The DUMBEST "Running Up the Score" CONTROVERSY in NFL HISTORY | Browns @ Ravens (2000)

Is it running up the score to try and score points in the 2nd quarter?
In week 13 of the 2000 NFL season, the Cleveland Browns played the Baltimore Ravens, and the Ravens absolutely destroyed the Browns, winning the game by a final score of 44-7. But after the game, the Browns took issue with something that the Ravens did in the second quarter, when they tried to score points and gain a possession up by three scores. Which raises the question- with more than half the contest left, is there even such a thing as running up the score?
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[@b1galbos89]

Typical unwritten rules. There's no such thing as "running up the score". The game is at minimum, 60 minutes long. The objective is to score more points than the opposition in those 60 minutes. If you do not want the opposing team's offense to do their job and score points, then tell your defense to actually do their job, and play some damn defense.

[@DolFan316]

The more time goes by, the more I hate that Mike McDaniel didn't try to go for the NFL single game scoring record. The Dolphins certainly didn't gain any positive karma for not doing so.

[@b1galbos89]

@@DolFan316 I'm sure he has his reasons, but I agree with ya on that. You have a chance to make history, go for it. Who cares what the outsiders think.

[@michaelvandeginste3497]

If you're an NFL team and your offense gets on a roll, you want to keep that going as much as you can. Besides, you don't owe your opponent anything other than respectful exchanges after the final whistle. Furthermore, in the pros, the talent gap is nowhere ever large enough for it to be considered a faux pas to rout the opposition.

[@notoriouseagle1074]

Newsflash, if you don't want teams running up the score, play better, it's pretty straight forward. If you're the team running up the score, you keep the foot on the gas until the clock hits zero at the end of the 4th quarter.

[@SRMoore1178]

I didn't hear any "running up the score" complaints from the 70-20 game this year.

[@mbdg6810]

excellent observation

[@theBCEproductions]

I think it's because that game went so far beyond running up the score that it became historic. Imagine a game late in the fourth quarter with a score of 36 to 7. That contest is done, there is no coming back from that, so the winning team in question has no need to tack another score on top of their insurmountable lead. It would still just be a blowout. But if Mike McDaniel had chosen to go for one more score at the end of that Dolphins game, it would necessarily have made it the most points scored by a team in a single game. That's not just a blowout, that's significant history; especially given every other team to hit 70 points in a game did so during a time that most people aren't even alive to remember anymore.

[@armoredangel01]

I am a lifelong Browns fan. Back in those expansion team years from 1999 and 2000, there were two things always on my mind. 1. "It's okay, we're still a young team" and 2. "I wonder how much we're going to lose by today?" both of which kind of go hand-in-hand

[@nasetvideos]

As you perfectly stated at the end....ask any Chargers fan from last year's playoff game if they would have been "running up the score" at 27-0 in the 2nd quarter....there's no "running up the score in football" outside of 3 minutes (maybe) in the 4th quarter. These are professional athletes with tremendous abilities. You play to win and you never let up unless a game is so far out of reach towards the end of the 4th quarter--Then, you can make the case. 2nd quarter? It's not even a thought.

[@Theel25]

The only "running up the score" I can think of this year was the Dolphins vs. the Broncos considering how getting to 63 and 70 points hadn't been done in decades and yet it seemed like even despite all the massive plays they still were eager to gain point after that. But still, there was 8-10 minutes left in the game when it happened, and football is still one where even the wildest stuff can happen in theory.

[@Kylora2112]

@@Theel25At the same time, individual and team stats matter a hell of a lot. Same with baseball. Why should players stop playing like they're on fire when those few extra yards or points they could have got by running up the score could be the difference in paycheck bonuses or awards?

[@theshawshankinception1220]

All that says is that they gave up after the 1st quarter lol

[@DolFan316]

@@Theel25 It seems as if the Dolphins are being karmically punished ever since for NOT trying to set a new NFL game scoring record.

[@yeshyyeshiam2520]

@@Theel25 the crazy part is they pulled the starters at 56 points yet the Broncos defense was so bad that the BACKUP Mike White couldn't help but throw a 68-yard TD to the BACKUP Robbie Chosen Anderson lmao

[@ramblinman07]

Like Herm Edwards said, you play to win the game. It’s not running up the score in the second quarter. It’s securing a lead.

