1973 Browns at Bengals Game 13

last week the Queen City of Cincinnati was the focal point in the NFL's tightest divisional race for the hometown Bengals there was only one way to win a division title they would have to defeat their arch rivals the Cleveland Browns it should come as no surprise to anyone that here at season's end the Browns are again factors in the title chase somehow they seem to do it every year this season in particular is an odd one for Cleveland where they are winning with defense for the Browns offense traditionally carried the load an offensive line beset by injury and age has been the main problem for next storage the running attack is no longer consistent and can be counted on only for an occasional big play the passing has been weak and Mike Phipps spends more time dodging tacklers than he does searching for receivers the biggest bright spot has been exciting Greg crew at Cleveland's number 2 draft choice a more painful fact is that the teams to number one picks have barely contributed sure starter Pete Adams a guard was injured in pre-season and hasn't played at all and Steve Holden a potential superstar has yet to catch his first pass in the NFL Cincinnati had a chance for Holden but passed him up for Isaac Curtis Curtis has been sensational and has given the Bengals the deep threat they have lacked throughout their short history a big surprise has been boobie Clark not drafted until the 12th round teamed with Essex Johnson the Bengals may emulate Miami and having two 1000 yarders on the same team for Paul Brown the man who found it and named the Browns this game is the most vital in a long and extremely successful 39 year career so for these parts rival Ohio teams today is the day this is the NFL game of the week the Bengals vs. the Browns the Browns have won six of the seven games played between these two teams including one earlier this season but all of the games have been very close in what was to be their longest yardage gain of the entire first half Greg Pruitt took the opening kickoff cut inside the blocking wedge went outside was one tackler away from going the distance [Music] the Browns could have used a long score because right from the start their chronic problems on offense were apparent Mike Phipps has not done as well in his second season as a starter as he did in his first however the problems lie elsewhere for Phipps has great ability on his first series usually sure-handed milk more in the fine tight end betrayed fits on one pass play [Music] the Browns ineffective line betrayed him on another Fitz would be sacked five times today last week against the Chiefs he went down seven times and so it's gone all year long luckily Phipps has a strong body to go with his strong arm when the Bengals got the ball they began a march that would set the tone for the first half quarterback Ken Anderson consistently through under the brown zone for short successful gains to charlie Joyner and Isaac Curtis Joyner has been hurt most of the year and having both wide receivers together would be a big factor in this game for Cincinnati as they picked up gains of seven nine nine and nine yards on four consecutive short throws [Music] [Music] then for varieties sake essex johnson squeezed to a small opening for short yardage and a respite for the passing game but from the nine anderson hit on his fourth nine yarder of the drive a past isaac Curtis took all alone for a touchdown [Music] Cincinnati had drawn first blood [Music] a repeat shows that Anderson never looked anywhere but in the direction of Curtis who had gotten behind Clarence Scott Cincinnati 7 Cleveland nothing but now for the first time the Browns got something going as Phipps puffed to pass to mourn over the middle at the start of quarter number two Leroy Kelly at the end of his career went down from his own moves but still picked up ten yards [Music] then as he has done so many times this year Phipps wanted to pass but was forced into his Escape Artist Act despite the fine run Cleveland came up short and settled for Don Cochran 40-yard field goal that brought the Browns closer seven to three [Music] vii rescored didn't last long two plays later Isaac Curtis simply outran Walt Sumner and the Bengals had their second touchdown Curtis who is probably the fastest man in pro football had gone 70 yards to stun the Browns and thrill the fans Cincinnati now led 14 3 [Music] for the remainder of the half Cincinnati's tough defense just took off on the Browns attack led by Bill Bergey who always plays best against Cleveland the defense stopped the run and constantly forced Fitz to abandon his passing plans with a fierce all-out rush [Music] the young man from Purdue was equal to the challenge however and made some long gains because of the Bengals exuberance he paid for it too however [Music] after fifth said run for first down he gave to Pruit hoop with a second time missed by one man breaking the long one the week before in the same play crew it had gone 65 yards against the Chiefs a factor in the game for Cleveland today was the absence of injured Frank Fitts he is their main long ball threat it always seems to make incredible catches against the Bengals tip stride their other wide receiver fair hooker but the Bengals covered well 2n Cleveland's last threat of the half [Music] as time ran down in the half Anderson went back to the short slants that had served him so well earlier and the team moved downfield [Music] then from the 20 Anderson worked on rookie safety van green and Isaac Curtis came open for his third touchdown catch of the half on each one he had beaten a different defender [Music] Cincinnati's choice of curtis / holden in the draft couldn't have looked better as the bengals dominated the browns 21 3 as the half ended [Music] at the start of the second half Anderson who had found 169 yards of success in the air in the first half continued to find cracks and crevices in the Cleveland zone working repeatedly to the left side of the Cleveland defense Anderson found Bob Trumpy for 14 yards and got 18 more with Charlie Joyner who got behind linebacker Bob Babbage number 60 and slid safely into home with Anderson already over 200 yards passing for the day and the Browns highly pass conscious by now Anderson used the draw play and Essex Johnson got 16 yards almost breaking it for the touchdown Tom Darden's shoestring tackles saved the touchdown and a repeat of the play reveals that Darden was indeed the last man with a shot at Johnson [Music] it would