The Cleveland Browns came into the 1993 NFL season after
having endured three straight losing records. Under third-year Head Coach Bill
Belichick, the Browns were showing signs of steady improvement and were active
in signing free agents during the offseason. One of those newcomers was QB
Vinny Testaverde, once a first-overall draft choice who had spent six uneven
years in Tampa Bay University of Miami Cleveland
had gotten off to a 2-0 start in ’93.
On September 19 the Browns took on the Raiders at Los Angeles . The Raiders
were also 2-0 under Head Coach Art Shell. They were coming off a disappointing
7-9 record in 1992 after having been a playoff team the prior two years and had
also brought in a new free agent quarterback, ex-Giant Jeff Hostetler. The veteran
club had many aging players, but DE Howie Long was still outstanding and WR Tim
Brown and CB Terry McDaniel were solid talents.
There were 48,617 fans in attendance at the Memorial
Coliseum. The Raiders started off with an 80-yard drive that took eight plays
and benefited from a 26-yard gain on a pass to WR Alexander Wright in a
third-and-ten situation from 38-year-old backup QB Vince Evans, who came into
the game when Hostetler was injured while being sacked. Hostetler returned and
finished off the series with a two-yard touchdown throw to TE Andrew Glover.
The teams traded punts until late in the opening period when
Kosar was intercepted by DT Chester McGlockton, giving the Raiders the ball at
the Browns’ 7. They weren’t able to punch in for a TD, however, and settled for
a 24-yard field goal by Jeff Jaeger to make it 10-0.
Following another Kosar interception on the last play of the
first quarter, LA added another Jaeger field goal, this time from 27 yards.
That was it for the first half scoring as Cleveland
was only able to generate 37 net yards and three first downs while the Raiders
failed to put more points on the board when they had opportunities. McGlockton
and Howie Long dominated the line of scrimmage and harassed Kosar throughout
the first thirty minutes.
Neither offense was effective in the third quarter until
Cleveland RB Tommy Vardell took off for a 54-yard gain to the LA 24 yard line. But
the Browns moved backward rather than forward as Kosar was sacked for a
nine-yard loss, Vardell lost two yards on a running play, and Kosar fumbled and
lost three more yards on the recovery. Cleveland
was forced to punt.
Late in the period, and following another punt by the
Raiders, the Browns moved into Los
Angeles territory again thanks to a pass to Vardell
that gained 21 yards, but the fourth quarter opened with Kosar, under heavy
pressure, being intercepted on a pass at the goal line by Terry McDaniel.
When the Browns got the ball back after another
three-and-out possession by the Raiders, Testaverde was in to relieve Kosar.
Taking over at his 33, the ex-Heisman Trophy winner completed passes of 11
yards to TE Brian Kinchen, 18 yards to WR Lawyer Tillman on a third-and-seven
play, and 15 yards to WR Mark Carrier, who had been a teammate previously with
the Bucs. The drive stalled at the LA 14, but Matt Stover kicked a 32-yard
field goal and Cleveland
was finally on the board.
Once again the Raiders failed to move the ball on offense,
but two plays after Jeff Gossett’s punt, CB James Trapp intercepted a
Testaverde pass to once more put LA in possession in Cleveland territory at the 38. Three plays
netted three yards, but Jaeger kicked his third field goal of the game from 53
yards to give the Raiders a seemingly-secure 16-3 lead with five minutes remaining
in the game.
It seemed even worse for the Browns when RB Eric Metcalf
fumbled the kickoff and, while he recovered, the offense had to start at its
own 10 yard line. However, Testaverde again began completing passes – 17 yards
to Carrier on first down, 13 yards to RB Leroy Hoard on a second-and-ten play,
22 yards to Metcalf for a big third-down conversion, and 18 yards to WR Michael
Jackson. Testaverde was sacked after Cleveland
got inside the LA 10, but responded with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Tillman
that capped the 12-play, 90-yard series. With Stover’s successful extra point,
the Browns were down by 16-10 with 2:26 remaining on the clock.
The Raiders took possession following the ensuing kickoff
deep inside their own territory and, following an outstanding play by Cleveland
LB Pepper Johnson to prevent Hostetler from completing a third-down pass to
Glover, Gossett ran out of the end zone from punt formation to take an
intentional safety.
Metcalf returned the free kick for 37 yards to give the
Browns good field position at the LA 45. Vardell ran for eight yards and, after
Testaverde’s pass intended for Jackson
was incomplete, three more yards and a first down. Testaverde threw to Carrier
for 16 yards to the 18 yard line and, after spiking the ball to stop the clock,
passed again to Carrier for 17 more yards to put the ball on the one with 11
seconds remaining. The Browns used their last time out and Testaverde tossed an
incompletion. On second down, Metcalf took a pitch and ran around end for a
touchdown and the Browns could celebrate. Cleveland
came away with a dramatic 19-16 win.
“I’m physically and emotionally shocked,” said a
disappointed Howie Long afterward.
In a game dominated by defense, the Browns outgained the
Raiders (316 yards to 156), who only had 85 net passing yards. Cleveland also had more
first downs (20 to 11). However, the Browns turned the ball over four times, to
none by Los Angeles .
Cleveland
recorded six quarterback sacks to LA’s five and the teams combined for a total
of 14 punts.
Bernie Kosar had been dismal, completing 8 of 17 passes for
71 yards and tossing three interceptions. Vinny Testaverde, in less than a
quarter of play, was successful on 10 of 22 throws for 159 yards with a
touchdown as well as an interception. Tommy Vardell rushed for 104 yards on 14
carries – noteworthy because it was the first hundred-yard rushing performance
by a Brown in 70 games, covering five years. Mark Carrier caught 5 passes for
73 yards.
For the Raiders, Jeff Hostetler went to the air 25 times and
completed just 11 for 94 yards and a TD, although with none picked off. RB Greg
Robinson was the top ground-gainer with 59 yards on 18 carries. FB Steve Smith
paced the club with 4 catches for 42 yards.
While all the right assurances were made in the immediate
aftermath that Bernie Kosar was still the starting quarterback, he was soon
supplanted by Testaverde and, in a shocking move, was waived at midseason –
especially shocking because Testaverde was injured at the time and
third-stringer Todd Philcox had to step in. The Browns, after having gotten out
to a 5-2 start, ended up on the wrong side of .500 again at 7-9, but Testaverde
finished up as the starting quarterback with his best year to date in the NFL.
He completed 56.5 percent of his passes for 1797 yards and, for the first time,
tossed more touchdown passes (14) than interceptions (9). The stage was set for
improvement in 1994.
Eric Metcalf (pictured below) was a consensus first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl
selection as he gained a league-leading 1932 total yards (611 rushing, 539
receiving, 464 returning punts, and 318 returning kickoffs). Tommy Vardell
rushed for 644 yards on 171 carries (3.8 avg.) – the 104-yard game against the
Raiders was the only hundred-yard rushing performance of his career.
The Raiders recovered to go 10-6, finishing second in the
AFC West but earning a spot in the postseason as a Wild Card. They made it to
the Divisional round before losing to Buffalo .
