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Steve King
Baker staying, Dieken departing as Browns close season
Baker Mayfield, not yet the Browns franchise quarterback, appears to be staying.
Doug Dieken, who became a beloved Browns iconic figure years ago, is definitely leaving.
That, in a nutshell, are the takeaways on Sunday as the Browns beat AFC North champion Cincinnati 21-16 at FirstEnergy Stadium in the regular-season finale and swept the season series with the Bengals for the second straight season. Full Story
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Doug Dieken and Jim Donovan – Simply the best
Browns have a championship team with Jim Donovan and Doug Dieken
Dub Jones, Doug Dieken and Dino Lucarelli to carry Browns history forward
Mount Rushmore of color analysts
Mount Rushmore of Browns left tackles
Beloved Doug Dieken to retire at season’s end
Win one for Doug Dieken
POSTGAME NOTES PROVIDED BY THE BROWNS MEDIA CENTER
Cleveland Browns vs. Cincinnati Bengals
FirstEnergy Stadium | Jan. 9, 2022
Team
The Browns beat AFC North-foe Cincinnati Bengals 21-16 to close out their 2021 regular season record at 8-9.
This is the first time the Browns swept the Bengals in back-to-back seasons since 1993-94.
The team rushed for 205 yards on 41 carries today. It is the team’s fourth-highest rushing total this season and fourth time the club has eclipsed 200 rushing yards in a game in 2021. It also ties for second in the league with Indianapolis.
The Browns scored one rushing touchdown today to bring their season total to 20, which is tied for the fourth-most by the team in franchise history.
The team finished the regular season ranked third in rushing yards with 2,471 this season and third (4,845) dating back to 2020.
The 2,471 rushing yards passed the 2020 team (2,374) for fourth most by any Browns team in a single-season.
The rushing attack has produced 100 yards or more in 24 games dating back to last season, tying for fourth in the NFL with Arizona and Denver. The team is 18-6 in those games.
The group has rushed for over 150 yards in 16 games since the beginning of 2020, which tie for second in the league with Baltimore.
This season, the unit rushed over 150 rushing yards in 10 games, matching the 1947 team for the second-most by any Browns team in a season.
The 43.0 sacks by the defense this season are tied with the 1984, 2000 and 2001 Browns teams for fifth most by any Browns team in a season.
RB D’Ernest Johnson
RB D’Ernest Johnson scored his third touchdown of the season and finished with a game-high 25 carries for 123 rushing yards.
Today marked the second time in his career he has surpassed 100 rushing yards in a game.
RB Nick Chubb
RB Nick Chubb rushed the ball nine times for 58 yards (6.4 avg) today. He also added a catch for two yards.
Chubb is currently second in the NFL with 1,259 rushing yards and second in rushes of 10-plus yards with 41 this season. He is the only player in the league with 950-or-more rushing yards in each of the past four seasons.
Chubb is eight rushing scores away from tying Otto Graham (44) for fifth-most in franchise history, despite playing in just 58 games.
Chubb notched his fifth consecutive game with 50-or-more scrimmage yards. In addition, it was the 48th of his career, the most by a Brown in their first 58 career games.
Chubb has reached 50 rushing yards in 46 games since he was drafted in 2018, passing Jim Brown for most by a Brown in their first four years. The 46 is also the most amongst all Browns in their first 58 games.
He also logged his 46th game with 50-or-more rushing yards, the third-most by an active player behind Ezekiel Elliott (49) and Adrian Peterson (48) in their first 58 games.
The 46 games Chubb has rushed for more than 50 yards are third-most by an active player in their first four seasons.
DE Myles Garrett
DE Myles Garrett raised his single-season franchise sack record to 16.0 after recording one sack today.
Garrett’s 58.5 sacks are four away from passing Clay Matthews for the most in franchise history.
His 58.5 career sacks are fourth in NFL history by any player in their first 68 career games, only behind Hall of Famer Reggie White (72.5), J.J. Watt (61.0) and Derrick Thomas (60.0).
He broke a tie with Bruce Smith and Jaren Allen for sole possession of ninth most sacks by a player in their first five seasons.
