1999 Browns Strat-O-Matic Replay

[mikepayne]

I am doing a 1999 Browns replay with the computer Strat football vs online opponents.
Will post game results here.

[mikepayne]

GAME 1

1999 Steelers at 1999 Browns

at Browns Stadium, Cleveland, OH



A standing room only crowd in attendance as football returns to Cleveland!
And what better way to open up the new digs than with the Turnpike Rivalry!

On the sideline for the Steelers was rookie coach, Steve Shilling,
participating in his very FIRST online game vs. the veteran of over 700
wins ... Mike Payne!

The teams traded punts for much of the first quarter and with 3:54 to go in
the quarter, Phil Dawson put the Browns out in front with a 40-yard FG.

Early in the 2nd, Cleveland's Terry Kirby came up just short of a first down
on a flat pass and Dawson nailed a 45-yarder ... Browns out in front 6-0!
Pittsburgh was driving to within field goal range just before the half, but a
penalty knocked them out of Kris Brown's range and they were forced to punt.

CLEVELAND 6, PITTSBURGH 0 HALFTIME


Phil Dawson and the Browns sideline celebrate his 2nd FG of the day

The teams continued to trade punts well into the 3rd quarter, Chris Gardocki
consistently pinning the Steelers inside their own 10 ... and more often, their own 5!
We went to the 4th quarter with the Browns still leading, 6-0

The stadium was ROCKING in the 4th as the fans could feel their first win
in the city since 1995 and Jamir Miller and Wali Rainer did their parts,
continuing to stuff the Steelers, Rainer coming up with a sack of Kordell Stewart.

But Levon Kirkland, Jason Gildon and Co. held tough as the two teams kept
playing the field position game and the Browns kept punting the ball back
to the Steelers....

Which the did with 3:36 to go and Kordell and the Pittsburgh offense got
the ball back on their 23 with 3:18 remaining.

With 2-minutes to go and facing 4th and 3 on their own 30, the young coach
elected to go for it and Kordell hit Courtney Hawkins for a 15 yard gain,
the first down bringing the Steelers to their 45 with 1:52 and the clock running...

A pair of flat passes to Troy Edwards and Richard Huntley got the ball into
Cleveland territory and with :52 to go, a 16-yard gain by Huntley on a draw
also tacked on a penalty and kept the drive going and the Steelers now had
it 1st and 10 on the Browns 21, :45 to go....

On 2nd and 10, Kordell found Bobby Shaw for 11 to the Browns 10 ...
30 seconds to go, Steelers OUT of timeouts!!!

1st and Goal and a short pass to Courtney Hawkins fell incomplete ...
BUT WAIT! Flag on the field! It's Pass Interference ... and the Steelers have
it 1st and Goal on the 1-yard Line!

:22 ticks on the clock ... enough to run one and still hurry up if they get stuffed?
Why not?, maybe keying the Bus .... Kordell takes a half-step back and goes
over the top ... TOUCHDOWN!!!


Kordell Stewart barks out the signals before plunging in from a yard out!

Brown kicks the extra point and kicks the ball in the end zone on the kickoff
Two shots for Tim Couch from 80-yards away, but nothing doing
The Browns lose a heart-breaker in their first game in 4-years ... FINAL SCORE:

Pittsburgh 7, Cleveland 6

BOX SCORE:http://www.darkfather.com/boxscores/...T_1999CLA.HTML

--------------
What a game! I can't believe that THIS goes down as my first online game ever!

I can't say enough about Mike Payne. The patience in answering my questions,
holding with me through a startup snafu ... and williing to play in the game
lobby with me as I am neither port-nor-AIM savvy.

Can't wait for us to haul out some more Browns-Steelers games!
Can't wait for the rematch in Week 10!

My 5-year old son watching the whole last drive ... couldn't believe it either.
But you've given him a memory of a lifetime, Mikey ... he was talking it up
to mommy before bedtime, says he's gonna tell all the kids at school ... you
may have helped make a Strat fan for life!

