Cleveland Browns: Top 10 receiving games of all-time
By Thomas Moore
The Browns entered the 1992 season in a funk.
It was the second year of head coach Bill Belichick’s tenure in town and he had spent much of his time up to this point clearing the roster of the aging players who had led the Browns to the playoffs for five consecutive years in the late-1980s.
Following a 6-10 finish in 1991, the Browns opened the ’92 season with two consecutive losses before heading to Los Angeles to face the Raiders, a team the Browns had only beaten on the road twice since 1970.
Luckily for the Browns, Eric Metcalf was there to save the day.
In a surprising 28-16 win over the Raiders, Metcalf scored four touchdowns while totaling 177 yards on just five receptions. In addition to a six-yard touchdown run, Metcalf had touchdown receptions of four-, 69- and 63-yards on the day.
It was the first four-touchdown game by a Cleveland player since Hall of Famer Leroy Kelly pulled off the feat in a 1968 win over the New York Giants. And it is even more impressive when you realize that Todd Philcox was Cleveland’s quarterback that day.
Metcalf accounted for 187 of the Browns 231 total yards of offense on the day, the Raiders had 464 but turned the ball over five times, and if it were not for his heroics the Browns would have fallen to 0-3 on the season.
The rushing touchdown would be the only one for Metcalf that season, and he would only catch two more touchdowns as Belichick started three different quarterbacks as the Browns finished 7-9 on the year.
Next: Tied No. 7: Reggie Rucker helps save the day