Since entering the league in 2017, Garrett is fifth in the NFL with 58.5 sacks (second in AFC).
Garrett is currently one of three players (Aaron Donald and T.J. Watt) in the league to have an active streak of four consecutive seasons with double-digit sacks, joining Reggie White, who did it twice (1985-88 and 1990-93). He is also the only player in Browns in history to accomplish the feat.
Garrett passed up Bruce Smith (58.0) for most sacks by a No. 1 overall pick in their first five years.
Garrett has posted 29.0 sacks in 34 games played at home since being drafted in 2017, passing Aaron Donald for third in the league in that span.
Garrett is one of only four players to have at least 58.0 sacks and 11 forced fumbles since 2017 (Aaron Donald, T.J. Watt and Chandler Jones).
He has 7.5 sacks in seven career games against Cincinnati and at least a sack in five out of his six division games this season.
DE Jadeveon Clowney
DE Jadeveon Clowney notched two sacks, upping his season total to nine, just a half-sack shy of his career high 9.5 in 2017. He also tallied a forced fumble, his second of the season.
This was the eighth time in Clowney’s career he has registered at least two sacks in a game and his third game in a row with at least one sack.
His two consecutive games with two sacks are the most by a Brown since teammate DE Myles Garrett did so Weeks Three and Four of the 2020 season.
His 41 career sacks are sixth most by a No. 1 overall pick in NFL history and 12 forced fumbles passed up Garrett for second most in the same category.
WR Jarvis Landry
WR Jarvis Landry registered six receptions for 75 yards and his second receiving touchdown of the year.
He has now logged 50-or-more catches and at least 500 receiving yards in eight consecutive seasons.
Landry (684) is one of just four players to have 680-plus catches since 2014, including DeAndre Hopkins (737), Julio Jones (705) and Travis Kelce (704).
Since 2014, Landry is tied for fifth (Antonio Brown) for most games registering 50-or-more receiving yards with 74.
Landry has logged at least five catches in three of his past four games at FirstEnergy Stadium.
Other notes
QB Case Keenum completed 17-of-24 passes for 176 yards and two touchdowns and a 102.1 QB rating. He improved to 4-0 as a starter in his career against the Bengals.
RB Demetric Felton scored his second career touchdown on a 10-yard reception.
LB Jacob Phillips logged his first NFL sack today. He ended with a team-high nine tackles.
Injury report
DT Jordan Elliott injured his knee and did not return.
WR Rashard Higgins had an illness and was ruled out.
LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah sustained a leg injury and did not return.
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Browns place Baker Mayfield on reserve COVID-19 list
Mayfield was placed on the list as a precaution after coming in close contact with a staff member that tested positive on Saturday according to the team.
The team released the following statement:
What Are the Worst Draft Classes in the History of the Browns?
Unfortunately for Browns fans, the reality is that their team is known for making bad decisions during the NFL draft. And while every team makes a mistake from time to time, the Browns have a history of making numerous mistakes in the same draft. Even a single wasted draft class can have a profoundly negative consequence on a team's future, so when those miscues happen multiple times in a decade, it can be difficult to catch up. Full story
Browns will soon get a key piece back, designate RB Nick Chubb to return from injured reserve
The Cleveland Browns lost receiver Odell Beckham Jr. to a knee injury a few weeks ago, but some help for the offense is coming.
Running back Nick Chubb was designated to return from injured reserve by the Browns. Chubb can practice this week and indications are the Browns expect him to play on Sunday. Chubb has been out since Oct. 4, when he sprained his MCL in a win over the Dallas Cowboys. Full Story
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Poll result: Most Browns fans see the team right on schedule at 5-3
It’s the bye week and the Cleveland Browns hit the much-needed break with a 5-3 record. Based on a Twitter poll of Browns fans, that’s right on schedule for the expectations for the first season of the Kevin Stefanski/Andrew Berry regime.