Online is GREAT ... I'm sorry I've held off this long. I know my whuppin's will
be coming ... but I'm sure gonna be hanging out in the lobby more and now
that HS football season is close to done, would love some more games H-2-H!

[mikepayne]

This aint gonna be pretty, but it will be a real fun challenge to win more games than they really did (2)

[mikepayne]

GAME 2

Browns at Titans

After a heartbreaking loss to the Steelers in week 1, the Browns traveled to Tennessee to take on the Titans.
The Browns got the opening kick off and after 1 first down the imploded and ended up in a 4th and 26 and punted.
Tenn went 59 yards in 10 plays to take a quick 7-0 lead when Eddie George plowed in from 4 yards out.

The Browns moved the ball well on their next possession but Tim Couch tossed an interception on 1st and 10 from the Tenn 45.
Samari Rolle returned it 4 yards to the Tenn 34.
Eddie George ripped off a 33 yard run to the Browns' 33.
Cleve hald and Del Greco kicked a 49 yard FG. Holding on Tenn wiped that out and they punted.

After a Browns punt, Eddie George fumbled at midfield and the Browns recovered.
A 16 yard pass to Darrin Chiaverini got Cleve to the Tenn 36, but on the next play, Rolle picked off Couch again and this time took it 67 yards for a Tenn TD and a 14-0 lead early in the 2nd QTR.

After trading punts, Cleve took over at their own 13 with 3:00 left in the half.
A 14 yard pass to Kirby on 3rd and 8 got Cleve to the 29.
A long pass to K.J. gained 30 to the Tenn 41.
Passes of 8 and 9 yards to TE Irv Smith got the Browns to the Tenn 24.
Cleve had a 1st and goal on the 9, but couldnt gain another foot and settled for a 27 yard Dawson FG.
14-3 Titans at the half.

After trading punts, Henry Ford sacked Couch in the end zone for a safety and a 16-3 Titans lead.
Del Greco added a 43 yard FG late in the 3rd QTR and the Titans lead 19-3.

The Browns force a 3 and out to start the 4th QTR, and put together their best drive of the game, 80 yards in 17 plays.
A key play was a 4th and 2 at the Tenn 45 when FB Marc Edwards caught a 5 yard flat pass from Couch for a 1st down.
On 2nd and 13 from the 43, Couch went long to Chiaverini for a 28 yard gain to the Tenn 15.
5 plays later on 2nd and goal from the 2, Couch connected with Terry Kirby for a TD, and to him again for the 2 point play.
Tenn leads 19-11 with 6:36 to play.

Tenn drives to the Cleve 22 and stall there.
Del Greco misses a 39 yard FG and the Browns take over on their own 29 with 3:00 to play.

On 2nd and 12, Couch hits Leslie Sheperd for 9, and on 3rd and 3 Chiaverini catches another long pass for 28 to the Tenn 36 with 1:52 to play.
A few plays later, on 4th and 2 from the Tenn 28, a wide open Terry Kirby pulls down a pass for a 16 yard gain to the Tenn 12......................
TWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET Holding on the Browns....
Couches 4th and 12 pass to Kevin Johnson falls incomplete and the new Browns lose another heartbreaker for the 2nd straight week.

FINAL SCORE
Titans 19
Browns 11

Thanks for playing Dale.

BOX SCORE
http://www.darkfather.com/boxscores/...T_1999TNA.HTML

[mikepayne]

