Cleveland Browns: Top 10 receiving games of all-time
By Thomas Moore
The 1979 season saw the Cleveland Browns continue their slow climb back to respectability, developing the Kardiac Kids mentality and setting the stage for a division title the following season.
The Browns took the Municipal Stadium field on Nov. 18 sporting a 7-4 record as they prepared to face the Miami Dolphins. A loss the previous week had dropped the Browns to third place in the division, leaving them in desperate need of a victory.
It looked bad, though, as the Dolphins scored 14 points in the fourth quarter to build a 24-17 lead. But Brian Sipe hit Ozzie Newsome with a 34-yard touchdown pass with a little more than a minute remaining, sending the game into overtime.
On the first possession of the extra period, Sipe drove the Browns to the Miami 39-yard line where he then hit Reggie Rucker with a game-winning touchdown pass to keep Cleveland’s playoff hopes alive.
The touchdown reception was Rucker’s ninth catch of the day as he totaled 177 receiving yards, part of an effort that saw the Browns shred the Dolphins’ defense for 500 total yards.
The Browns had acquired Rucker from New England before the 1975 season for a fourth-round draft pick, one of the better trades the team made that decade. In seven seasons with the Browns, Rucker would land on the franchise’s Top 10 list in receptions (310), receiving yards (4,953) and touchdown receptions (32).
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