Over 44 percent of respondents believe the Browns are right where they should be and need to be at the break. Interestingly, 37.3 percent believe the team is doing better than expected in 2020. Just 18.7 think the Browns should be better, either in the standings or the on-field performance. Full Story
Top 50 photos from the first half of the Cleveland Browns season
We are halfway through the 2020 NFL season. The Cleveland Browns are holding steady with a 5-3 record, the best at the midseason point since 2014.
Here are some of the best photos from the first eight Browns games of the season to help relive and remember the solid start for Kevin Stefanski’s Browns. Full Story
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Browns Trade Deadline Strategy
The Cleveland Browns are always buyers in the sense that they will take advantage of an opportunity they like whenever it comes along, so when the trade deadline approaches and there are teams actively selling, the Browns could find a player or two they like.
The scope of the move might not be as big as some would prefer, because the Browns aren't going to operate from a position of weakness. If there's a player that comes available that can make a major difference for this team and the deal is right, they'll pull the trigger. That's easier said than done. Read Full Story
The Real Baker Mayfield Is Back, and Future Looks Bright for the Browns Again
The alert went out to sports fans across the world—"Baker Mayfield off to terrible start"—after the Cleveland Browns' third-year quarterback started 0-of-5 with an interception against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.
The 4-2 Browns weren't quite reeling, but they couldn't afford to get down to a Bengals team with a high-octane passing game led by rookie quarterback Joe Burrow and wide receivers Tyler Boyd and Tee Higgins. Mayfield needed to answer—not just to get the win or silence the masses in Ohio who have flocked to Burrow as their favorite quarterback—but also to quiet doubters in his own fanbase and potentially in his own front office. Read full story
Baker Mayfield, Browns ‘better’ without Odell Beckham Jr. says ESPN analyst
CLEVELAND, Ohio – News broke Monday that Odell Beckham Jr. would miss the remainder of the NFL season with a torn ACL suffered during the Browns' victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.
It didn’t take long for analysts to push aside all sensitivity towards OBJ’s injury to begin debating how it will affect the Browns on the field. And some believe the team is better without Beckham. Read full story
Myles Garrett leads NFL in sacks but needs some help, KhaDarel Hodge coming off IR, and other things we learned
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Myles Garrett leads the NFL with nine sacks, surpassing the Chargers’ Aaron Donald by one in Week 7, but he could use some rushing help from his fellow Browns defenders.
Sheldon Richardson has the Browns' next highest sack total at 2.5, and Adrian Clayborn is third with two. Defensive end Olivier Vernon, who missed two games with an abdominal injury suffered in the opener and might still be working his way back from that, has none, as does Larry Ogunjobi. Read full story
3 things to know about the Cleveland Browns receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones
CLEVELAND — With all of the offensive talent assembled on the Cleveland Browns' roster, it would have been hard to imagine Donovan Peoples-Jones being at the center of a season-altering play. Read Full Story
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Remembering Dave Logan - Steve King’s Favorite Browns-Steelers Game
In my last post, I mentioned former Browns head coach Sam Rutigliano of Kardiac Kids fame.
That is, by far, my favorite era in Browns history for several reasons.
I have talked about this before on Browns Daily Dose, so if you’ve heard it already and don’t want to again, I understand it. I really do.
But for those who haven’t heard it, here’s the story – actually, my story and how I got here:
My dad, who was just a little older than all the stars on the great Browns teams of the late 1940s, was a big fan of the team. My interest in the Browns, and of the Indians and Ohio State Buckeyes, comes from him. I loved him, just like a lot of kids growing up love their dads, and so I tried to like what he liked. Full Story
For the Browns, Trying Everything May Finally Lead to Something
The Cleveland Browns tried just about everything from 2016 to 2019 in an effort to escape decades of failure: embracing analytics, rejecting analytics, emphasizing character, ignoring character, austere scrimping, lavish spending — and sometimes attempting all of those tactics simultaneously.