Baltimore Ravens 35, Cleveland Browns 16

BALTIMORE -- In the first-ever "Modell Bowl" battle between the old Browns and the new Browns, the Baltimore Ravens thrilled the PSINet Stadium crowd with a 35-16 thrashing of the expansion Clevelanders. Tony Banks drove the Ravens the length of the field on the opening drive for a quick 7-0 lead culminated by a plunge by Chuck Evans. On the ensuing series, Baltimore went up by two touchdowns when Tim Couch threw a pick-six backed up deep in his own end. Down 14-0 in less than four minutes, Cleveland never really could recover from the opening knockout punch as the home crowd cheered on the greatly improved Baltimore defense anchored by star MLB Ray Lewis and the pass rush of Peter Boulware and Michael McCrary. Couch was abused the entire half, completing just a third of his passes and getting sacked five times. This game was over by halftime as another length of the field drive later followed by a quick strike keyed by a long Errict Rhett touchdown run made it 28-3 at the break. The score narrowed to 28-9 after the Ravens held the Browns to two field goals after Cleveland had great field position all quarter due to great special teams play, including a block of a Kyle Richardson punt. But when the fourth quarter opened, Stoney Case entered the game at quarterback and connected with Qadry Ismail on his first play from scrimmage for a 56-yard touchdown strike to end any lingering doubt concerning the outcome.

More to come later on the gory details including the cheers of "Art! Art! Art!" from the appreciative home crowd whenever his face was shown on the scoreboard...

BOX SCORE
http://www.darkfather.com/boxscores/...T_1999BAA.HTML
Next up the 1-2 Patriots come to Cleveland Browns Stadium.

[mikepayne]

Game 4

The Browns continue to get worse with each game played as
Mike Stucchis' Patriots crush the Browns 35-3.
The Browns managed only 175 yards of total offense compared
to the Patriots 437.

GG Mike S.

BOX SCORE
http://www.darkfather.com/boxscores/...T_1999CLA.HTML

[mikepayne]

Game 5

Begals at Browns

The Browns won their first game of the season with a 21-14 win over David Pajaks Bengals.

The hero of the game was offensive lineman Scott Rehberg when he tactfully executed the fumblerooskie play, picking up a hidden pigskin, and rumbling down the left sideline for a 41 yard TD to give the Browns a 21-7 lead early in the 4th QTR.

Tim Couch had a good day at QB completing 19 of 27 passes for 297 yards and 2 TD'S.

Cory Dillon shredded the Browns porous run defense (147-662-4.5avg, 6 TD's on the season) for 156 yards on 25 carries, but could not get over the goal line.

GG David

BOX SCORE

POSS CHART

[mikepayne]

Game 6

Browns at Jaguars

David Pajak took the Jags and despite a good performance by the Browns defense, the Jags prevailed 27-3.
The Jaguars were held to just 32 yards on 23 carries, with Fred Taylor gaining only 10 yards on 8 carries.
Mark Brunell though, completed 24 of 35 passes for 333 yards and two scores.
The inept Cleveland ground game played pretty well gaining 125 yards on 28 carries, but rookie QB Tim Couch managed only 14 completions in 31 attempts for just 98 yards and 1 int.
Browns fall to 1-5.

GG David

BOX SCORE

POSS CHART

Next up the 1999 Rams.

[mikepayne]

Game 7

Rams 20 - Brown 10

The 99 Browns played a scrappy game against the Rams. Cleveland had wound up with slightly fewer yards, but had more overall plays. Coach Mikey's ball control offense effectively limited the Rams' offensive opportunities and kept the game within reach deep into the 4th quarter.

The Rams had all kinds of trouble in the first half. Their special teams was snookered by punter Chris Gardocki who successfully converted a fake punt (led directly to Cleveland's first field goal). The St Louis offense battled field position for the whole first half too. At one point the St Louis offense commited three straight penalties to face 3rd and 36. John Thierry created three first half sacks with good pass rush pressure against St Louis's weak link on the offensive line, 2-rated ORT Fred Miller. Even when things went right for the Rams, they went wrong. Dexter McCleon intercepted Tim Couch, but it was on the Rams 1 yard line with no return!

Tied 3-3 late in the 2nd quarter, Terry Kirby hit a good roll on his flat pass card (guessed right), and broke a screen pass for a 45 yard touchdown. Cleveland led 10-3 at the break, having completely stymied the so-called Greatest Show on Turf.

