EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is the third in a four-part series on the top 41 Browns teams of all-time. Here we will chronicle spots 11 through 30.
The 1980s, especially the latter half, was a decade all about the heart for the Browns.
Heartstopping.
Heartwarming.
Heartbreaking.
Fulfilling to a great degree but at the same time frustrating.
In the four-year period from 1986-89, the Browns made it to the AFC Championship Game three times, capturing a number of close, exciting victories in the process.
But on each occasion, they were denied a trip to their first Super Bowl. Twice, in fact, they got so close that they could almost smell it, touch it, see it and feel it.
In the season during that stretch when they did not qualify for the conference title contest, they still proved their worth – and then some.
Though the Browns never got to the Super Bowl and play on the biggest stage in sports, they were still one of the top teams in the NFL during that time. And the overall quality of the those clubs is reflected by the fact that all four are among the top 20 teams the Browns have ever had.
Here’s a look:
Brown’s town
No. 20 – 1957 – finished 9-2-1 and in first place in the NFL’s Eastern Conference, 2½ games ahead of the runner-up New York Giants; lost 59-14 to the Detroit Lions in the NFL Championship Game – Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it. And if you don’t, then thank your lucky stars. Browns head coach Paul Brown wanted to take quarterback Len Dawson from Alliance (Ohio) High School and Purdue with the No. 6 overall pick in the 1957 NFL Draft. But the rival Pittsburgh Steelers, picking one spot ahead of the Browns, beat Brown to the punch and snagged Dawson out from under his nose. Disappointed, the coach went to plan B, Syracuse running back Jim Brown, and things turned out better than he could have ever hoped. The presence of Brown sparked a moribund offense from the year before, and in doing so sparked a moribund team. Coming off a 1956 season in which they went 5-7 and posted their first losing record, the Browns returned to the top of the conference on the strength of Brown’s running. He rolled for 942 yards and nine touchdowns, becoming the first Cleveland player to lead the NFL in rushing since Marion Motley with 810 yards in that first season in the league in 1950. As a result, the Browns scored 102 more points than they had the previous season. But the lack of strong quarterback play – Tommy O’Connell and rookie Milt Plum combined for just 12 touchdown passes with 14 interceptions – proved problematic in the title game against the Lions. Still, it was a good season, and with Brown being just a rookie and having a lot of room to grow, things looked bright for the future.
Third time’s not the charm
No. 19 – 1989 – finished 9-6-1 and in first place in the AFC Central, one-half-game ahead of the runner-up Houston Oilers; beat the Buffalo Bills 34-30 in the divisional playoffs and then lost 37-21 to the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship Game – In 1986, the Browns lost to the Broncos 23-20 in the conference title contest. In 1987, they lost to the Broncos again 38-33. So Cleveland, under first-year head coach Bud Carson, was determined to make sure that things would be different when the teams met again in 1989 with a trip to the Super Bowl once more on the line. But it was not meant to be. In fact, whereas the first two games were nailbiters that went right down to the wire, this one ended up being a rout as Denver took charge down the stretch and pulled away. That the Broncos scored so many points was almost as disheartening as the loss itself. Carson, a defensive genius from his days with the Steelers in the 1970s, had been brought in to devise a way to beat quarterback John Elway and the Broncos and kick in the door to the Super Bowl. Things looked promising when the Browns, after having switched to a 4-3 defensive scheme that was built around a strong pass rush, manhandled Pittsburgh 51-0 in the opener, handing the Steelers their most lopsided defeat ever, and then swarmed Elway in a last-play 16-13 win over Denver at Cleveland in Week 4. Kevin Mack’s great running in the regular-season finale at Houston provided a come-from-behind 24-20 victory that carried the Browns – literally and figuratively – to the division title. Then they held off the Buffalo Bills in the divisional playoffs to set up another shot at Elway and Co.