Not surprisingly, the rapid succession of 180-degree lurches in organizational philosophy did not make the Browns better. Until this season, that is. The Browns have a 4-1 record, and their balanced offense and fearsome pass rush have them poised to produce their first winning season since 2007 and reach the playoffs for the first time since 2002. Full Story
Kareem Hunt says Browns are eager for revenge vs. Steelers: 'This one's for Myles' Garrett
The Cleveland Browns have beaten the Pittsburgh Steelers just once in the last five years, and the last time they played their AFC North rivals, they did so without star pass rusher Myles Garrett. Garrett, of course, was serving an indefinite suspension for his violent melee with quarterback Mason Rudolph during the teams' first meeting of 2019. Now, with the Browns preparing to meet Pittsburgh in a Week 6 showdown, running back Kareem Hunt says Cleveland is out for revenge in Garrett's name.
"This one's for Myles," Hunt said, per Cleveland.com's Mary Kay Cabot. "This one's for Cleveland. This one's for a lot of things." Full Story
The Steelers ability to handle Myles Garrett, and the battle for first place in the AFC North
This week, we are previewing the contest between the Cleveland Browns (4-1) and the Pittsburgh Steelers (4-0) on Sunday at Heinz Field. The Browns won their fourth in a row last week, defeating the Indianapolis Colts 32-23 while the Steelers remained undefeated with a 38-29 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. Full Story
NFL Week 6 Power Rankings: Packers new No. 1 as Chiefs fall, Browns soar into top six
The Cleveland Browns are averaging 38 points per game in their four-game winning streak, which is pretty amazing when you consider they are a run-based offense, one that leads the league in rushing yards.
Credit for that goes to first-year coach Kevin Stefanski, who brought to Cleveland an offense that is predicated on running the football and throwing off of that run. It has helped Baker Mayfield in a big way — even if he threw two bad picks in the victory over the Indianapolis Colts Sunday — and it's made the offense click. Full Story
Cam Heyward: Steelers plan to ‘inflict good punishment’ on Baker Mayfield and make him think about his sore ribs
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at bddweekly.substack.com/subscribe
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at bddweekly.substack.com/subscribe
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at bddweekly.substack.com/subscribe
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at bddweekly.substack.com/subscribe
This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at bddweekly.substack.com/subscribe
MNF BORN IN CLEVELAND 50 YEARS AGO TONIGHT
By STEVE KING
The story has been well-told here on Browns Daily Dose, and other places as well, but because of the significance of this date, it bears repeating.
It was exactly 50 years ago today, on Sept. 21, 1970, that Monday Night Football was born at Cleveland Stadium. The Browns opened the season by defeating the New York Jets 31-21 on a hot, steamy night as summer gave way to fall in front of 85,703, the largest crowd ever to see a Browns game in Cleveland.
Say what you want about then Browns owner Art Modell -- and we all certainly have -- but you have to give him credit for the fact he had a keen eye for what people would like and he was not shy about trying new ideas to get their attention. As such, he volunteered his team to play in the first MNF game, and he volunteered his stadium to host it.
This -- 1970 -- was the first season after the finalization of the NFL-AFL merger, and as such the new NFL was open to innovations, including MNF. But because the league had played its regular-season games solely on Sunday afternoons for decades, it was unknown if anyone -- anyone at all -- would be interested in watching the national telecast of pro football on a weekday evening. Would it be a boom or a bust? No one could say for sure, but Modell, with his extensive TV background and a real understanding of the potential of NFL game telecasts, was betting that fans would love it. Other TV-intensive people weren't so sure, however, which is why less than half -- less than half! -- of the ABC affiliates picked up the network's telecast of Browns-Jets. The majority showed ABC's regular Monday night fall TV lineup.
If the game were a ratings flop, then the NFL and ABC would be in real trouble, for there would be 13 more MNF contests -- one for each of the remaining weeks of the regular season. Having a string of lemons like that would have been an unmitigated disaster, both in rating and PR, but it didn't turn out that way, for, just as Modell thought would happen, in the markets where the game was aired, the ratings were off the charts. It didn't hurt that the game itself provided a perfect storm, for in a match-up of two of the most high-profile teams in the league then, the Browns clinched the win in the final minute when linebacker Billy Andrews intercepted a Joe Namath pass and returned it for a touchdown. It was a thrilling climax to what had been an exciting game throughout before a large, raucous crowd.