The second half didn't go so well for the Browns. Marshall Faulk started hitting for good yards on his runs. Cleveland gave up a quick field goal, then committed a quick turnover when Kevin Johnson lost a receiver fumble. St Louis scored their first touchdown when Kurt Warner threaded a short pass through double-coverage to a blanketed Jeff Robinson.

Down by 3 Cleveland moved the ball sharply downfield, but Phil Dawson missed a 43 yard FG attempt.

Marshall Faulk put a nail in the coffin when he scored in the 4th quarter. Much like the 2-tmed touchdown pass to Jeff Robinson, Cleveland had run-keyed Faulk on this play too. However, the crafty Faulk picked the one open hole on the line of scrimmage without a defender, and wound up hitting for a defensive card short gain that put him in the end zone.

The Browns had one more good drive in them. A perfectly timed 2tm on Marc Edwards denied a would-be touchdown on a flat pass. Phil Dawson bricked another field goal attempt. After this it was just a matter of running out the clock.

BOX SCORE
http://www.darkfather.com/boxscores/...T_1999SLN.HTML

[mikepayne]

Game 8

17 '99 Browns at
31 '09 Saints

Fred Bobberts/Saints
A real heart breaking loss for the Browns as QB Tim Couch went from hero to goat very quickly.

The Browns worked their way to a 17-7 halftime lead.
The Cleveland defense seemed inpenatrable as the Saints first 4 possessions ended in a 3 and out, and 3 interceptions. (They also fumbled a PR, recovered it, but fumbled the advance).

A 3 yard TD pass from Couch to TE Irv Smith, a 2 yard Couch run, and a 28 yard Dawson FG made it 17-7 at the half.

The 2nd half had the Browns dream turn into a nightmare, as they shot themselves in the foot, belly, head, and heart with penalties, turnovers, and wide open receivers catching bombs, only to trip over mysteriously placed shnags in the Superdome carpet. (3 LG'S went for 32, 32, and 22 yards).

Doug Brien's 43 yard FG late in the 3rd QTR made it 17-10 Browns entering the 4th.

Taking over on their own 10 with 12:00 left in the game, Couch tossed a 13 yard strike to Smith.
But on the next play, a flat pass to WR Darrin Chiaverini went WAYYYY wrong.
Fred went for an all out run call bringing everyone up to the line.
A WIDE OPEN Chiaverini had nothing but daylight between him and the endzone 77 yards away.
The ball hit him square on the hands and . . . FWAPPP! (0 men, guessed wrong, 2-4,12 int) Off the hands, straight up in the air, and fell miraculously in the hands of Willie Whitehead. Whitehead shook one defender from his ankle, and went 26 yards for the score tieing the game 17-17 . . . . wait...no!! Doug Brien shanks the XP kick. 17-16 Browns with 11:06 to play.

A kick off to the 8, and a 32 yard return to the 40 was negated by more Cleveland mistakes. A penalty took it all the way back to the 15.
Rookie QB Tim Couch did not seem shaken by the freakish INT play on the previous series, and completed a 32 yard pass to Kevin Johnson on the first play.
On 2nd and 8, a 15 yard penalty on the Saints (only 2 for 20 in the game compared to 12/95 on the Browns) got the Browns a first down.
Passes of 12 yards to FB Marc Edwards, and 14 yards to HB Terry Kirby got the Browns to the Saints 7 with 8:24 left, looking to make it a 8 point game.
Last time down here Fred had called run 3 straight times (right calls) so remembering that I ignored his show of blitz and went for the short pass to Johnson.
An AWESOME call by Fred, baiting me perfectly, as he went all out blitz AND doubled up on Johnson as well.
Couch was dead meat, got hammered by RE Brady Smith for a loss of 8, fumbled the ball, and RLB Mark Fields recovered for the Saints on the New Orleans 15.

85 yards and 9 plays later Billy Joe Hobart hit TE Cam Cleeland for his 2nd TD of the game giving the Saints a 24-17 lead (2 point run GOOD) with 3:36 to play.

