Cleveland Guardians Tickets and Stadium Guide

The Browns were 3-0 early in the 1978 season and everybody was wondering if they were for real.

The Browns and their fans wanted to believe they were, but no one knew for sure. However, if they could beat the Steelers at Pittsburgh, something they had been unable to do since Three Rivers Stadium opened in 1970, then the Browns might just be a legitimate contender.

But it would be oh, so difficult to do so. After all, the Steelers were also 3-0 heading into the Sept. 24 matchup and were trying to win the Super Bowl for the third time in five years. Spoiler alert: Pittsburgh captured the Super Bowl title following not just the 1978 season but the 1979 campaign as well, giving the franchise a historic four championships in six years.

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That the Browns came within a whisker of actually doing it, losing 15-9 in overtime on Terry Braddhaw’s 37-yard touchdown pass to tight end Bennie Cunningham on a gimmick
play, no less, a flea-flicker, proved beyond any shadow of a doubt that first-year head coach Sam Rutigliano’s guys were definitely making strides and headed in the right direction.

The Browns traded the Steelers punch for punch through regulation, which was a battle of field goals that Cleveland was winning 9-3 through three quarters on kicks of 43, 30 and 41 yards by Don Cockroft. But Roy Gerala, after opening the scoring with a 19-yarder, hit 33- and 36-yarders in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 9-9 and force OT.

Brian Sipe and Bradshaw were both 14 of 32 passing, Sipe for 139 yards with two interceptions — he had completions to seven different receivers — and Bradshaw for 208 yards with two picks, both by safety Thom Darden, giving him five for the season.

With Greg Pruitt missing a second consecutive game with injuries, Mike Pruitt took over again as the feature back and had 43 yards in 14 attrmpts. Pittsburgh’s Franco Harris carried 26 times for 84 yards, and Lynn Swann caught six passes for 83 yards.

So close, so close, but the Browns had nothing to show for it.

Steve King

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