Menu

Cleveland Browns history articles

The 1985 Cleveland Browns Usher In The Era Of Marty-Ball

, , , , , ,

Marty Schottenheimer enjoyed a long and successful career as an NFL head coach, one marked by tough running games, good defense and, regrettably, a lot of playoff heartbreak. All of those were present in his maiden voyage at the helm of the 1985 Cleveland Browns.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
Start reading today. 

The Browns had reached the playoffs in 1980 as the #1 seed in the AFC before a heartbreaking loss to the Raiders. Cleveland snuck into the postseason again in the strike-torn year of 1982 with a 4-5 record and was quickly eliminated.

Midway through 1984, they were falling apart at 1-7 when Schottenheimer got the job in midseason. The team finished on a respectable note, splitting their last eight games and setting the tone for Marty’s first full year.

In addition to the coaching change, the Browns were breaking in a new quarterback. Bernie Kosar, a local high school product who had won a national championship for the Miami Hurricanes in 1983, was in his rookie year. Kosar opened the season on the bench behind 34-year-old Gary Danielson, but the rookie would ultimately start ten games.

The passing production was, to be kind, rather modest. Kosar completed 50 percent of his throws for a low 6.4 yards-per-attempt. It was the running game that drove the Browns. Earnest Byner and Kevin Mack were both 23-years-old and each bulldozed for over 1,000 yards and Mack made the Pro Bowl. They did it in spite of an offensive line that lacked Pro Bowl talent of its own.

There wasn’t a lot of talent at the wideouts, but the Browns did have a great tight end. Ozzie Newsome was perfect for a quarterback who excelled in the short game, as Kosar did. Newsome caught 62 passes for 711 yards and enjoyed a Pro Bowl year of his own.

Cleveland’s offense was 23rd in the NFL in points scored, but the defense more than picked up the slack. A pair of outside linebackers, Chip Banks and Clay Matthews Sr. (father of the current Green Bay Packers LB of the same name) combined for 17 sacks and each made the Pro Bowl. So did nose tackle Bob Golic, the brother of current ESPN radio personality Mike Golic. The secondary was led by strong safety Al Gross who intercepted five passes.

A home game with the Cardinals, who then played in St. Louis, saw the veteran Danielson start at quarterback and he threw two touchdown passes in bringing the Browns back from a 17-3 deficit to lead 24-17. But Cleveland lost the turnover battle 3-0, the game went to overtime and St. Louis won 27-24.

The Browns hosted the archrival Steelers, who had won the old AFC Central (Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincinnati and the Houston Oilers) the previous two years and reached the AFC Championship Game in 1984. The Cleveland running game asserted itself, winning rush yardage 145-54 and the football game 17-7. A visit to a playoff team in Dallas didn’t go as well, a 20-7 loss where the Browns token touchdown came at the end.

Mack got rolling in San Diego, with 130 yards and the Browns overall ran for 275 yards in a 21-7 win over a mediocre opponent. In a home game with the eventual AFC champion New England Patriots, the Browns turned it over five times…and still managed to win 24-20. Kosar came in and went 9/15 for 105 yards.

The Oilers (today’s Tennessee Titans) were a bad team, but like the Browns, they had a quarterback whose NFL journey was in its infancy, in this case Warren Moon. The game in the Astrodome was ugly for a half and Cleveland trailed 6-0. But Kosar was able to make big plays, his 8/19 going for 208 yards, including a 68-yard touchdown pass to Clarence Weathers, The Browns won 1-6.

Kosar again played reasonably well in a home game with the Los Angeles Raiders, going 10/22 for 140 yards. In fact he outplayed counterpart Marc Wilson, who was 15/36 for 213 yards. But this was a rare game where Cleveland didn’t have the edge in the backfield. Los Angeles’ Marcus Allen was in the midst of an MVP year and the Raiders ultimately finished 12-4. The Browns came up just short 21-20. They lost another home game a week later to the ten-win Washington Redskins, getting just 97 yards rushing in a 14-7 defeat.

Two big divisional road games, at Pittsburgh and Cincinnati were next and the losing continued. In the rain at old Three Rivers Stadium, the Browns were outrushed 155-66 by the Steelers and lost 10-9. A week later, they couldn’t contain the passing combination of Boomer Esiason-to-Cris Collingsworth took a 27-10 beatdown at the hands of the Bengals.

With a four-game losing streak and 4-6 record and visit from the woeful Buffalo Bills was just what the doctor ordered. Byner ran for 109 yards, Mack added 94 and Cleveland churned out a 17-7 win. Cincinnati made their return trip across the state the following week and Mack rolled up 117 yards in a 24-6 payback win.

