Browns had almost as many yards on the ground as they did through the air. Kevin Mack had 100 yards on just 16 carries, while Earnest Byner had 74 yards on 17 tries.
Former Ohio State star running back Keith Byars caught seven passes for 50 yards for the Eagles.
The Browns were hoping to get Kosar back the next week when they traveled to meet the Phoenix Cardinals. With the boost that Kosar was expected to give the offense, along with a defense that was playing extremely well, head coach Marty Schottenheimer thought his team was ready to kick it into gear as it got to the midway point of the season.
