1999 Browns Strat-O-Matic Replay

[mikepayne]

Next is the rematch with the Steelers in Pittsburgh.

[mikepayne]

Game 10

07 '99 Browns at
21 '99 Steelers

Joe Smith/Steelers
This game was close and the Browns fans that made the trip to Three Rivers got a pretty good showing by the Browns.
But 3 good scoring opportunities in the Browns' first 3 possessions were blown.
A drive to the Pitt 32 ended with a fumble by FB Marc Edwards,
a drive for a FG got taken away when a penalty forced a re kick, and was missed,
and a drive to the Steelers 10 ended with a Couch INT in the end zone to Travis H. Davis.

The Steelers also had their troubles moving the ball early with 2 punts and a Kordell Stewart INT to Antonio Langham.

The Davis INT that was returned to the Pitt 12, was followed by a great drive from Joe.
He took 10:12 off the clock when he drove 88 yards in 21 plays and scored on a 1 yard Stewart dive for a 7-0 lead.

A 43 yard Ronnie Powell KR helped the Browns tie the score when Couch scored from 3 yards out.

A 7 yard pass from Stewart to Mark Bruener made it 14-7.

A 62 yard punt return by Kevin Johnson to the Pitt 5 had the Cleveland fans back in the game,
but on the very next play Terry Kirby got rocked by Earl Holmes and fumbled away another great scoring chance for Cleve.

True to form, Joe drove 95 yards in 16 plays and scored on a 14 yard Jerome Bettis for a 21-7 lead
with 7:30 to play.

The Pitt defense held on for the win.

GG Joe

Box Score

Poss Chart

[mikepayne]

Game 11

23 '99 Panthers at
21 '99 Browns

Joe Smith/Panthers
After a tough loss in Pitt, the Browns came out strong vs a good Panthers team.
The teams opened with 2 punts each.

The Panthers' 3rd drive ended after 1 play when Marquez Pope picked off Steve Beuerlein
and returned it 25 yards to the Panthers 2.
Couch scored from 1 yard out for a 7-0 lead late in the 1st QTR.

The Panthers went 3 and out and punted to the Cleve 41.
A few plays later a 23 yard pass to Terry Kirby set up Mark Campbell's 3 yard TD reception and a 14-0 lead.

Michael Bates answered for Carolina with an 85 yard KR TD making it 14-7 Browns.

A Kirby fumble helped Carolina add a 41 yard Kasay FG before the half ended.

A missed Dawson FG, and a 13 play 64 yard drive to the Carolina 16 ended with Sean Gilbert
sacking Couch and forcing a fumble.
Joe turned that into a 32 yard Kasay FG making it 14-13 Browns.

Cleve came right back with an 8 play 79 yard drive ending with a 5 yard Edwards run and a 21-13 lead
A 42 yard bomb to Kevin Johnson, and a 15 yard run by Kirby were key plays.

The teams traded punts, and Joe drove to the Cleve 14 and faced a 4th and 2 with 4:48 to play,
trailing by 8.
With the 2 point conversion he could tie the score here with a 4th down conversion and a score.
He went for the FG though, forgetting the 2 point option.
Kasay made good on the 31 yarder, and the Browns were sitting good if they could just run out the last 4:30.

The Browns got a little help with a 5 yard penalty, but on 3rd and 5 could not convert and punted
to the Panthers 20 with 2:24 left and a 21-16 lead.

A 2nd and 16 pass to Patrick Jeffers for 13 yards, and a 13 yard screen to Tim Biakabutuka got them
to the Cleve 35 with 0:52 left.
3 incomplete passes had the Panthers facing a 4th and 10 with 0:30 left.
Jeffers' 13 yard reception kept the Panthers hopes alive, to the Cleve 22 with 0:22 left.
On 2nd and 5, with 0:08 left Jeffers WR screen was read perfectly by Jamir Miller and he was forced
out of bounds after a loss of 4, back to the Cleve 21.
With just 0:01 left to play, Beuerlein went for the endzone to Muhsin Muhammad.
Blown coverage by the Browns defense left him in single coverage, and a leaping catch
silenced the Cleveland faithful with a heart breaking loss.

GREAT GAME Joe!!

Box Score

Poss Chart

[mikepayne]

Game 12

30 '99 Titans at
00 '99 Browns

Joe Smith/Titans
After 2 very emotionaly draining losses to the Steelers and Panthers, the Browns went totally flat vs the
Titans.
Tennessee held the ball for nearly 40 minutes, Tim Couch completed only 14 passes with 3 INT'S,
and the Cleveland ground game was non existant gaining only 16 yards on 7 carries.

The Browns got past midfield only 3 times, and never past the Titans 41.

Ugly ugly game.

Nicely done Joe

Eddie George gets player of the game with 128 yards on 31 carries with 2 touchdowns.

Box Score

Poss Chart