1988 Week 12 - Pittsburgh at Cleveland

Pittsburgh Steelers (2-9) at Cleveland Browns (6-5)
November 20, 1988
Weather: 47 degrees, relative humidity 97%, wind 12 mph
Line: Cleveland -8.5
Over/Under: 39
Starting QBs: Bubby Brister (Pit), Bernie Kosar (Cle)
Network: NBC
Announcers: Sam Nover, Jon Morris

[@Odawg96]

Seriously…for about three seasons-‘86 to ‘88-the Browns, in my opinion, we’re the best all-around team in the AFC. Elway was their damn kryptonite. The ‘86 and ‘87 Browns would have matched up so much better than the Broncos in the Super Bowls against the Giants and Redskins. I’d say that the Browns were almost a mirror image of the Giants of those years. Offensively, I’d give them a slight edge over the Giants (better receivers and a two-pronged ground game). Defensively, the only intangible the Browns didn’t have was Lawrence Taylor, but otherwise they had solid LBs, DBs, and a d-line. What could have been (sigh).

[@commonsense6534]

As with the Tribe, its always something. The CLE sports curse is alive & well.

[@wendellthomas179]

Well it doesn't matter how good you are perceived to be in sports....if you're not playing well when you have to?....potential means nothing......anyway the steelers didn't have good teams in the 1980s

[@Odawg96]

16:45 Kosar RUNNING?!? And for more than TEN YARDS no less?!? I watched the Browns quite a bit back then (from afar, military overseas), but this is incredibly rare. He was a notorious NON-scrambler down there with Dan Marino.

[@neogenmatrix6162]

Kosar runs like a giraffe, still my Brownies QB

[@sodica81]

he was faster than Turtle Marino

[@DawgPound86]

R.I.P. “The assassin” Eddie Johnson

[@Fireyninjadog]

RIP sam nover

[@lmswentzeljr]

The last time the Browns swept the Steelers 1988.

Last time the Browns swept the Steelers. 36:20 Blocked punt 1:13:05 77 yd TD

[@DawgPound86]

Did the browns ever wear anything besides all white in the 80’s?

[@neogenmatrix6162]

They had the Brown tops

[@DawgPound86]

@@neogenmatrix6162 I know, but it seems like more times than not they wore all white

[@neogenmatrix6162]

@@DawgPound86 Half the time the home games were blacked out. That's when they normally wore the brown.

[@KennethFord-y7c]

The Ravens are The Browns!!!! They can change the jersey colors etc but they are the Browns !!!!

[@makenomist8aboutit43]

Merle Hoage was not that good and not the answer at the running back position, less talented than all the Steelers backs, but Chuck Noll insist on making Hoage the starter when Warren Williams Rodney Carter Richard Bell Leroy Thompson even Tim Worley should have carried the ball more and Weggie Thompson never should have been on the team for 7 years. That why the Steelers were so bad Chuck Noll playing players he favored like Merle Hoage and Weggie Thompson and all those terrible Quarterbacks including Niel O'Donnell just a pathetic group of Quarterbacks.

[@Odawg96]

Yes, the Steelers did squander a lot of opportunities in the draft (namely, Marino) and had some bad luck, but there were some decent players that joined the team during the ‘80s (Lipps, Woodson). Looking back, though, I do wonder about Coach Noll’s commitment to playing underachievers…especially at QB. I guess he figured he hung in there with the underachieving BRADSHAW-and that’s what he was for the first 5 or so years of his career-and it worked out, so he was gonna hang in there with Malone, Brister, Woolley, and whoever else came through town. It wasn’t all about the QB, though. I always felt like the 80s Steelers were relying on their past glories and reputation from the 70s. Unfortunately, they were consistently the weakest team in the old AFC Central after about ‘84. The other teams adjusted well. The Browns had a better offense and defense. The Bengals had more offensive power and were balanced between the pass and rush. The Oilers had a serious passing game and killer defense. The Steelers just couldn’t hang back then.

[@makenomist8aboutit43]

@@Odawg96 To tell you the truth Bill Cowher could have won with the Steelers teams of the 1980, Chuck Noll was not that great of a coach he had great players from the HBCU'S. Steelers fans think Dan Marino was the answer, but Marino had terrible coach as well Don Shula, Marino couldn't win a Superbowl either in Miami, but again the HBCU'S players out of small Black colleges players is what made the Steelers teams of the 1970s great not Chuck Noll. If the media and all theses so-called football experts would really tell the truth about the Black athletes you would know why the Steelers teams of the 1980s were sub-par.

[@Odawg96]

@@makenomist8aboutit43 I hear what you’re saying, and I guess it’s worth considering. I would say the PWIs had started to make pre-emptive strikes on students going to HBCUSs. In the 60s and 70s, though, HBCUs were a wellspring of NFL talent: Mel Blount, Charlie Joiner, Walter Payton, Deacon Jones, Jackie Slater, Doug Williams and anyone else that played at Grambling. Don’t get me wrong there were still some MAJOR signings from HBCUs in the 80s-Jerry Rice and Darrell Green being the most obvious ones. Then there were guys like Charlie Brown, Nate Newton, Everson Walls. There were even some steals in the 90s like Shannon Sharpe, Ben Coates, Strathan, and of course Air McNair, but I do think the PWIs, by then, we’re doing everything they could to make big offers to black blue chip players coming out of high school. But should we fault Noll and Shula or should we fault their front offices. I always thought the Rooneys were a bit more progressive in their recruitment efforts, but something DID go awry in the 80s.

[@makenomist8aboutit43]

@@Odawg96 it's good to hear from someone else who is on the same level as myself talking about the NFL and the players you named from the HBCU'S. Sometimes it get backlash from Steelers fans who doesn't like for me to say things they don't like to hear about the Black players being major contributors in the NFL. I'll stop right here and let you elaborate on what I just said !

[@makenomist8aboutit43]

I forgot Barry Foster in my comments about Merle Hoage who should not have been the starting running back in the Pittsburgh Steelers backfield. And Dwight Stone would have been a good defensive back or Cornerback with the speed he had, he was a good special teams player as fast as he was him and Rod Woodson would have made a great tandum at the Cornerback position with all that speed.

[@jaymarotta6218]

Todays players would complain about the weather