[@AdrianKendrick]

Wonder how they felt when we beat them 48-0 in Jacksonville. That Browns team was bad

[@Wildcat_Media]

Like you said at the beginning, running up the score is bad form if you’re coaching a bunch of five-year-olds in the local pee-wee league (honestly, I have thoughts about keeping score at all for kids that young, but that’s a separate issue). But in the pros? Nah, all bets are off. These guys are paid ginormous amounts of money to be good at their sport. It’s a job. And if you’re not good at your job, that’s on you.

[@Jason_Maier]

That 2000 Browns team was UGLY: 8 games they scored in the single digits; with 4 of them being shutouts (yes zero is a digit). Also went through 3 starting QB's (Doug Pederson, Tim Couch and Spergon Wynn) last in the NFL in points scored; near the bottom in most offensive matrixes.

[@Kylora2112]

You're pros. Players' contracts depend on stats. Don't ask the other team to throw a half because your feelings are hurt.

[@DolFan316]

Fun fact: the Browns selected Spergon Wynn 16 spots before Brady in the 6th round of the 2000 draft. No other QB was drafted in between. One of the biggest what ifs in NFL history.

[@marcus813]

There's no running up the score in the 2nd quarter. The Ravens were locked in and weren't too far removed from being held in single digits on the scoreboard for a few weeks. I don't have any problem with what Brian Billick did late in the 2nd quarter even if things didn't work out for his Ravens in that spot.

[@theawesomer8587]

If you don't want the other team to run up the score, then have your defense stop them.

[@CTubeMan]

A better team would have used this for motivation behind closed doors, not complaining about it publicly.

[@Zappy1210]

I will never forget in 1987 when I played Varsity football in high school we played a first year football team from a very small high school. At half time we were up 61 to 0. Our high school was fairly small too so we only had 19 people on the team. We put our 2nd stringers in as much as we could after half time, did almost nothing but short yardage runs and we still won 77 to 0. We honestly all felt bad about that game. But in the NFL, no such thing as "running up the score", these are professionals.

[@aaronholcomb237]

In Oklahoma, in some high school football games, they run the clock continuously if both coaches agree to do so and if the score is severely out of hand. My high school had their two largest margins of victory this season against two overmatched schools. They were running the clock in the first quarter because we were up 28 midway through the 1st. I'm glad Oklahoma split up 6A in 2014 and moved Bixby up to Division 1 in 2022. They could have beaten these high schools by 100 if they wanted to.

[@MarsJenkar]

While I attended high school in the late '90s, my school's varsity football team regularly won by wide margins over their opponents. We saw a lot of games where the backups came in to finish. One game got so out of hand (even the _backups_ on my school's team were running roughshod over the opponents!) that they brought in the freshman team on offense--pretty sure there was an equipment or numbering violation involved with that move, but the officials chose to ignore it because it showed just how hard my team was trying to pump the brakes on the scoring.

[@jibbjabb43]

Running up the score only matters in the playoffs if you're scoring in the 4th when already up 20. And only because it looks wrong integrity wise.

[@ChickinSammich]

This reminded me of Super Bowl 47 where the Ravens were up 28-6 on the 49ers coming out of the half on a kickoff return for a touchdown, and then the final score of that 28-6 game ended up being 34-31 as a result of the 49ers mounting a comeback that almost won. So yeah, three scores at halftime? Keep playing.

[@mgb4692]

Why I cringe at Hawk fans who hate Percy Harvin and do everything they can to dismiss him by saying the SB was over when it was 22-0. Um, hello? Not only had Mr Unlimited *not* thrown a TD pass yet, but it could easily have been 15-7. Which of course leads us to 28-3...............................................

[@ghhtdesfh]

Fat Tony was in that game.

[@TheSonicsean]

I don't think running up the score is necessarily immoral, but it is dumb. Leaving your best players in in a sport where the cleanest of hits, or even a noncontact injury, can end a player's season, is dumb when the game is already well in hand. Like the entire second half of Bears-Chiefs (the first Taylor Swift game)

[@worldsgreatestdude1784]

Teams should always run up the score

[@randytracy1742]

Well looks like another grudge match!

