Editor’s note: The following, about the contest against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sept. 28 at Tampa Stadium, is the fourth 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.
This is why they were known as the Kardiac Kids.
It was 35 years ago today, on Sept. 28, 1980 at Tampa Stadium, that the Browns built an 18-point lead over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers five minutes into the fourth quarter and then had to hold on for dear life to win 34-27.
The Bucs had the ball at the Cleveland 20 as time ran out, allowing the Browns to escape with their second win in a row to improve to 2-2.
That’s the way the Browns throughout 1980. No lead was too big to lose, and no deficit was too big to overcome. It provided a roller-coaster ride for their fans’ emotions.
But on this blistering afternoon – the apparent temperature was in excess of 100 degrees – the Browns nearly pushed the envelope too far.
The Browns trailed 13-3 in the second quarter, with only Don Cockroft’s 35-yard field goal to show for their efforts, before they went on a tear, scoring 28 unanswered points – four touchdowns — over the next two quarters to seemingly put the game away.
Brian Sipe threw three scoring passes, three- and 43-yarders to running back Calvin Hill, a 13-yarder to wide receiver Ricky Feacher and an eight-yarder to running back Charles White to make it 31-13 with 10 minutes remaining. The Browns appeared headed to an easy win.
But then Bucs quarterback Doug Williams went to work, throwing two short TD passes sandwiched around Cockroft’s 36-yard field goal to put the score at 34-27.
Tampa recovered an onside kick following the second TD and then marched to the edge of the red zone before the clock hit all zeroes.
Sipe and Williams were carbon copies of one another, both firing three touchdown passes. Sipe threw for 318 yards with one interception and Williams had 343 yards with two picks.
Wide receiver Reggie Rucker led the Cleveland receivers with four catches for 79 yards, and Hill’s only two receptions went for scores.
But a win is a win is a win, and the Browns didn’t care how it came. For in surviving the Bucs’ comeback, they had finally climbed out of the hole they had dug themselves with their 0-2 start.