When it was all said and done, a more perfect script with which to launch MNF could not have been written.
That was a long time ago, a full half-century, in fact. The present-day Browns need to get back to that type of thing, taking the lead both literally and figuratively on a big national stage and setting the standard for the rest of the NFL.
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This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at bddweekly.substack.com/subscribe
Bengals-Browns Preview
Joe Burrow's childhood was pretty much the same as every other boy raised in football-obsessed Ohio, the NFL's birthplace. Read Full Story Here
What the Bengals are saying about the Browns
"Coach (Zac) Taylor put in a great game plan. Players executed, made great blocks and from there I handled the rest. They have a pretty deep group right now, I know they got guys shuffling around to see where they fit best. I'm sure there are going to be different defenses they line up. Something to stop or slow down whatever we are trying to do. I'm sure they are going to be ready and we have to be ready also." Bengals RB Joe Mixon on his 162-yard performance in Week 17 last season and the Browns' current defense
More quotes here
Baker Mayfield vs. Joe Burrow: Browns, Bengals and the battle of No. 1 picks
Thursday is the Battle of Ohio between the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals and this year it also features the battle between Baker Mayfield, the first overall pick of the 2018 draft, and Joe Burrow, the first overall pick of the 2020 draft. Both young quarterbacks were transfers from other colleges before finding success as Heisman Trophy winners, and now on to Ohio.
Mayfield is no longer a kid. As hard as it may be to believe, there are 11 quarterbacks who are younger than Mayfield starting in the NFL. Burrow, on the other hand, just completed his first NFL game. Both quarterbacks spent five years in college. Read the full story here
NFL Week 2 game picks: Browns prevail; Seahawks beat Pats
Gregg Rosenthal went 9-7 on his predictions for Week 1. How will he fare in Week 2? His picks are below.
Thursday, Sept. 17
Cleveland Browns 20, Cincinnati Bengals 17
8:20 p.m. ET (NFLN) |FirstEnergy Stadium (Cleveland)
Joe Burrow looked like a rookie in Week 1, which makes sense after no preseason. Baker Mayfield also looked like a rookie, even though he was supported with a good running game and solid protection. While both quarterbacks struggled against pressure, the Browns have the better lines to win up front. Cleveland coach Kevin Stefanski is in a tricky spot; the running backs are the strength of his offense, but the Browns must get Odell Beckham Jr. on track after one of the worst games of his career. Despite Cleveland looking so discombobulated in Baltimore, I'm sticking with the team's edge in talent for one more week against a soft Bengals defense still missing Geno Atkins. If that doesn't happen, Browns fans can feel free to panic in the streets. See all his picks here
Steve King’s favorite Browns vs Bengals game of all-time
The Kardiac Kids had a lot of heroes, all of whom came up big at one time or another to help pull out victories.
Longtime Browns fans will remember the names.
There’s quarterback Brian Sipe, of course.
And the running backs duo of Greg and Mike Pruitt.
And fellow runner Calvin Hill.
And wide receivers Reggie Rucker and Dave Logan.
And tight end Ozzie Newsome.
And linebackers Clay Matthews and Dick Ambrose.
And safety Clarence Scott.
And kicker Don Cockroft.
And cornerback Ron Bolton.
If just one of these players had not stood out when they were needed the most, then the season would not have worked out like it did.
But there’s one more hero. And if he had not done what he did, then the efforts of all these others would have been for naught.
He made his contribution not just in the biggest moment of a game, but in the biggest contest of the year, and the last one of the year, played 35 years ago today, on Dec. 21, 1980. Moreover, if he hadn’t done it, then perhaps no one else would have, or could have.
Indeed, after all of the Kardiac Kids’ lead actors had performed their parts according to the script and the outcome of the play had still not been revealed, it was a bit player who came out of the shadows – out of nowhere, really – to steal the show and become the star, As such, he brought this magical tale, at least the biggest portion of it, to its conclusion in grand style as the curtain came down.
And in a strange way, maybe it was appropriate that it was him who took over and wowed everyone. After all, his nickname was “Hollywood Dude” for the flashy way he dressed, not to mention the way he played.