prove to be a big save as Anderson handed off to boobie Clarke three straight times and Clarke rang up a first and goal from the free [Music] but the Browns made Darden's saving tackle stand-up when they refused to yield the touchdown after a run gained down to the one anderson tried to pass but john Garlington blitzed him into a hurried incompletion a third down run failed and so horse Newman was called in his field goal boosted the lead to 24 to 3 but the Browns were desperately searching for inspiration and drew it from the defense's gallant goal line stand and got back into the game on the kick off speedster Billy Lefever found a hole in the wedge and burned 60 yards to the Cincinnati 33 yard line [Music] the Browns very nearly misused levears return when Phipps trying to sneak me Roy Kelly into the secondary nearly threw an interception at Lamar Parrish [Music] those spared the interception tips was faced with a fourth and five and trailing by 21 the Browns had no choice but to go for it hips could find no one open but did locate a gaping hole in the middle of the Bengal rush and got the first down the drive was alive and phipps tried Ken Brown on the same play that had misfired earlier that Lamar Parrish was right there for an instant replay incompletion and so for the second time in the drive tips faced a critical fourth down this time he caught number 34 Neal Craig in a safety blitz and hit blaster Richardson who beat the Bengals blitz weakened secondary [Music] the Bengal lead was down to 14 points and the Browns as they have done so many times this season were mounting a comeback drive to get back in the game a 15-yard personal foul on the touchdown allowed Cleveland to kick off from the Cincinnati 45 and with only 45 yards to run instead of the customary 60 the Browns were able to trap Parrish at the 4 yard line the Browns kept the Bengals bottled up deep in their own territory then forced a break when Clarke fumbled and rookie van Green scooped up the ball and ran 15 yards for the score in less than two minutes the Browns had scored two touchdowns and what was once a very safe 21-point lead had suddenly shrunk to a very shaky one touchdown advantage with a period and a half still to play Cincinnati's next possession however would prove to be the game-winner where others may have folded before the Browns sudden strike comeback the bengals now a big game tough and team did not passing sparingly and relying on his running game of which he himself was apart anderson drove the bengals to the cleveland 37 yard line [Music] but here the browns very nearly created another big break when Clark fumbled Clark recovered his own fumble but on a repeat we can see that he was lucky to do it the football usually known for its weird bounces for some reasons stopped dead and Clark found the football staring him in the face it was a big break but nothing in comparison to Anderson's next pass which saw Clifford Brooks banging - Charlie joiner to bring up 1st and goal from the 1 yard line Joyner got the call he was looking for and though the Browns argued vehemently there was little doubt that Brooks had interfered but it was perhaps the biggest play in the game and the Browns found the penalty a bitter flag to swallow [Music] on the next play boobie banged over right guard in the Bengals again led by 14 being down by two touchdowns in the fourth quarter is not new to the Browns just last week they had scored twice in the last six minutes to save a tie with the Chiefs and the fears second long return signaled that they might be ready to do it again but this time it was not to be as on the first play of the fourth quarter Phipps his pass to a double covered fair hooker was intercepted by Bernard Jackson [Music] Jackson was downed on the Cincinnati 6 yard line but he couldn't resist showcasing his moves [Music] the Bengals were again in the shadow of their own endzone though they didn't fumble this time they were held without a first down and punted the ball to Cleveland in good field position the Browns were not dead yet starting from their own 40 to 50 Browns 32 yards closer with a strike to Richardson who like the man he replaced Frank Pitts was coming up big against the Bengals [Music] on the next play Phipps sent Brown on a swing and hit him for 15 yards to the Cincinnati 23 but on the play the brown suffered a 15-yard tripping penalty as the Bengals got another big break tips got that back with a screen to Pruitt but on this one the Browns were called for clipping Phipps now faced a second and twenty eight the Bengals knew he would have to throw and they towed out and stormed in [Music] tips bumble and when Royce Barry recovered the Brown's gut comeback was all but over they seemed to sense it and the emotion drenched game left some of the players a bit testy [Music] the Bengals took over on their own 45 and using the ground gain to grind the clock cincinnati moved toward the clinching field goal [Music] horst Newman hit it watched it fly true and gave the victory salute and went to kick off confident of the Bengal defense's ability to hold off the Browns [Music] Cleveland would have two more possessions the first ended with Phipps sacked by Mike Reid and Royce Barry for 13 yard loss [Music] Cleveland's playoff hopes were just seven minutes away from disappearing almost completely [Music] the Browns last possession ended when Phipps trying to throw hold in his first catch of the year overthrew and Ken Riley intercepted [Music] Bernard Jackson enjoyed Riley's interception immensely as with just two minutes left the Browns the Bengal nemesis on so many occasions had finally been conquered [Music] the Bengal defense which had played so magnificently now settled along the sidelines to watch an equally super offense run off the last seconds of the game [Music] [Music] [Music] when it was over Bengal fans brought out the orange handkerchiefs emulating the white handkerchiefs salute given to a certain team down south the Bengals may soon face that team in a round one playoff game for their win today almost assures them the AFC Central Division title all they need do now is beat Houston in their last game to earn the right to face the defending NFL champion Miami Dolphins said victorious 65 year old head coach Paul Brown after the game the old coach is a happy man today [Music]

Channel: Comrade Dobler

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Id: I26aK02Bx8k

Length: 21min 31sec (1291 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 29 2016