Dropping out of the playoffs
No. 18 – 1994 – finished 11-5 and in second place in the AFC Central, a game behind the champion Pittsburgh Steelers; earned a wild-card playoff spot; defeated the New England Patriots 20-13 in the wild-card round and then lost 29-9 to the Steelers in the divisional round – The Browns earned their first playoff bid in five years, since that 1989 season, with a dominating, punishing and physical defense that allowed just 204 points, a franchise record for a 16-game schedule. But they wanted more, and they were convinced they could get it. The one team that had had the Browns’ number all year was the Steelers, who won 17-10 in Cleveland in the teams’ first meeting in Week 2 and then 17-10 at Pittsburgh in the next-to-last game of the year to clinch the division title. The Browns had played good enough defense to win both of those games. They just needed to get better on offense. Winning the toss and taking the ball first in the third meeting in the playoffs at Three Rivers Stadium, the Browns used a sequence of pass plays they thought would be open. They were right. On their first play from scrimmage, quarterback Vinny Testaverde threw right on target to rookie wide receiver Derrick Alexander, who was standing all alone in front of the Pittsburgh bench. But he dropped the ball. Two plays later, on third down, Testaverde delivered another laser shot to Alexander, who was again all by himself near the Steelers sideline. The ball went right his hands once more. It sounds silly to infer that the momentum swung into Pittsburgh’s favor after just three plays and stayed there, but that’s exactly what happened. The Browns never recovered and, unlike the first two meetings, were not competitive at all. That put an end to a fine season, and an extremely odd one. This was the most unpopular playoff team in Browns history. Fans were still irate at head coach Bill Belichick for cutting iconic quarterback Bernie Kosar just 14 months before. They also didn’t like the fact that Belichick had stocked the team with a lot of ex-New York Giants he had coached during his stint there during the last half of the 1980s. If Belichick had beaten the Steelers and gotten to the AFC Championship Game, then it might have quelled the furor. But the defeat only served to fuel it even more. Belichick had told owner Art Modell the day he was hired in 1991 that it would take five years to return the Browns to prominence. Though he beat that timeline by a year, no one ever gave him credit for it because they didn’t like him.
Trouble at the top
No. 17 – 1988 – finished 10-6 and in second place in the AFC Central, two games behind the champion Cincinnati Bengals; earned a wild-card playoff spot and lost 24-23 to the Oilers in the wild-card round – Marty Schottenheimer was fired at the end of this season after he refused Modell’s demands to make changes on the coaching staff, including firing Schottenheimer’s brother, Kurt, who was in charge of special teams. That was a bizarre ending to a bizarre season, because in reality, Schottenheimer did his best coaching job since taking over midway through 1984 for the fired Sam Rutigliano. Schottenheimer had squeezed 10 wins out of the team and gotten it into the postseason despite the fact the Browns probably set an NFL record for injuries to starting quarterbacks. Five times that year the club lost its starter to injury, including Kosar twice along with Gary Danielson, Mike Pagel and Don Strock, the longtime Miami Dolphins backup who was coaxed out of retirement and signed off a golf course when the situation reached the crisis level . Yet the team was so talented overall, and Schottenheimer did such a good job of coaching it through each issue, that things didn’t turn out badly at all. The highlight of the year came in the regular-season finale at Cleveland when the Browns, down 23-7 to the Oilers in the third quarter in a game they had to win to make the playoffs, rallied for a 28-23 victory as Strock jumped into the fountain of youth and defied Father Time in putting on an incredible second-half passing performance.
A full Nelsen
No. 16 – 1968 – finished 10-4 and in first place in the NFL’s Century Division, one-half-game ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals; beat the Dallas Cowboys 31-20 in the Eastern Conference Championship Game and then lost 34-0 to the Baltimore Colts in the NFL Championship Game – With his team at 1-2 and going nowhere, especially offensively, Browns head coach Blanton Collier made one of the toughest decisions of his coaching career and benched injury-riddled quarterback Frank Ryan. After all, it was Ryan’s three touchdown passes to wide receiver Gary Collins that had paced the stunning 27-0 upset victory over the Baltimore Colts in the 1964 NFL Championship Game and made them all forever heroes in Cleveland. Heroes aren’t supposed to go out that way. Nonetheless, Collier replaced Ryan with Bill Nelsen, whom the club had acquired in a trade with Pittsburgh in the offseason. The move was another example of why Collier was such a genius, particularly offensively. The switch almost immediately sparked the offense – and the team overall – in a big way. The Browns captured eight in a row, their longest winning streak since 1954, and they scored 30 or more points in all but one of those games. They also dealt the Colts their only regular-season loss of the year, 30-20. The momentum carried right into the postseason as the Browns unseated the two-time conference champion Cowboys before losing to the Colts in a rematch in the NFL title game. The Browns had a two-pronged attack with Leroy Kelly, who led the NFL with 1,239 yards rushing, and wide receiver Paul Warfield, who became the first player in team history to have 1,000 yards receiving (1,067). Warfield also caught 12 scoring passes, one off the club record at the time. All that, plus Nelsen’s passing, helped overcome the fact Collins missed most of the season with injuries.