The AFC Central was weak in 1985, and the Browns’ 6-6 record actually had them tied for first with the Steelers. What’s more, the Bengals and Oilers were each in pursuit at 5-7. It was excitement driven by a shared mediocrity as the season hit the homestretch.

Cleveland paid a visit to the Meadowlands to face Bill Parcells’ New York Giants who would ultimately reach the second round of the NFC playoffs. Both teams were built on defense so the scoring outburst the ensued was quite unexpected. The Browns trailed 33-21 and Kosar was struggling, Schottenheimer turned to Danielson and the veteran delivered two fourth-quarter touchdown drives to steal a 35-33 upset. By day’s end, Cleveland was in sole possession of first.

Kosar returned to the lineup at mediocre Seattle a week alter and played well, going 18/31 for 249 yards. But this time, the running game failed and the defense couldn’t contain Seahawks’ quarterback Dave Krieg. The 31-13 loss enabled Cincinnati to pull even in the division race at 7-7, with Pittsburgh and Houston both losing.

The Oilers were now 5-9 and the Browns were a (-10) favorite when Houston came to the Dawg Pound for the season’s penultimate game. Kosar played mistake-free football, going 14/28 for 161 yards. He ran for one touchdown and flipped a short TD pass to Newsome for a 14-7 lead. Two more short touchdown passes in the third quarter extended the lead to 28-7 and the Browns hung on 28-21.

Cincinnati lost, and the Bengals and Steelers were both 7-8, one game back of the Browns at 8-7. Cleveland had the tiebreaker against both teams, but if a three-way tie occurred, the Bengals would take the AFC Central. Moreover, the Browns had a difficult road trip to face the New York Jets, a 10-5 team facing a win-or-go-home scenario.

The good news was that the schedule was no easier for the Bengals or Steelers. Cincinnati had to go to New England, who was identical to the Jets—dealing with a must-win at 10-5. And the Steelers had to face the Giants, who also had their back to the wall to qualify for the postseason. In summation, all three teams were on the road against superior opponents who had everything to play for.

Cleveland and Pittsburgh were each in the Meadowlands, as the Steelers played on Saturday afternoon at the Giants. Any sense of drama to the AFC Central race was snuffed out when the Steelers lost. The Browns could celebrate on Saturday night as they wrapped up the division. The following day, Cleveland did make a little history—in their 37-10 loss they became the first team to reach the playoffs without a winning record, finishing 8-8.

The playoff format prior to 1990 had five teams per conference making it, with three division winners and two wild-cards. So even with the mediocre record, the Browns still got a week off before going to Miami. The Dolphins were the defending AFC champs and Dan Marino was the 1st-team All-NFL quarterback.

In a Saturday afternoon game that opened the divisional round weekend, Cleveland was ready to shock the world. They ran for 251 yards, and Byner scored two touchdowns. When he rumbled 66 yards for a score in the third quarter, the (+10.5) underdog Browns were ahead 21-3.

But alas, there was no passing game—Kosar was just 10/19 for 66 yards and Marino came blazing back. The Dolphins scored two touchdowns before the third quarter was out and finally got the game-winner with a little less than two minutes to play. Cleveland had its heart broken in a 24-21 loss.

The Schottenheimer-Kosar era had gotten underway, and Cleveland would get better. They would make the playoffs each of the next three seasons and twice reach the AFC Championship Game. But this wouldn’t be a story of the Browns in general or Marty Schottenheimer in particular, if it didn’t end in some awful heartbreak. Two losses to John Elway’s Broncos are each a part of NFL lore. But unlike our own day, at least the Browns were winning. It started in 1985.

The 2007 Cleveland Browns Sniff The Playoffs But Miss…Again

, , , , , ,

The 2007 Cleveland Browns entered the season having not made the playoffs in five years, but worse was the fact they’d only gone postseason twice since 1990. Worse than that was both playoff years ended with losses to the archrival Pittsburgh Steelers. Worse than that was those seasons were not the only playoff years, but the only years they won more than they lost. Worse than that was the fact they chased Bill Belichick out of town and watched him start a dynasty with the New England Patriots.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
Start reading today. 


The organization that chased Marty Schottenheimer after the 1988 season because he only made the playoffs, but not the Super Bowl, was desperate for anything even resembling those excellent Brown teams of the late 1980s, coached by Schottenheimer and led by quarterback Bernie Kosar.

And there was zero evidence in late summer that 2007 was going to be a breakout year. Cleveland made a nice draft pick in adding offensive tackle Joe Thomas. But quarterback was up for grabs with rookie Brady Quinn and 24-year-old Derek Anderson, the running game was in the hands of veteran free-agent signing Jamal Lewis and the only receiver of note was Braylon Edwards.