[@garyhall7867]

Ha, I was at that game. That was the first time the Ravens ever scored 40+ in a game. I took my nine year old nephew to that game, and he was shit talking the Browns fans that were there lol

[@chicagodude8888]

Bill Bellichick genuinely ran up kicking field goals with Brady throwing touchdown passes with a 40 point lead in the fourth quarter.

[@tonythomas2391]

The Browns were filled with low self-esteem during the 2000 season.

[@alonzolane1092]

That was an offensive explosion scoring over 40 with that offense

[@chadwickwhite6107]

The NFL is just PUSSIFIED these days

[@kenhill3230]

I had forgot that Doug played a year for Cleveland. I am so happy we have him as HC.

[@marcwhitlock5450]

A coach getting praise for clock management? Am I on the right channel haha

[@TimCarter]

I remember that game. I was hoping the Ravens would shut the Browns out for the 2nd time that season, but the Browns drove right down the field on the opening drive and got a TD. I think this pissed off the entire Ravens team, and they just put it to the Browns after that.

[@Bruce12867]

17:40: "Baltimore, nevermore."

[@mattram88]

4:22 128 points in 4 games?

[@MichaelGreen-dm2ov]

Great topic choice sir. It was with this Ravens defense that owned the entire league. It was a Super Bowl run that vindicated us since our team was stolen.

[@robertperry2596]

Stolen 😂 Don't make me laugh Irsay got the colts out of that shitshow of a town

[@michaeladkins7477]

128 pts in 12 games not 4

[@JohnSmith-zw8vp]

And in most of these running up the score complaints at the HS/college level, they happen even if (as is most often the case) the coach "called off the dogs" so to speak and put in the "Rudys" (walk-ons). Which is absolutely the smart move in blowouts as they need that VALUABLE experience as they might have to step up and be starters later!

[@anthonyjkenn6319]

Pull-to-the-LEEEZE. LOL As Herm said, "You play to WIN the game." He didn't say, "You play to win the 1st half, and then let the other team coast the rest of the game." It is not the Ravens players' fault that the "new" Browns absolutely sucked, or that Art Modell went Bob Irsay and took the old Browns out of Cleveland. This is NOT "running up the score" from Billick; this is smart "mash the gas and finish the job" football. A *professional* franchise attempts to pick themselves off the ground and play better, not beeeyatch about "running up the score" in the 2nd dang quarter. Chill and do your job, Browns players, and take your butt kicking like paid professionals.

[@MarkZickefoose]

EDITED to add: Points scored and points allowed count in NFL playoff tiebreakers, and point differential WITHIN THE DIVISION was in the formula in 2000, so "running up the score" was damn near necessary in the playoff hunt. This is considered a 'controversy'? One quote from a linebacker most Browns fans blamed for a lot of the blowouts while he was on the roster, and a doomed coach avoiding a loaded question? Browns fans knew it was on our defense to stop the other team from scoring, and gave that quote as much weight as Belichick did. We were down to mostly-retired Doug Pedernuts under center behind an O-line that held up like wet TP, and we were treating games like an extended preseason for 2001 at this point because our collective sanity demanded it. But hey, thanks for ripping that wound back open.

[@HD-J.R.]

I find the whole victim mentality of NFL fans, these days, amusing. Of course its not just sports fans that play the victim. This is football tho! Don't whine and don't be a victim!

[@effend446]

Last I checked, it's the opponent's responsibility to stop your team from scoring. Always has been, always will be. Teams (especially on the professional level) that accuse an opponent of "running up the score" are just simply not good enough to play this game.

[@Fender178]

Anytime I hear about teams complain about running up the score I always go back to what Jimmy Johnson said back when he was coaching Miami U "'It's not my fault that your team can't stop mine from scoring" to paraphrase it.

[@Eternally_Sardonic]

Running up the score in professional sports? Especially when points could be a possible tie breaker for the playoffs? Heh. Good luck whining about that.

[@appalachianenthusiast9499]

In my opinion, running up the score in any league is a dumb controversy. There are bonuses, trade deals, etc. reliant on stat lines. For example, there was a video of the Seahawks giving a garbage time short pass to a WR so he could hit 35 receptions and get a $100k bonus. You are paid to play once at the top levels of competition, and being light years above your opponent should not mean stepping down your own abilities.

[@bioLarzen]

Awkward when the opponent's coach trusts your team more than your own HC and star player...