A Giant(s) collapse
No. 15 – 1958 – finished 9-3 and tied for first place with the Giants in the NFL’s Eastern Conference; lost 10-0 to the Giants in a special playoff game to decide the conference champion – The 9-2 Browns went into their regular-season finale at Yankee Stadium against the 8-3 Giants needing only a tie to clinch the conference title for the second straight season, and for the eighth time in nine years. With the score tied 10-10 late, they seemed to be on their way until Pat Summerall’s famous 50-yard field goal in a blizzard won it for the Giants, 13-10. The Giants then held Jim Brown to his worst day as a pro – eight yards rushing in seven carries – in winning in a special playoff game the following week back at New York to capture the Eastern title and advance to the league title game. So the Browns, who at one time thought they were in concerning the postseason, ended up being on the outside looking in. It was a rare time when head coach Paul Brown let a golden opportunity like that slip through his fingers. The Browns won their first five games of the year, and then four in a row. The only blemishes were two losses to the Giants by a combined seven points (New York won 21-17 at Cleveland) and a 30-10 rout at Detroit. Jim Brown continued his great play by upping his league-leading rushing total to 1,527 yards, nearly 600 more than he had had in 1957 as a rookie. In addition, his backfield mate, rookie Bobby Mitchell, rushed for 500 yards and averaged 6.3 yards a carry. But the Browns still didn’t have enough offensive firepower to beat the Giants.
Proving it
No. 14 – 1969 – finished 10-3-1 and in first place in the NFL’s Century Division, 4½ games ahead of the runner-up Giants; beat the Cowboys 38-14 in the Eastern Conference Championship Game and then lost 27-7 to the Minnesota Vikings in the NFL Championship Game – In Around the World in basketball, you have to hit the winning shot and then prove it by making it again before you can put your opponent out of the game and win. That’s exactly what the Browns did in 1969. They had upset the Cowboys 31-20 in the 1968 conference title game and then, to prove it was not a fluke, they beat them much more decisively – by 24 points — to win the East. In between those two triumphs, the Browns added an exclamation point to it all by routing Dallas 42-10 at Cleveland in a 1969 regular-season game. Collins and Warfield combined to catch 21 touchdown passes from Nelsen that year. The only two blights came against Minnesota in a 51-3 mid-season drubbing and then in the NFL title game.
Same time next year
No. 13 – 1987 – finished 10-5 and in first place in the AFC Central, a game ahead of the runner-up Oilers; beat the Indianapolis Colts 38-21 in the divisional round of the playoffs and then lost 38-33 to the Broncos in the AFC Championship Game – In this strike-shortened season, running back Earnest Byner fumbled the ball away just short of the goal line as he was running in with tying touchdown with a minute left in the AFC title game at Denver. The result was a second hard-to-swallow less to the Broncos in as many years with the Super Bowl on the line. But don’t blame Byner. He was the reason the Browns had gotten back into the game in the first place after failing behind 28-10 in the third quarter. Of the Browns’ regular-season losses, only one – 38-24 at San Francisco – was decisive. The other four came by a combined total of just 17 points. In the divisional playoffs against the Colts, linebacker Eddie Johnson turned around a 14-14 game with a big hit on quarterback Jack Trudeau, causing an interception by safety Felix Wright. Yes, the Browns were stocked with great players on both sides of the ball that year.
Stuck in the mud
No. 12 – 1965 – finished 11-3 and in first place in the NFL’s Eastern Conference, four games ahead of the runner-up Cowboys and Giants; lost 23-12 to the Green Bay Packers in the NFL Championship Game – The Browns went to bed in their hotel rooms in Appleton, Wis. the night before the title game against Green Bay with a real sense of confidence about winning a second straight championship. The night sky was clear. The dry conditions would make for a fast track at Lambeau Field, which would enable them to take advantage of their edge in speed. But an overnight snow turned the field into a muddy mess, which was perfect for the power-laden Packers. Green Bay used it to hand Cleveland just its second loss in the last eight games. The other defeat was in a meaningless contest against the Los Angeles Rams after the Browns had already clinched the conference title. Five times the Browns scored 34 or more points. All this without any help from Warfield, a rookie sensation from 1964 who missed almost all of the season with a broken collarbone.
Driving fans crazy — still
No. 11 – 1986 – finished 12-4 and in first place in the AFC Central, two games ahead of the runner-up Bengals; beat the New York Jets 23-20 in double-overtime in the divisional playoffs and then lost 23-20 to the Broncos in overtime in the AFC Championship Game – More than a quarter-century later, “The Drive” is still driving longtime Browns fans crazy. After earning home-field advantage throughout the playoffs with a 12-4 record, surviving double-OT to outlast the Jets in the divisional playoffs and then going ahead of Denver 20-13 with less than five minutes to go in regulation, the Browns seemed destined to get to the Super Bowl for the first time. Who – and what – could stop them? Elway and a 98-yard death march, that’s who and what. It forever broke the hearts of everybody in Northeast Ohio, and beyond. The Browns hadn’t been that close to the Super Bowl before, and they haven’t been that close since.
NEXT: The top 10.
