Classic Browns by Knight Jonathan;

Author:Knight, Jonathan;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Kent State University Press

#25

BROWNS 34, BUFFALO BILLS 30

JANUARY 6, 1990

Shootout in the Sand

The 1989 Browns had endured a sloppy, schizophrenic season on their way to their fourth division title in five years and, appropriately, the Cleveland Stadium turf on which they’d play their divisional playoff was both sloppy and schizophrenic. Stadium groundskeeper David Frey coyly described the field as having a “lack of grass” and not being “perfectly flat.”

Ravaged by one of the cruelest Decembers in Cleveland history, the field was essentially nothing more than a sandlot by the first weekend in January, when the Buffalo Bills came to town to play for a trip to the AFC Championship. What little grass remained was dead and dusty and painted green along with the rest of the field to give off a better appearance on television. Cleveland defensive lineman Al Baker joked he should take a beach towel and thongs out to the field. But as the players took the field to warm up, they knew the condition of the field was no laughing matter.

The streaky Browns had endured a pair of long winless streaks during a wild regular season, symbolized by the bizarre fashion in which they’d clinched the division in Houston two weeks earlier. With victory in their grasp, they’d almost thrown it away when linebacker Clay Matthews decided to lateral after recovering a tide-turning fumble in the final minutes. Much of the sellout crowd could only wonder which Browns squad would show up. Fittingly, both did.

Though the field was miserable, the weather was downright balmy, with the temperature climbing into the mid-thirties, and both offenses came out hot. The Bills, about to embark on an unparalleled run of AFC dominance, drew first blood when quarterback Jim Kelly hit wideout Andre Reed for a 72-yard scoring pass. The Browns responded with a field goal and then took the lead with a bomb of their own when Bernie Kosar connected with Webster Slaughter on a 52-yard strike. After Buffalo crept to a 14–10 lead on another Kelly scoring pass, the Browns surged ahead on a short Kosar–to–Ron Middleton touchdown toss just before the half.

But things wouldn’t really get interesting until the second half. Two huge plays in the third quarter gave the Browns control of the contest—another long touchdown toss to Slaughter, then a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by rookie Eric Metcalf. But each time the Browns built a ten-point lead, Buffalo responded with a score of its own. Finally, when Matt Bahr connected on a 47-yard field goal with 6:50 remaining to put Cleveland up 34–24, the hometown crowd began to relax, tasting victory. Though Bud Carson’s attack defense had struggled most of the day, the fans were confident the unit would be able to close out the victory and send the Browns to within a step of the Super Bowl.

Instead, with the game on the line, the Cleveland defense evaporated. Time and again, Kelly fired off dump passes to Thurman Thomas, and the versatile running back turned them into substantial gains.

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