2002: Couch-to-Morgan Pass on Last Play Pulls Browns Past Jaguars

The Cleveland Browns were 6-6 and had suffered a tough loss the previous week as they faced the Jacksonville Jaguars on December 8, 2002 at ALLTEL Stadium. Under Head Coach Butch Davis, the re-formed Browns had improved to 7-9 in ’01 after being a dismal 5-27 under Chris Palmer in 1999 and 2000. QB Tim Couch (pictured at right), the first overall draft pick in ’99, had been frustratingly inconsistent, capable of big games and making big plays, but following up with poor performances; he had also been battling injuries during the course of the season. After a slow start, rookie RB William Green, another first draft choice, was beginning to have an impact and there were good wide receivers in Kevin Johnson, Quincy Morgan, Dennis Northcutt, and Andre’ Davis. However, the defense was suspect against both the run and pass.

While Head Coach Tom Coughlin’s Jaguars had a lesser record at 5-7, they had started off at 3-1 and lost each of their previous two contests by two points apiece. RB Fred Taylor was healthy and playing well, although QB Mark Brunell, at age 32, appeared to be on the downside of a good career. Moreover, Jacksonville had beaten the Browns in seven of their previous eight meetings (they had been in the same division prior to the 2002 reorganization).

The first half was low-scoring. The Browns took the opening kickoff and drove to the Jacksonville 25 yard line, but Phil Dawson’s 42-yard field goal attempt was no good. Following a short possession by the Jaguars, Couch threw a pass that was intercepted by FS Marlon McCree, giving Jacksonville the ball near midfield. Brunell completed four passes, including one for a four-yard touchdown to TE Kyle Brady, and the Jaguars were ahead by 7-0.

It looked as though Cleveland had evened the score quickly when Andre’ Davis returned the ensuing kickoff 91 yards for an apparent TD, but it was called back due to a holding penalty. The contest then settled into a defensive battle during the remainder of the first half. With 3:20 remaining in the second quarter, the Browns launched a promising drive that was highlighted by Couch’s 12-yard carry and a 20-yard run by RB Jamel White to the Jacksonville 19. However, they again came up empty when a 36-yard field goal attempt was blocked. The Jaguars maintained their one-TD lead at the intermission.

The home team had a three-and-out series to start the third quarter. Cleveland took over deep in its own territory at the 10 yard line, but back-to-back passes by Couch of 22 yards to Kevin Johnson and 26 to TE Mark Campbell moved the ball into Jacksonville territory. Green carried four straight times for a total of 30 yards and the impressive ten-play, 90-yard drive ended with the first-year running back going three yards up the middle for a touchdown.

The score didn’t stay tied for long. The Jaguars had the ball for five plays on their ensuing possession with Fred Taylor taking off down the center of the field for a 44-yard TD. The offensive flurry continued on Cleveland’s next series. Following two runs by Green, Couch threw to Quincy Morgan on a 60-yard scoring play and the teams entered the fourth quarter even at 14-14.

Once more the game settled into a defensive struggle with punts being traded back and forth. The Jaguars were winning the battle for field position, and a poor 28-yard kick by Cleveland’s Chris Gardocki gave them possession at the Browns’ 43 with just over five minutes to play. They made the most of it, going 28 yards in six plays with Danny Boyd booting a 33-yard field goal to once again put Jacksonville in the lead at 17-14.

That lead looked more secure when Couch was intercepted by LB Akin Ayodele, who returned the pickoff 22 yards to give the Jaguars the ball at the Cleveland 24. Jacksonville kept the ball on the ground while the Browns used up their timeouts, with Taylor carrying four times to get to the three yard line. Coach Coughlin elected to take the easy field goal, Boyd booted the 22-yard chip-shot, and with under a minute to play, the Jaguars seemed well in control with a six-point lead.

Following a poor squib kickoff by Boyd, a kicker appearing in his first NFL game, the Browns had the ball at their 47. Couch was immediately sacked for a five-yard loss and gained eight yards to midfield with a pass to White. With the clock ticking down to zero, Couch dropped back and fired a long, high pass toward Morgan in the end zone. The wide receiver was covered closely by CB Fernando Bryant, who was three inches shorter. Both leaped and fell to the ground, with Morgan holding the ball against his body for an incredible touchdown (pictured below).