With his team trailing by seven points and in desperate need of someone and/or something to jump-start its sputtering offense, wide receiver Ricky Feacher caught a pair of touchdowns from Sipe in a span of about 2½ minutes in the third quarter to lead the Browns to a 27-24 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals to clinch their first AFC Central championship in nine years.
The Browns finished the regular season at 11-5, the same record as the Houston Oilers, but won the title on tie-breakers. It was their first playoff appearance in eight years, since making it as a wild card in 1972.
That last playoff trip, and the Central crown won the year before, lacked any of the drama of what the Kardiac Kids, and “The Dude,” pulled off.
With 12 of their first 15 games that year not being decided until the two minutes, and many not until the final play, the Browns needed all hands at all positions on deck at all times to get by. As such, the lead actors – the starters – played from start to finish. There was little time for backups – bit players, as it were — to see any action.
But the rematch with the Bengals was different.
A month earlier in Cleveland, the Browns had had their way with them, winning 31-7 in a game that wasn’t even that close. It was one of just three games all year that wasn’t a white-knuckler.
The Browns, though, knew that this one would not be that easy – or easy at all. They were primed for it being a … well, white-knuckler, the kind of which they had become very familiar that season.
Add to that the fact the Browns and Bengals were arch rivals. Everybody thought – and might still think – that the Browns’ and Bengals’ biggest rivalries were with the division rival Pittsburgh Steelers. Not so.
While those rivalries were intense, they were nothing compared to Browns-Bengals or, as it were, Bengals-Browns.
Why?
Because Art Modell had unceremoniously fired iconic head coach and General Manager Paul Brown, the man for whom the Browns are named, 22 months after he purchased the club in March 1961. To say the two men detested each other would be underestimating that animosity greatly.
By 1968, Brown had returned to football by becoming owner and head coach of an AFL expansion team in Cincinnati. The Bengals and Browns were placed into the same division, the AFC Central, when the NFL-AFL merger was finalized in 1970, and the rivalry was on.
The Bengals won the first division crown that year, and the Browns unseated them the following season, pumping up the rivalry a little more.
In 1975, Modell hired Forrest Gregg as head coach, and then summarily fired him with one game left in the 1977 season – a year after he had been named AFC Coach of the Year. With that, then, their relationship turned icy and remained so.
Gregg was hired by Brown to coach the Bengals in 1979, and the rivalry got racheted up again.
Now it was 1980, and the Browns, coached by Gregg’s successor, Sam Rutigliano, needed to beat the Bengals – on a brutally cold day in Cincinnati – in order to win the division. Lose and they would likely miss the playoffs altogether.
Standing in their way were the Bengals, led by Gregg and, of course, Brown, now supplementing his ownership role with that of general manager. It had been a rough year for the Bengals. They had long been out of the playoff chase, but they had gotten much better since the loss in Cleveland, winning three straight to improve to 6-9. With that, they now had confidence they could beat the Browns, and Brown and Gregg wanted nothing more than to have that happen and deny Modell and his team a chance to go to the playoffs.
Pressure for the Browns? You bet. Their backs were to the wall on the road against their ach rival. They had much to gain by winning, and much to lose by not doing so.
Conversely, the Bengals had no pressure on them. They were playing with house money and their approach could be loose and easy. No one other than themselves expected them to win, but if they did, there would be the party to end all parties inside of Bengals headquarters that night. It would be an early Christmas present.
And the Bengals did indeed come out with no holds barred, gaining a 10-0 second-quarter lead on a 42-yard field goal by Jim Breech and a 13-yard scramble for a touchdown by quarterback Jack Thompson, “The Throwin’ Samoan.”
In addition, the Browns lost wide receiver Dave Logan to a knee injury after he had caught one pass, a 65-yarder, the longest of his career. He was having one of his best seasons as a pro. So not having him made the Browns’ challenge just that much greater.
Into the game to replace him was Feacher, a virtual unknown who entered the day with just eight catches on the year, two of which were for touchdowns. Trading Logan for Feacher was a bad deal – at least on paper.
