NFL Old School Game of the Week: Kardiac Kids Clinch AFC Central Title

 

Browns quarterback Brian Sipe would throw for 308 yards and three touchdowns in the Browns' 1980 regular season finale with the Bengals.

The "Kardiac Kids" are regarded as one of the greatest teams in Cleveland Browns history as during the 1980 NFL season as the Browns won nine of their 11 games by a touchdown or less with five of those victories being less than a field goal.

It was fitting that in the final game of the 1980 regular season, the Browns would have to win the game in the final minutes as they traveled to Cincinnati to take on their arch rivals the Bengals with the AFC Central division title on the line.

The Browns came into the regular season finale with a 10-5 record but were coming off a heartbreaking loss to the Minnesota Vikings the week before on the "Miracle at the Met"(To read about that game, click on the link highlighted here: https://oldschoolsportsblog.blogspot.com/2017/10/nfl-old-school-game-of-week-vikings.html).

Led by quarterback Brian Sipe, who would go to win the NFL MVP for the 1980 season in which he finished with 4,162 yards and 30 touchdowns, the Browns needed a win in Cincinnati to secure the first division championship for Cleveland since 1971.

Standing in their way were their bitter intrastate rivals, the Cincinnati Bengals, who were set to finish with their third straight losing season but were looking to carry some momentum into 1981 as Cincinnati was on a three-game winning streak to improve thier record to 6-9 before thier week 16 showdown with the Browns.

If the Bengals were going to knock off the Browns, they would have do so without starting quarterback Ken Anderson as he still recovering from a sprained right ankle he suffered two weeks earlier as Jack Thompson would get the start when Anderson would serve as the team's backup.

The Bengals got the ball to start the game as they drove from their 27-yard-line to the Browns' 46-yard-line primarily on the legs of fullback Pete Johnson, who had four carries for 16 yards up to this point, when Thompson threw a pass over the middle intended for wide receiver Pat McInally.

That is when Browns free safety Thom Darden delivered a vicious hit on McInally, knocking the Bengals receiver/punter unconscious as a stretcher was brought on to take McInally off the field.

The hit drew a personal foul penalty to give the Bengals a 1st down at the Cleveland 31-yard-line as two runs by Johnson for seven yards and an incomplete pass would set up a 42-yard field goal by Jim Breech to give Cincinnati a 3-0 lead.

The two teams would trade punts for the rest of the first quarter as Breech will fill in for McInally as the Bengals punter when on the first play of the second quarter Sipe compelted a 60-yard pass to Dave Logan to give the Browns a 1st down at the Cincinnati 10-yard-line.

But on the very next play, Sipe was stripped of the ball by Bengals defensive end Ross Browner leading to a recovery by the other Bengals defensive end, Eddie Edwards, to give Cincinnati the ball at their 24-yard-line.

After two plays netted nine yards to set up 3rd & 1, running back Charles Alexader got the ball, as he ran for 32 yards that with a 15-yard face mask penalty on Darden gave the Bengals a 1st down at the Browns' 20-yard-line.

Two more runs by Alexander for seven yards would set up 3rd & 3 when Thompson scrambled out of the pocket to run for a 13-yard touchdown to extend the Bengals' lead to 10-0 with 10:30 left in the second quarter.

The Bengals seemed poised to get the ball back as the Browns faced a 3rd & 19 when Sipe was sacked for a four-yard loss only to have Cincinnati nose tackle Wilson Whitley get called for an unnessary roughness penalty which cost the Bengals 15 yards but even worse gave Cleveland a fresh set of downs at its 36-yard-line.

Five plays later, Sipe found Reggie Rucker for a 42-yard touchdown to bring the Browns to within a field goal at 10-7 with 6:56 left in the second quarter.

Following a Bengals punt, the Browns got the ball at their 29-yard-line as a holding penalty would push them back 10 yards as an incomplete pass and an one-yard run by Mike Pruitt would being up 3rd & 19 when Sipe hit Willis Adams for 26 yards and a 1st down at the Cleveland 46-yard-line.

The Browns would move to the Bengals' 39-yard-line until they were forced to punt with 46 seconds left before halftime only to have the punt bounce off the leg of Cincinnati linebacker Reggie Williams as running back Dino Hall recovered the ball to give Cleveland a 1st & goal at the Bengals' nine-yard-line.

Sipe would throw three straight incomplete passes as Don Cockroft came on to kick a 26-yard field goal to tie the game at 10 as the first half came to a close.

Browns wide receiver Ricky Feacher would only catch two passes for 69 yards but both catches went for touchdowns.

The Browns would get the ball to start the second half as Hall would return the opening kickoff 35 yards to give Cleveland the ball at the Bengals' 47-yard-line.

However after Pruitt was dropped for a two-yard loss on 1st down, Sipe was intercepted by Bengals defensive back Ray Griffin on a pass intended for Browns running back Calvin Hill as Griffin would return the pick 52 yards for a touchdown to give Cincinnati a 17-10 lead just 34 seconds into the second half.