[@BrendonChase2012]

Running up the score is only a bad idea if you keep your starters in the game all the way. Let the backups have some fun, not a aimless series of hand offs and short passes. The other team get paid a lot of money, so they should earn it for the full 60 minutes.

[@TheSonicsean]

To be fair to the Browns being defeatests, I'm not sure an All Pro team from 2000 could score 31 points in a half on the Ravens defense. They were on a different level.

[@imnotabotrlyimnot]

Since points scored is a tie breaker factor, running up the score in a negative sense, is not a thing. In another sense, were the Browns going to stop trying to score a that point? I doubt it, but they expect the Ravens to just take it easy and let them catch up.

[@e93sports80]

👍👍

[@Christoph5782]

Id say that it’s only bad to run up the score when the game is mathematically over. Basically if taking a knee can end the game, dont try to go for a hail mary. Outside of that, absolutely go for it!

[@psychorabbitt]

"In the effort of reducing redundancy" says the guy who stretches 5 minutes of content into 20 in every dumb decisions video by beating the point to death over and over again.

[@DarthPizza777]

I honestly think that teams that complain about other team running up the sorce is pathetic. Thats what the game is all about. It's a 60 min game. Play your heart out in that time. If you're not good enough, don't blame the other team.

[@scottybbadd]

The Chris Boniol "garbage time" field goal was so he could tie the record for most field goals made in a game, later broken by Rod Bariones

[@Michael-sb8jf]

personally in regards to running up the score. If a team simply can't stop another then its all fair in love and war but where it defers to me is how its done. If your team is say running a no huddle when the sole purpose is to score as many points as possible. but on the other hand tie breaker 9 is net points...

[@oofusthenoob]

me in madden taking a 38-3 lead at the end of the third and proceed to score 24 more points

[@82dorrin]

The Ravens' offense wasn't much better than the Browns.

[@johnsmith2221]

An nfl team Should try to run up the score every game.

[@jret65541]

Does the jimmy smith tier get me cocaine

[@johnstebbins24]

Billick and Palmer both had to know the game was over at kickoff, so Palmer wasn't wrong in knowing Billick wouldn't have been wrong taking his foot off the gas. In fact, it shows Palmer was already not playing to win, but just to survive. But Billick wasn't wrong by doing what a typical situation called for, either.

[@KWCline91]

I think it depends on the situation like the rare occasion where you need to our score another team playing another game (I.e 99 Packers/Panthers) just to keep your playoff hopes alive, that’s not running the score up. Or in Super Bowl 27 when the Cowboys scored 21 points in the fourth quarter and 14 of them came off a turnover or a turnover that put them in position to score.

[@thishominid871]

Wouldn't 24 points have been 4 possessions? I may be misremembering, but wasn't there no 2 point conversion in the NFL at the time? 12:35

[@OfficialJaguarGator9]

In 2000, it existed. 1993 was the last year without it

[@thishominid871]

Thank you @@OfficialJaguarGator9 damn do I feel old now. I thought that it was added during Tomlin's tenure.

[@mfdixon1985]

The talent gap between the best and worst NFL team is not great enough for running up the score to be a consideration. We know that because pretty much on an annual basis, we see games where one of the worst teams beats one of the best teams. But if the trailing team is going to expect the leading team to not run the score up, then the trailing team has to stop trying to score points. If you expect the other team to take 3 knees or give the ball to the fullback 3 straight times and punt, then you have to do the same. If you're trying to get back into the game, the other team has every right to pad its lead. I'm a little more sympathetic to running up the score complaints at other levels. But even then (especially college), the leading team is often playing its second and third string guys. They need reps too.

[@coiler3927]

One of the most blatant but also justified running up the score came in the 2015 Pacific Games. Micronesia's soccer team, a hopeless from the start club that had never played a formal tournament before until then, lost its first group stage game to Tahiti 30-0. (Yes, in soccer, in a score that would be a blowout in American football). The problem for the other two legitimate contenders would be that they'd be toast if they played mercifully and the group came down to goal difference. So Fiji then beat them 38-0. Feeling the heat, Vanuatu in the final game pressed forward and beat the Micronesians 46-0. I feel bad for the Micronesians, but there was a completely legit reason for their opponents doing what they did.

[@babarazamsucks]

If only this had happened again instead.