Not surprisingly, without Logan, the Browns struggled offensively, but they did manage to tie the game 10-10 at halftime on Sipe’s 42-yard touchdown pass to Rucker and Cockroft’s 26-yard field goal.
Things did not go well at the start of the third quarter, however, as cornerback Ray Griffin intercepted a Sipe pass and returned it 52 yards for a TD and a 17-10 lead. Griffin, who hailed from Columbus and had played at Ohio State, was the younger brother of Archie Griffin, a former Buckeyes running back and the only two-time Heisman Trophy winner. The two Griffins were playing together in Cincinnati in 1980.
As for the Browns, they needed a spark. None of the things they were trying – the things they had tried with great success all season – were working.
They needed something and/or something different. It was their only hope.
Feacher, though far from being a featured player at that time of his career, was always brimming with confidence. And he was not shy about letting others know it.
From the moment he had entered the game in the first half, he had gotten in Sipe’s ear. After nearly every play, he would come back to the huddle and tell the quarterback, “I’m open. Throw me the bomb.”
Over and over and over again, Feacher called for the long ball.
Finally, Sipe picked up the call.
“OK, I’m going to throw you the bomb, but you had better catch it,” he said in no uncertain terms.
Feacher showed Sipe a teethy smile, and even more confidence.
“Don’t worry. I’ll catch it,” he said. “Just throw the ball up there and I’ll run under it.”
Sipe did, and Feacher did, catching a 35-yard lob – a bomb – down the sideline for a touchdown with 12:21 left in the third quarter to tie the game 17-17.
Then, just 2:38 later, with 9:53 remaining, the Browns ran the same play from the other side of the field and Feacher caught a 34-yard TD pass from Sipe.
Just like that, the Browns were energized and in the lead, 24-17, after those two lightning-quick strikes out of nowhere.
But still, the game was far from over.
With four seconds left in the quarter, the Bengals tied the game at 24-24 with Thompson’s 59-yard TD pass to wide receiver Pat McInally, who earlier on the day had been the recipient of a bone-jarring hit under the chin by safety Thom Darden that invoked an unnecessary roughness penalty.
The score stayed that way until Cockroft booted what turned out to the game-winning field goal, a 22-yarder, with 1:25 left to make it 27-24.
Even with that, though, the game was not over. The Bengals had one last volley to throw at the Browns, and they did.
Taking the ball at their 32 after the ensuing kickoff, and with Ken Anderson now at quarterback, the Bengals, having no timeouts, went to work in hurry-up fashion. His 22-yard pass to wide receiver Steve Kreider on third and seven moved them to the Cleveland 43. Then he went to tight end Dan Ross for nine yards on the next play to the 34.
The clock was the Bengals’ enemy, so it almost worked to their advantage when Anderson threw incomplete on the next play, stopping the clock.
With little time left, Anderson had to risk throwing to the middle of the field against a Browns’ backed-up pass defense that was protecting the sideline to keep the clock running. The Bengals then had to hope that if they completed the pass, they could run down the field in time to stop the clock and have a shot to kick the game-tying field goal.
Anderson did hit the pass in the deep middle – a 20-yarder to Kreider – but the game ended with Bolton, who made the tackle on Kreider, laying on top of him at the 14 to keep him from getting up as Anderson raced toward them while the clock raced as well. He didn’t get there in time, and the clock expired, along with the Bengals’ chances to pull the upset.
The Browns danced about on the field, celebrating their victory – yet another one achieved at the very end in typical Kardiac Kids fashion — like schoolboys. They carried Rutigliano off on their shoulders.
Mike Pruitt rushed 14 times for 51 yards.
Sipe threw for 308 yards and three TDs, hitting 24 of 44 attempts. He was intercepted twice.
Rucker caught four passes for 74 yards, and Newsome five for 30 yards, but it was Feacher, with those two catches for 69 yards and a pair of scores, who made the biggest difference.
Feacher got much out of limited opportunities in that 1980 season, with four of his 10 receptions going for TDs.
Now the Browns were headed to the playoffs, but not before they – and their legions of fans — spent a few more days whooping it up.
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