Today is the anniversary of two memorable days for former quarterback Bernie Kosar and the Browns.
It was exactly 27 years ago, on Oct. 23, 1988, that Kosar, returning after missing the previous six games with a sprained ligament in his throwing elbow, passed for 314 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Browns to a 29-21 victory over the then Phoenix Cardinals at Sun Devil Stadium.
A year later, on Oct. 23, 1989, Kosar threw for 281 yards and two TDs, including a 97-yarder to wide receiver Webster Slaughter that set records for the longest scoring pass both in club history and Monday Night Football history, as the Browns tallied 20 second-half points in a 27-7 triumph over the Chicago Bears before a capacity crowd of 78,722 at Cleveland Stadium and a national TV audience.
Kosar, who was hurt in the season opener at Kansas City, immediately jump-started a stagnant Cleveland offense with the way he played against the Cardinals. He threw two second-quarter TD passes, a three-yarder to former tight end turned backup tackle Rickey Bolden on a tackle-eligible play, and a 29-yarder to wide receiver Reggie Langhorne, to lead the Browns to a 17-14 halftime lead. Matt Bahr also kicked a 46-yard field goal.
Bahr’s 23-yard field goal was the only scoring in the third quarter to make it 20-14. The Cardinals went ahead briefly, 21-20, in the fourth quarter, but the Browns went back on top 27-21 when Kosar threw another scoring pass to Langhorne, a 25-yarder.
Sack artist Charles Buchanan – the defensive end had five on the year in limited playing time – then added some breathing room with a safety when he tackled former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Cliff Stoudt in the end zone.
Langhorne had five catches overall for 89 yards, while running back Earnest Byner, who led the team in both receptions and rushing yards in 1988 in the final year of his first stint with the Browns, had six catches for 64 yards.
Fullback Tim Manoa added 65 yards rushing.
But none of the individual stats – except those of Kosar, for obvious reasons – really meant anything, because all that mattered was that the Browns, even though they had already used four different starting quarterbacks because of injuries, were an impressive 5-3 at the halfway point of the year.
A year later against head coach Mike Ditka’s Bears, the Browns (4-3) led just 7-0 at halftime on Kosar’s three-yard TD pass to rookie running back Eric Metcalf.
Bahr, in the last of nine seasons with the Browns, kicked a 31-yarder and Metcalf ran seven yards for a score to make it 17-0 in the third quarter.
Kosar and Slaughter then combined on their 97-yarder in the fourth quarter to boost the margin to 24-0 and seal the deal.
After Jim Harbaugh – yes, that Jim Harbaugh, the one who is now head coach of the Michigan Wolverines – threw a short TD pass, Bahr hit a 35-yarder.
Kosar completed 22 of 29 passes, with eight of those going to Slaughter covering 186 yards, still the fourth-most in team history (he had 184 six days later against the Houston Oilers).
The Browns were back on track after losing three of their previous four contests, including two in a row, and had laid the foundation for what would turn out to be a four-game winning streak.