It went from ugly to FUGLY real quick, as KR Ronnie Powell fumbled the return with the Saints recovering on the Browns 23.
Fred put a nail in the Coffin scoring 5 plays later on a 4 yard pass from Hobart to Keith Poole for a 31-17 lead with only 1:37 left.

Cleveland gave up the ball on downs with 1:00 left.
The very next play, RE Derrick Alexander was in the backfield quicker than lightning, and as Hobart was handing off to Aaron Craver, he grabbed the ball and went 31 yards to the Saints 9 with 0:52 left.
Too little too late, plus Freds defense held taking over on downs on the Saints 3.

WOW. Great comeback effort Fred!

BOX SCORE

POSS CHART

Browns are now 1-7 at the half way point.
Ravens come to Cleveland Stadium week 9.

[mikepayne]

The Ravens came to Cleveland for week 9.
The place will be rockin!!


By the way, We still play at this BEAUTIFUL venue.

[mikepayne]

Game 9

17 '99 Ravens at
24 '99 Browns

Browns win 2nd game of the season with a win over the hated Ravens.

Joe Smith/Ravens
In week 3 the Browns went to Baltimore to face the EX Browns/Ravens and got pummelled 35-16.
Week 9 saw a slightly different Browns team, that showed a lot more character and determination,
especially on defense.

The first 5 Raven possessions netted them a total of 3 yards.
But the Browns offense struggled vs the tough Baltimore defense and was only able to manage 1
Phil Dawson 35 yard FG.

The downfall for the Ravens was their lack of pass blocking, as Tony Banks' feet never were able to get set
the whole game.

The Browns FG came after a short 9 play 36 yard drive on their first possession.
A 15 yard penalty and a 15 yard pass to TE Irv Smith were key plays.

The Ravens finaly broke the Cleveland defense when Priest Holmes broke off a 56 yard TD run in the mid
second QTR for a 7-3 lead.

The Browns then shocked the Ravens by overcoming a 2nd and 14 with a 27 yard pass to Kevin Johnson,
followed immediately by a flat pass to Terry Kirby that went for a 68 yard TD.
Phil Dawson's XP was blocked, 9-7 Browns with 3:36 left in the 2nd QTR.

The teams traded 2 punts each to start the 2nd half and the Browns got pinned on their own 9.
2 penalties on Cleve set them back to a 1st and 16 on the 3.
On 2nd and 16, Couch attempted an end run and got blasted by Tony Siragusa, fumbled the ball,
and Siragusa recovered it in the end zone for a Ravens TD and a 14-9 lead.

Couch made up for his bumble fingers the next series and completed a 66 yard bomb to K.J.
to retake the lead 15-14. We went for the 2 point play and Couch hit TE Smith for the conversion
and a 17-14 lead with 3:00 left in the 3rd QTR.


Kevin Johnson hauls in a 66 yard TD pass from Couch.

Eric Rhett then burned the Browns in the 4th QTR with a 52 yard run to the Cleveland 15.
The Cleve defense held on and Matt Stover hit a 33 yard FG to tie the score 17-17 with 10:30 to play.

The teams traded punts and the Browns took over at mid field.
A 12 yard pass to Leslie Shepherd on 3rd and 9 got a first down at the Balt 37.
A few plays later a 7 yard pass to Karim Abdul, and an 8 yard penalty put the Browns on the Ravens
8 with 3 minutes left.
TE Irv Smith caught an 8 yard TD pass from Couch for the go ahead score making it 24-17 Cleveland with 2:24 left.

The Cleveland defense bent, bent, and bent some more.
14 plays by Joe and the Ravens got them to the Cleve 24 and a 4th and 15 with 0:08 left.
Banks was sacked 3 times on the drive, but Joe kept overcoming them.
The 15th play was an incomplete pass to Patrick Johnson, and Couch kneeled out the final 0:01.



Player of the game Tim Couch completed 24 of 42 passes for 320 yards and 3 touchdowns.

GG Joe!!


This man was arrested outside of Municipal Stadium after the game for disorderly conduct.

Box Score

Poss Chart