Cleveland Browns: Top 10 rushing games of all time (Part 2)
By Thomas Moore
The Cleveland Browns were slogging their way through a dispirited season under first-year head coach Eric Mangini when they traveled to Kansas City in late December of 2009 for what was expected to be a meaningless game against the Chiefs.
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Instead, running back Jerome Harrison became the most-unlikely player to ever put his name into the franchise record book.
The Browns came into the game with the league’s worst offensive, but thanks to Harrison’s 286 rushing yards, the team picked up 351 rushing yards (and 417 total yards of offense) on the day. Harrison added three rushing touchdowns on the day – including 71-yard run and a 28-yard run in the fourth quarter to give the Browns the lead for good.
Despite Harrison’s big day, the Browns also needed Josh Cribbs to set a team record for both kickoff return yardage (269) and total yardage (316), while becoming the first player in NFL history to return to kickoffs at least 100 yards for a touchdown in the same game, to pull out the victory over the woeful Chiefs.
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The record-setting day was the highlight of Harrison’s tenure in Cleveland, which would come to a close four games into the following season, and still remains the third-highest rushing total for a single game in NFL history.