Sipe would redeem himself on the Browns' ensuing possession as he completed three straight passes to tight end Ozzie Newsome for 19 yards with a 15-yard roughing the passer penalty accompanying the last completion to give Cleveland a 1st down at the Bengals' 35-yard-line.

Following an incomplete pass on 1st down, Sipe hit Ricky Feacher for a 35-yard touchdown that with Cockroft's extra point tied the game at 17 with 12:21 remaining in the third quarter.

The Benglas would begin their next possession at their 30-yard-line only to give it back on the Browns when on 2nd & 10 Thompson was picked off by Browns cornerback Ron Bolton to give Cleveland the ball at the Cincinnati 41-yard-line.

Sipe would threw a pass to Pruitt which lost the Browns a yard to set up 2nd & 11 as Sipe hit Rucker for 12 yards and a 1st down at the Bengal's 30-yard-line as Sipe was sacked for a four-yard loss on 1st down to bring up 2nd & 14 when Sipe connected with Feacher again, this time for a 34-yard touchdown to give Cleveland its first lead of the game at 24-17 with 9:53 left in the third quarter.

After an exchange of punts, the Bengals got the ball at the Browns' 38-yard-line as a 14-yard pass from Thompson to Isaac Curtis would help set up a 33-yard field goal attempt for Breech, only to have the kick sail wide left and no good to keep the score at 24-17 in favor of the Browns.

Following another exchange of punts, the Bengals had the ball at their 41-yard-line when Thompson went deep and threw a pass for McInally, who remarkably had returned to the game in the second quarter to assume his punting duties, made the catch at the Cleveland 15-yard-line, then dragged Browns cornerback Oliver Davis on the final five yards of his 59-yard touchdown reception that tied the game at 24 with 14 seconds to go in the third quarter.

The Bengals defense would force the Browns to punt on their next possession to get their offense the ball back at their 14-yard-line as Thompson would run for 15 yards on 3rd & 7 to give Cincinnati a 1st down at its 32-yard-line, then found tight end Dan Ross for a 34-yard completion which was followed by a 15-yard pass to McInally to help put the Bengals at the Browns' 20-yard-line.

But the Bengals would be unable to break the 24-24 tie as Thompson would be intercepted by Darden whose 10-yard return gave Cleveland the ball at its 33-yard-line only to have Sipe be picked off a deep pass by Cincinnati cornerback Ken Riley to give the Bengals the ball at their 34-yard-line.

The Bengals would go three-and-out on their ensuing possession to give the ball back to the Browns who took over at their 46-yard-line after McInally shanked his punt which would only go 14 yards.

With over six minutes left in regulation, the "Kardiac Kids" would drive down the field using their ground game as Pruitt carried the ball five times for 31 yards on a 10-play, 49-yard drive that culiminated with a 22-yard field goal by Cockroft to give Clevleand a 27-24 lead with 85 seconds left in regulation.

When the Bengals offense came onto the field to begin their next drive at their 32-yard-line, they did so with Anderson at quarterback as Thompson had suffered a concussion on the Bengals' prior drive.

Anderson completed a three-yard pass to Curtis to begin the drive then threw an incomplete pass to bring up 3rd & 7 when Anderson hit Steve Kreider for 22 yards and a 1st down at the Browns' 43-yard-line.

Anderson would then complete a nine-yard pass to Ross which was followed by another incomplete pass to set up 3rd & 1 at the Cleveland 34-yard-line with 11 seconds left and no timeouts for the Bengals.

That is when Anderson would fire a 20-yard pass to Kreider who could not get out of bounds as time ran out with the Bengals at the Browns' 14-yard-line as the "Kardiac Kids" had come away with the 27-24 win and the AFC Central divsion title.

While the Bengals finished the season with a 6-10 record, things would turn around for them the following season as Cincinnati would go 12-4 during the 1981 regular season to finish with the best record in the AFC thanks in large part to a MVP season by Anderson as he threw for 3,754 yards and 29 touchdown passes.

In the playoffs, the Bengals would knock off the Buffalo Bills 28-21 in the Divisional Round to earn a spot in the AFC Championship where they would play the San Diego Chargers in the "Freezer Bowl" as Cincinnati won the game 27-7 despite playing in -59 wind chill to earn a trip to Super Bowl XVI where the Bengals would fall to the San Francisco 49ers 26-21.

As for the Browns, their storybook 1980 season would come to a heartbreaking end two weeks later as they fall to the Oakland Raiders 14-12 in the AFC Divisional Round on the infamous "Red Right 88" where despite being field goal range for the game-winning field goal, Sipe would throw a pass into the end zone that was intercepted by Raiders safety Mike Davis.

Browns head coach Sam Rutigliano is carried off the field after his team clinched the 1980 AFC Central Division championship.