The side judge signaled touchdown, but the play was reviewed to make sure the ball had not hit the turf (Tom Coughlin was certain it had). After a long 90 seconds, the TD was upheld, Dawson kicked the all-important extra point, and the stunned crowd began filing out of the stadium as the Browns came away with a 21-20 win. It was the 16th time in two years that Cleveland had been involved in a game decided in the final seconds.

The Browns outgained Jacksonville (417 yards to 211) and had more first downs (21 to 13). While both teams had healthy rushing totals (Cleveland 173, Jaguars 157), Jacksonville gained just 54 net passing yards. Each team had three sacks, but the Browns turned the ball over twice (nearly fatal the second time) while Jacksonville suffered none. Cleveland was also penalized 10 times, to five flags thrown on the Jaguars.

Tim Couch completed 21 of 35 passes for 264 yards with two touchdowns as well as two intercepted. William Green had a fine performance with 119 yards on 26 carries that included a TD. Quincy Morgan gained 118 yards on his three pass receptions with two touchdowns, including the deciding one. TE Steve Heiden led the team with 5 catches, although for just 21 yards.

For Jacksonville, Fred Taylor had an outstanding rushing performance with 145 yards and the long TD on 23 carries. Mark Brunell went to the air 14 times with 10 completions for 73 yards and a touchdown. Kyle Brady had three receptions for 16 yards and a score and WR Jimmy Smith led the club with just 23 yards on his two catches.

The two coaches succinctly summed up the improbable ending:

“I thought I had seen everything I could in football,” said Cleveland’s Davis. “I guess I hadn't.”

“Comments are beyond me right now,” said Tom Coughlin.

The final result had repercussions for both teams. Cleveland went on to finish second in the AFC North with a 9-7 record and just qualified for a wild card spot in the playoffs. They lost to Pittsburgh in the first round by a 36-33 score. By that point, backup QB Kelly Holcomb was behind center – less talented than Couch, he had become a fan favorite and took over when the starter went down with a broken leg. Meanwhile, the Jaguars ended up third in the AFC South with a dismal 6-10 record, costing Coach Coughlin his job.

In fourteen games, Tim Couch threw for 2842 yards and 18 touchdowns, and the team had a winning record, but he only placed among the league’s top 10 passers in one category – his 18 interceptions ranked fourth. He lasted just one more year in the NFL. Quincy Morgan led the NFL by averaging 17.2 yards-per-reception as he achieved career highs with 56 catches for 964 yards and seven TDs. His performance dropped off badly in ’03 and he was dealt to Dallas during the 2004 season, bouncing among three teams and catching just nine passes in his last two years.

1999: Re-formed Browns Win 1st Game with Desperation TD Pass on Final Play

Cleveland was without NFL football for three years after the original Browns franchise was moved to Baltimore following the 1995 season. The team’s fans had been outraged when owner Art Modell announced that the club would be leaving the city it had called home since its debut in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) in 1946. Not all of Modell’s fellow owners were pleased, either, but Commissioner Paul Tagliabue worked out a compromise in which the city would gain a new club in 1999 that would inherit the name and history of the exiting team. Modell’s team was renamed the Baltimore Ravens and continued on as though it was an expansion franchise.

The re-formed Browns took the field in 1999 under the ownership of Al Lerner and a front office led by Carmen Policy, team president, and Dwight Clark, director of football operations, that had been associated with a winning operation in San Francisco. Chris Palmer, most recently the offensive coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars, was the new head coach, and symbolically there was a new playing field, Cleveland Browns Stadium, that was built upon the site of the old Municipal Stadium.

As an expansion team (in reality, if not in terms of inherited name and history), the Browns had the first overall pick in the ’99 NFL draft and took Tim Couch (pictured above), a 6’4”, 227-pound quarterback from Kentucky. Veteran QB Ty Detmer started the season, but Couch took over in the second week.

As has often been the case with expansion teams, the club got off to a rough start. The new Browns lost their first two games by a combined score of 69-9. Winless in their first seven contests, the club struggled to score points, only reaching double figures in two of those games (with a high of 17). Couch played as well as could have been hoped, but several of the veterans did not, particularly on the offensive line. The running game was not strong, and even when Couch had time to throw, there was no game-breaker among the wide receivers.

