Cleveland Browns: 15 best free agent acquisitions of all-time

Kelly Holcomb played just 19 games in a Cleveland uniform and had only 12 career starts with the Browns, but he proved to be one of their better signings due to being part of some history. The last time the Browns made the playoffs was after the 2002 NFL season, and backup quarterback Kelly Holcomb played the game of his life.

After Tim Couch broke his leg, Holcomb came in and was 1-1 as the starter. Holcomb then had the tough task of leading the team into Pittsburgh to take on the hated Steelers. While they ended up dropping the game 36-33, there was no one watching the game who could have blamed Holcomb.

In his lone career playoff appearance, Holcomb played as well as the team could have hoped. He completed 26-of-43 passes for a remarkable 429 yards and three touchdowns. He then led them down the field as time was expiring in a desperate attempt to tie the game up.

Cleveland fell short, but they were in range and may have had a shot with just a couple more seconds to play. Holcomb had the team down to the 46-yard line of the Steelers with six seconds to play.

He then hit receiver Andre King at the 28, but the wideout wasn’t able to beat the clock before stepping out of bounds. His dive for the sideline came with no time left and the Browns were left heartbroken. Still, the quarterback did all he could — and imagine how much more revered he would be had King gotten out of bounds with even one second left.

Holcomb’s final stat line as a Brown was 63.7 percent passing for 3,348 yards with 26 touchdowns and 21 interceptions. He then went on to play for the Buffalo Bills and the Minnesota Vikings, but never capitalized on the promise he showed during the glimpses we saw of him in the orange and brown.