The defense lacked playmakers and it would take all of head coach Romeo Crennel’s defensive knowledge to make this a competitive unit.

Defensive flaws were exposed quickly in a 34-7 loss to Pittsburgh to start the season at home and also in the following week’s home win, a 51-45 shootout. But Anderson had stepped up to claim the quarterback’s job and he was on his way to a sterling year, better than 3,700 yards passing, with Edwards as the chief beneficiary.

The team was on-again and off-again.in the early going. They lost 34-17 to the undefeated Patriots, but then Anderson put on a shoot-out display to beat the Miami Dolphins 41-34 and get their record to the aforementioned 3-3 as week off loomed.

A reasonable fan had to be pleased with the Browns’ staying at the .500 level and the best was just around the corner. They won in St. Louis to get a winning record for the first time all season. Then came three successive weeks of shootout thrillers.

A home game with Seattle saw the Browns fall behind 21-6, after a pair of Matt Hasselbeck touchdown passes and a 94-yard punt return by Nate Burleson. They still trailed 24-16 with a quarter to play, when Lewis ran in from two yards out. They missed the two-point play to tie, but after a Seahawk field goal, another Lewis TD was followed by a successful conversion.

Which proved to be necessary, because Seattle rallied with a field goal to tie it 30-30 and force overtime. Anderson, who would throw for 364 yards led the team into position and kicker Phil Dawson booted the game-winner. At 5-3, the Browns were halfway through the season and had the record of a contender.

Contender or not, Pittsburgh was still the nemesis and the following week was the reverse image of the Seattle game. This time it was Anderson throwing three first-half touchdowns and pushing his team to a 21-6 lead. But Cleveland couldn’t stop the run, nor could they contain Ben Roethlisberger. The Browns got a big special teams’ touchdown by Josh Cribbs, their dynamic return man, but not enough to hold off the Steelers by the Three Rivers as Pittsburgh won 31-28.

The following week was another AFC North road game, this one in Baltimore. 2007 was the last year of Brian Billick’s tenure, the successful run of the Ravens’ coach had dried out and this was not a good team. But they played like it on November 18 in an epic game that I can still remember watching at the home of my former in-laws in a Baltimore suburb.

Cleveland played well defensively in the first half, leading 13-7 and the only Ravens’ TD being a defensive one produced by Ray Lewis. The game opened up after intermission. The Browns led 20-14, and with the Ravens driving, Brodney Poole picked off a pass at the goal line and went 100 yards to the house the other way. At 27-14, the Browns were in command.

But the Ravens got two field goals from Matt Stover, a touchdown to tie the game, another field goal to take the lead and suddenly Cleveland was looking at a disheartening loss. Anderson drove the team to the 34-yard line to try a last field goal.

Dawson’s field goal bounced off the crossbar…and bounced off. But the officials went to instant replay. And as it happens, the ball caught the side goal post after the cross bar and had gotten far enough over to be good, even if the ball landed on the wrong side of the post. Got all that? The Baltimore crowd was furious, but Cleveland was grateful—and it was also the correct call. The Browns won in overtime 33-30.

Now they were 6-4, and three wins in their next four games, including an 8-0 win over Buffalo that I’m grateful I never watched. On December 23, the penultimate game of the season, Cleveland could clinch a playoff berth right on the turf of archrival Cincinnati.

True to their history in a big moment, the Browns did not play well. They dug themselves a 19-0 hole, and while Anderson hit Edwards on touchdown passes in the third and fourth quarters, it wasn’t enough. The 19-14 loss dropped the Browns out of control in the playoff push.

There was still plenty to play for. If Cleveland beat San Francisco, all it took was the Tennessee Titans losing at Indianapolis, the #2 seed in the conference and defending Super Bowl champ, to get the Browns in.

And if nothing else, a 10-win season would be something to hang your hat on. Cleveland took care of their business against the lowly 49ers. Cribbs ran a punt back 76 yards, Anderson hit Edwards from 45 yards out and the team coasted home to a 20-7 win.

Unfortunately, the Colts only played Peyton Manning for a half and they never put it in the end zone when he did play. The Titans trailed 10-7 in the third quarter, giving some brief hope to Cleveland, but three field goals gave them a 16-10 lead that left the Browns on the sideline for the playoffs.

Still, the 10-6 year had been a surprise and with Anderson looking like a quarterback of the future, brighter days were surely ahead. At least that’s how it seemed. The Browns haven’t had a winning season. The 2007 Cleveland Browns are what qualifies as a grand football success in their franchise’s recent history, even if they didn’t make the playoffs.