The Browns took on the New Orleans Saints at the Louisiana Superdome on October 31. Under Head Coach Mike Ditka, the team had stunned the pro football world at the NFL draft by trading all of its picks in order to move up and select RB Ricky Williams, the Heisman Trophy-winner from Texas. The controversial gamble had not worked, and the club was 1-5 as it played host to Cleveland before a crowd of 48,817.

New Orleans got on the board late in the first quarter after safety Rob Kelly recovered a fumbled punt by Browns WR David Dunn at the Cleveland 15 yard line. QB Billy Joe Hobert tossed a five-yard touchdown pass to WR Keith Poole for a 7-0 lead.

Cleveland’s defense set up a score midway in the second quarter when DE Roy Barker intercepted a pass and returned it 14 yards to the New Orleans 22. Couch connected with RB Marc Edwards for a 27-yard touchdown that tied the game. However, just before the end of the half, Doug Brien booted a 49-yard field goal for the Saints that put them back in front at 10-7.

The Browns defense set up another touchdown in the third quarter when the second Saints quarterback, Billy Joe Tolliver (replacing the injured Hobert), fumbled an attempted handoff in his own territory and DT Darius Holland recovered for Cleveland. Couch threw to fellow rookie WR Kevin Johnson for a 24-yard TD and 14-10 lead.

Before the third quarter was over, Brien kicked his second field goal from 22 yards out to narrow Cleveland’s margin to one point. It appeared that the Saints had an opportunity to take the lead midway in the fourth quarter, but Williams fumbled the ball away at the Browns’ 12 yard line with 5:27 remaining to play.

New Orleans got another chance, however, and looked set to kick a game-winning field goal with time running out. However, they called a timeout with 29 seconds still remaining, rather than letting time run all the way down. Brien was successful on the 46-yard kick for a 16-14 lead, but the Browns still had 21 seconds to work with.

Johnson returned the ensuing kickoff 25 yards. Couch threw an incomplete pass on the first play, but then was successful on a 19-yard pass to WR Leslie Shepherd, who quickly stepped out of bounds at his own 44 with two seconds remaining. With time for just one desperation play, Couch launched a long “Hail Mary” pass toward the end zone. The ball was tipped by two defenders, but Johnson managed to catch it and just stay inbounds for a stunning 56-yard touchdown. The new Browns had their first win by a score of 21-16.

The entire Browns team engaged in a wild celebration on the field, while the frustrated Saints could only walk off the field in disbelief. “I couldn't have thrown it another yard,” said Couch afterward. “I put everything I could into it and threw it as high as I could. It's a neat way to get your first one.”

“Sometimes you've got to be lucky, and we were lucky today,” summed up Coach Palmer.

The Saints outgained the Browns, 351 yards to 243, and had a significant advantage in first downs, 25 to 9. But they also turned the ball over five times, to just once by Cleveland. The Browns defense played well, and despite being without its best player, LB Jamir Miller, who was out with a shoulder injury.


Tim Couch completed 11 of 19 passes for 193 yards with three touchdowns against no interceptions. Kevin Johnson (pictured at left) caught 4 passes for 96 yards and the two TDs, while Leslie Shepherd contributed 4 receptions for 52 yards. As usual, the team was ineffectual on the ground (62 yards on 21 attempts), with RB Karim Abdul-Jabbar leading the way with 39 yards on 13 carries.

For the Saints, Ricky Williams ran for 179 yards on 40 attempts, but also fumbled three times. The two Billy Joes at quarterback combined for just 13 completions in 29 attempts and each gave up an interception; Hobert had a TD pass among his four completions, while Tolliver was successful on 9 of 20 passes for 92 yards. Williams and Keith Poole both caught three passes (for 8 and 23 yards, respectively) while RB Aaron Craver gained 32 yards on his two receptions.

It was the fifth loss of the season for the Saints when holding a fourth quarter lead, on the way to a miserable 3-13 finish at the bottom of the NFC West; a major housecleaning ensued. Cleveland won once more and ended up last in the AFC Central with a 2-14 record, but they had made their first win a memorable one.

Tim Couch had a respectable rookie season, completing 55.9 % of his passes for 2447 yards with 15 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. However, he led the league by being sacked 56 times, and his career in Cleveland was ultimately disappointing.

Kevin Johnson led the Browns in pass receiving for the year with 66 catches for 986 yards (14.9 avg.) and eight touchdowns.