1987 Cleveland Browns season

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1987 Cleveland Browns season
OwnerArt Modell
General managerErnie Accorsi
Head coachMarty Schottenheimer
Home fieldCleveland Municipal Stadium
Local radioWWWE · WDOK
Results
Record10–5
Division place1st AFC Central
Playoff finishWon Divisional Playoffs
(vs. Colts) 38–21
Lost AFC Championship
(at Broncos) 33–38
Pro BowlersT Cody Risien
QB Bernie Kosar
FB Kevin Mack
NT Bob Golic
OLB Clay Matthews, Jr.
CB Frank Minnifield
CB Hanford Dixon
RS Gerald McNeil
A ticket for the AFC Championship game between the Browns and the Broncos.

The 1987 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 38th season in the National Football League.

Led by another 3,000-yard season from Bernie Kosar, the Browns captured their third-straight AFC Central crown. In the divisional playoffs, against the Indianapolis Colts at Municipal Stadium, the Browns routed the Colts 38–21 to advance to their second-straight AFC Championship game. For the second year in a row, the Browns were matched up against the Denver Broncos for a trip to Super Bowl XXII. The Browns fell behind early at Mile High Stadium, as the Broncos roared out to a big halftime lead. However, the Browns scored 30 points in the second half, and drove down the field in the late fourth quarter with a chance to score a game-tying touchdown. With 1:12 left in the game, RB Earnest Byner was stripped of the ball at the 2-yard line by Broncos' defensive back Jeremiah Castille in a play since dubbed The Fumble. Denver ran down the clock and took an intentional safety with 8 seconds left, and the Browns fell 38–33. Denver returned to the Super Bowl for a second straight year at the expense of the Browns.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1987 NFL Draft
1987 Cleveland Browns draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 5 Mike Junkin  Linebacker Duke from San Diego
2 32 Gregg Rakoczy  Center Miami (FL) from San Diego
3 80 Tim Manoa  Fullback Penn State
3 82 Jeff Jaeger *  Kicker Washington
6 165 Stephen Braggs  Defensive back Texas
8 220 Steve Bullitt  Linebacker Texas A&M
10 276 Frank Winters *  Center Western Illinois
11 303 Larry Brewton  Defensive back Temple
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff

1987 Cleveland Browns staff

Front office

  • President and owner – Art Modell
  • Executive vice-president of football operations – Ernie Accorsi
  • Director of player personnel – Chip Falivene

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

[1]

NFL replacement players

After the league decided to use replacement players during the NFLPA strike, the following team was assembled:

1987 Cleveland Browns replacement roster

Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Roster

1987 Cleveland Browns roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

Schedule

Regular season

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap
1 September 13 at New Orleans Saints L 21–28 0–1 Louisiana Superdome 59,900 Recap
2 September 20 Pittsburgh Steelers W 34–10 1–1 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 79,543 Recap
3 September 28 Denver Broncos canceled 1–1 Cleveland Municipal Stadium NFL strike
4 October 4 at New England Patriots W 20–10 2–1 Sullivan Stadium 14,830 Recap
5 October 11 Houston Oilers L 10–15 2–2 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 38,927 Recap
6 October 18 at Cincinnati Bengals W 34–0 3–2 Riverfront Stadium 40,179 Recap
7 October 26 Los Angeles Rams W 30–17 4–2 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 76,933 Recap
8 November 1 at San Diego Chargers L 24–27 4–3 Jack Murphy Stadium 55,381 Recap
9 November 8 Atlanta Falcons W 38–3 5–3 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 71,135 Recap
10 November 15 Buffalo Bills W 27–21 6–3 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 78,409 Recap
11 November 22 at Houston Oilers W 40–7 7–3 Houston Astrodome 51,161 Recap
12 November 29 at San Francisco 49ers L 24–38 7–4 Candlestick Park 60,248 Recap
13 December 6 Indianapolis Colts L 7–9 7–5 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 70,661 Recap
14 December 13 Cincinnati Bengals W 38–24 8–5 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 77,331 Recap
15 December 20 at Los Angeles Raiders W 24–17 9–5 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 40,275 Recap
16 December 26 at Pittsburgh Steelers W 19–13 10–5 Three Rivers Stadium 56,394 Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 9: vs. Atlanta

Week 9: Atlanta Falcons at Cleveland Browns – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Falcons 0 3 003
Browns 0 14 21338

at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio

  • Date: November 8
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: 54 °F or 12.2 °C, relative humidity 48%, wind 13 miles per hour (21 km/h; 11 kn)
  • Game attendance: 71,135
  • Referee: Bob McElwee
  • TV announcers (CBS): Tim Brant (play–by–play) and Hank Stram (color commentator)
  • [1]
Game information

Postseason

See also: 1987–88 NFL playoffs
Round Date Opponent (seed) Result Record Venue Attendance Recap
Divisional January 9, 1988 Indianapolis Colts (3) W 38–21 1–0 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 78,586 Recap
AFC Championship January 17, 1988 at Denver Broncos (2) L 33–38 1–1 Mile High Stadium 75,993 Recap

AFC Divisional Game

AFC Divisional Game: Indianapolis Colts at Cleveland Browns – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Colts 7 7 0721
Browns 7 7 71738

at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio

  • Date: January 9, 1988
  • Game time: 12:30 p.m. EDT
  • Game weather: 16 °F or −8.9 °C, relative humidity 71%, wind 5 miles per hour (8.0 km/h; 4.3 kn)
  • Referee: Red Cashion
  • TV: NBC
  • Boxscore [2]

AFC Championship game

AFC Championship game: Cleveland Browns at Denver Broncos – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Browns 0 3 21933
Broncos 14 7 10738

at Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado

  • Date: January 17, 1988
  • Game time: 4 p.m. EDT
  • Game weather: 29 °F or −1.7 °C, relative humidity 63%, wind 8 miles per hour (13 km/h; 7.0 kn)
  • Referee: Jim Tunney
  • TV: NBC Dick Enberg, Merlin Olsen
  • Boxscore [3]

Standings

AFC Central
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Cleveland Browns(2) 10 5 0 .667 5–1 8–3 390 239 W3
Houston Oilers(4) 9 6 0 .600 5–1 7–4 345 349 W2
Pittsburgh Steelers 8 7 0 .533 2–4 6–5 285 299 L2
Cincinnati Bengals 4 11 0 .267 0–6 3–9 285 370 L3

References

  1. ^ "All-Time Assistant Coaches". ClevelandBrowns.com. Archived from the original on May 22, 2008. Retrieved July 31, 2011.

External links

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