Recalling the Cleveland Browns 5 wins against the Denver Broncos

By the 1989 season the rivalry between Cleveland and Denver had grown as heated as anything seen between the Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Broncos came to Municipal Stadium on the first Sunday in October having beaten the Browns 10 consecutive times – including twice in the AFC Championship Game.

Under first-year coach Bud Carson, Cleveland’s defense sacked Denver quarterback four times and allowed him to complete just six passes. In addition, the Browns opening touchdown came about after Elway fumbled the ball while being sacked by Michael Dean Perry.

The Browns built a 13-6 lead heading into the fourth quarter and looked to finally being shaking the Denver demon. But fate, and a few batteries, were not done with the Browns just yet.

With Denver backed up on its own four-yard line in front of the Dawg Pound, fans began pelting the Broncos huddle with an assortment of items. When a double-A battery landed in the huddle, referee Tom Dooley ordered the teams to switch direction, taking the Broncos out of the line of fire from the Dawg Pound.

The Broncos would eventually tie the game as Elway hit Vance Johnson with a seven-yard touchdown pass.

On the Browns first play from scrimmage after the tying score, Bernie Kosar threw an interception and Elway marched the Broncos to the Cleveland eight-yard line as it looked like he would once again break the hearts of Cleveland fans.

But while trying to run down the clock before a potential game-winning field goal, Denver running back Sammy Wilder was stripped of the ball, with Browns cornerback Frank Minnifield recovering at Cleveland’s 16-yard line.

Kosar quickly moved the Browns into field-goal range and as Matt Bahr’s 48-yard attempt just cleared the crossbar, broke a 15-year losing streak and gave Browns fans, at least for one day, a sense of relief.

“We had to live with ‘The Drive’ and ‘The Fumble’ and I guess it was nice we could get ‘The Drive’ and ‘The Fumble’ in one game,” Bahr said, according to the 2008 book Classic Browns. “I guess you could say we purged the ghost.”

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