The on Again Off Again Beat the Colts Again Browns

The NFL will close out its 100th flavor on Dominicus evening when the Kansas Urban center Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers run into in Super Bowl LIV.

Despite boasting viii professional person championships - four in the All-America Football game Conference and 4 in the NFL - the Cleveland Browns remain just i of four current teams to never make an appearance in the championship game in the Super Bowl era. (The others: the Jacksonville Jaguars, Detroit Lions and Houston Texans.)

That is not for lack of trying of course, as the Browns have come oh so close on v occasions since the outset Super Bowl was played on January 15, 1967.

As nosotros wait for tonight's boot off, let's take a look at those games. (Big shoutout to Jonathan Knight's invaluable The Browns Bible equally a resource.)

Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images

1968 NFL Championship Game

The Browns were not really expected to brand an appearance in the title game post-obit the 1968 season, just a big win over the 12-two Dallas Cowboys in the Eastern Conference Playoff fix a coming together on December 29 confronting the Baltimore Colts at Cleveland Stadium.

The Browns had beaten the Colts in October - the but loss for Baltimore during the regular season - and the Colts took their revenge on Cleveland in a 34-0 beating.

The Cleveland defense gave up 184 total rushing yards and Tom Matte had three rushing touchdowns for the Colts, while the Browns law-breaking managed juste 173 total yards, turned the ball over three times and immune iv sacks.

The Colts would get on to lose to the New York Jets in Super Basin III in 1 of the game'southward biggest upsets.

1969 NFL Championship Game

The Browns made it back to the league title game the following season afterward again taking down the Dallas Cowboys in the Eastern Conference Playoffs.

Cleveland traveled to Metropolitan Stadium on January iv, 1970, to take on the Minnesota Vikings in what would be the final NFL Championship game played under that title. The two teams had played in Nov in the same stadium and the Vikings rolled over the Browns, 51-3.

It was more of the aforementioned in the title game, as Minnesota put upwards a pair of touchdowns in the game's opening eight minutes and congenital a 24-0 atomic number 82 past halftime. The Browns defense allowed 222 rushing yards, and the Minnesota rushing set on was and so dominant that quarterback Joe Kapp only threw 13 passes on the day.

On offense, the Browns turned the ball over three times and only avoided a shutout when quarterback Beak Nelsen hit wide receiver Gary Collins with a three-one thousand touchdown pass to make the final score 27-vii in favor of the Vikings.

Minnesota would become on to lose Super Basin IV to the Kansas City Chiefs, which is currently the last Super Bowl championship in franchise history for the Chiefs.

Photograph by Jay Dickman/Getty Images

1986 AFC Championship Game

The Browns finally looked ready to make information technology to the Super Bowl following the 1986 flavor afterwards finishing the season at 12-four and earning dwelling house field advantage in the AFC playoffs.

Cleveland opened the scoring when quarterback Bernie Kosar hit running dorsum Herman Fontenot with a half dozen-yard touchdown pass in the start quarter. The Broncos would eventually fight back to take a thirteen-10 lead heading into the fourth quarter, setting up one of the most memorable finishes in league history.

The Browns took a 20-thirteen lead when Kosar hit broad receiver Brian Brennan with a 48-yard touchdown pass with just 5:43 remaining in the game. Things continued to go in Cleveland'southward favor on the ensuing start later the Denver receiver could not command the brawl and was tackled on his ain ii-one thousand line.

Denver quarterback John Elway had other ideas, even so, and took the Broncos on a xv-play, 98-yard drive that culminated in a five-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Mark Jackson with 37 seconds remaining that sent the game into overtime.

The Browns had the ball first in overtime, simply went three-and-out. Elway took over and led the Broncos on a sixty-yard drive that finished with a game-winning 33-grand field goal by Rich Karlis. (The field goal was no proficient, despite what the game officials said; no one volition e'er convince us otherwise.)

The Broncos would continue to lose to the New York Giants in Super Basin XXI.

Photo by E.L. Bakke/Getty Images

1987 AFC Championship Game

A year later the Browns and Broncos met upwards again, this time at Denver'south Mile High Stadium.

The game could not have gotten off to a worst start for the Browns, equally Cleveland turned the ball over on each of its start two possessions of the game and the Broncos congenital a 21-3 atomic number 82 at halftime.

The Browns came out firing in the 2nd half, even so, and scored 3 touchdowns in the 3rd quarter - on an eighteen-1000 touchdown laissez passer to wide receiver Reggie Langhorne, a 32-yard touchdown laissez passer to running dorsum Earnest Byner and a 4-1000 touchdown run by Byner - and went into the 4th quarter trailing by only seven points.

Cleveland tied the game at 31 when quarterback Bernie Kosar hit wide receiver Webster Slaughter with a four-yard touchdown pass with xi minutes left in the game.

All that was just prelude to some other impending heartbreak.

After Denver quarterback John Elway hit Sammy Winder with a 20-one thousand touchdown pass to reclaim the leader, Kosar and the Browns criminal offence took over at their own 24-yard-line. The offense drove to the Denver viii-m-line with a little more than a minute remaining and a take a chance to tie the game.

But on a draw play, Byner was stripped of the ball at the Denver two-k-line, the Broncos recovered, and the Super Basin dream was over for the Browns for another year.

The Broncos would proceed to lose to the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XXII.

1989 AFC Championship Game

For the tertiary fourth dimension in four years, the Browns and the Broncos would meet in the AFC Championship Game. This was not a memorable game, however, as the Browns allowed Denver quarterback John Elway to laissez passer for 385 yards and three touchdowns in a 37-21 win.

The Broncos built a 24-7 pb with less than five minutes remaining in the third quarter, only the Browns fought dorsum backside a x-one thousand touchdown pass by broad receiver Brian Brennan and a one-yard touchdown run by running back Tim Minoa but the lead to just 3 points heading into the fourth quarter.

The Browns were shutout in the fourth quarter, nevertheless, and the Broncos airtight out the win with a 13-bespeak fourth quarter.

The game was the final playoff game for Kosar in a Cleveland uniform, and remains to this 24-hour interval the terminal conference championship game appearance past the Browns.

Denver would go along to lose to the San Francisco 49ers in Super Basin XXIV.

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Source: https://www.dawgsbynature.com/2020/2/2/21118479/cleveland-browns-5-times-browns-just-missed-super-bowl

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