Celebrating former Cleveland Browns QB Tim Couch’s birthday
For those fans like myself who were just infants when the Cleveland Browns selected Tim Couch in the 1999 draft, this article is going to be a bit of a history lesson for you. Friday is Tim Couch’s birthday, so it only felt right writing this up as a celebration.
Before Baker Mayfield, Tim Couch was the last Browns quarterback to be named to the PWFA All-Rookie team, and was the last quarterback for the Browns to start all 16 games. He accomplished the feat of starting all 16 games for the franchise only once, and that was in 2001. While Couch’s NFL career was only five seasons, he is often remembered as the best Browns quarterback between the 1999 season and the 2017 season.
He’s been pretty involved in the Browns organization since his retirement, even calling preseason games for the franchise in 2018. It’s refreshing to see a player who was once a part of the organization stay involved with the team after his playing days. The Browns put out a tweet where you can wish him a happy birthday for those who have good memories of watching him play.
https://twitter.com/Browns/status/1289230017885540353
For those who don’t remember watching Tim Couch play, or want to take a trip down memory lane and see how the first pick of the new era Browns (No. 1 overall in 1999) did during his short career.
With that being said, here are Tim Couch’s top five games as a member of the Cleveland Browns.
5. December 15th, 2002: Colts @ Browns
It’s a cold winter day in the city of Cleveland. In the middle of December, fans pack the stadium in 38-degree weather to see what was quite possibly the greatest battle of first overall pick quarterbacks. Not only that, but they get to witness a (relatively) young Ed Hochuli as the head referee of the matchup. Hochuli was entering his fourth season as an NFL head referee.
Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts went up against Tim Couch and the Cleveland Browns in this celebrity-studded matchup, and it was a great game. Despite the Colts winning by a score of 28-23, it would actually be Tim Couch who would have the better football game. You can view a comparison of their stats below.
"Peyton Manning (IND): 20/34, 58.8% Completion percentage, 277 Passing Yards, 2 Touchdowns, 1 Interception, 92.4 Passer Rating Tim Couch (CLE): 21/35, 60% Completion Percentage, 287 Passing Yards, 2 Touchdowns, 105.3 Passer Rating"
Even though he wasn’t able to pull out the win for the Cleveland Browns, Tim Couch was still able to slightly outperform Peyton Manning, which is an impressive feat on its own. This was the same season where Peyton Manning went to his second Pro Bowl and was the fifth of his career. Many times throughout his career Tim Couch showed sparks like this of being a franchise quarterback in the NFL.
4. October 31st, 1999: Saints @ Browns
The only game on this list from Tim Couch’s rookie season, his performance as a rookie showed why he was the number one overall pick. This game would also be only one of two games that Tim Couch would win his rookie year as a member of the Cleveland Browns. The Browns would beat the Saints by a score of 21-16.
Efficient. That is the best word to describe Tim Couch’s performance in this game. He only threw 19 passes, completing 11 of them. Those 11 passes would go for 193 yards and three touchdowns, two of which would go to wide receiver Kevin Johnson.
Even though 19 passes is not a lot of attempts for a quarterback, Couch was able to still put up almost 200 yards. A whopping 17.5 yards per completion is a very solid outing for a quarterback. Cleveland’s defense was able to force five turnovers in this game, two of those being interceptions thrown by Saints quarterbacks Billy Joe Tolliver and Billy Joe Hobert. My favorite part of this game may be the fact that the Saints had two quarterbacks named on Billy Joe on their roster at once.
This performance would cap off a great month of Tim Couch’s career, as he would go on to win NFL Rookie of the Month for October of 1999.
3. September 22, 2002: Browns @ Titans
This is the first of two performances against the Titans on this top five list. On the road, the Browns would beat the Titans in this matchup by a score of 31-28. It was quite an impressive feat, considering that the Titans finished this season 11-5. This was yet another impressive matchup of quarterbacks, as Tim Couch was able to outperform Steve McNair.
"Tim Couch (CLE): 36/50, 72% Completion Percentage, 326 Passing Yards, 3 Touchdowns, 1 Interception, 100.9 Passer Rating Steve McNair (TEN): 15/23, 65.2% Completion Percentage, 107 Passing Yards, 2 Touchdowns, 104.8 Passer Rating"
In this matchup, the Browns relied on Tim Couch’s arm heavily, as you can see with the whopping 50 targets. He was able to deliver a great performance, and it was one of the team’s best wins in the 2002 season. This was also the only winning season Tim Couch would have as a Browns quarterback, as he went 8-6 as a starter on the year.
Vintage Tim Couch came out in this game, and if he didn’t play as well as he did, the team wouldn’t have won such a close game. Even in today’s NFL a performance like the one that Couch put up in this game would be thought of as a great game.
2. September 17th, 2000: Browns @ Steelers
What a time to be alive for a Browns fan. The Cleveland Browns won this game against the Steelers by a score of 23-20. Any time the Browns win a game it’s a great feeling. A win against the Pittsburgh Steelers, in Pittsburgh? There might not be a greater feeling in football.
Tim Couch was surely feeling great about himself after this game, especially considering the performance he put up. Couch would go on to complete 23/31 of his passes, a solid 74.2% of them, for 316 yards and two touchdowns. Among his completions was a 79-yard pass to Browns receiver Kevin Johnson, who was three yards away from posting a 100-yard receiving game.
Even though Couch would go on to struggle for the rest of the season, this game was a huge bright spot for him during the season. Couch was able to be accurate while attacking downfield, as he posted a solid 13.7 yards per completion. He carried the Browns offense to this win against the Steelers, who had Hall of Fame running back Jerome Bettis running all over the Browns defense for a total of 133 yards and a touchdown.
After going an abysmal 2-14 the year prior, it must have been a great feeling for the Browns to start 2-1. However, that didn’t last long, as they would finish the season 3-13.
1. December 30th, 2001: Titans @ Browns
Tim Couch would have his first big win over the Titans late in the 2001 season. This game would be abnormally high scoring for the time, as the Browns would win by a score of 41-38. The over for the game was apparently 37.5, so needless to say the over was absolutely smashed.
The first of the great battles between Tim Couch and Steve McNair, both of the quarterbacks would put on a show for their franchises. Despite this, Tim Couch would still have a better performance for the Cleveland Browns.
"Steve McNair (TEN): 16/25, 64% Completion Percentage, 274 Passing Yards, 2 Touchdowns, 127.7 Passer Rating Tim Couch (CLE): 20/27, 74% Completion Percentage, 336 Passing Yards, 3 Touchdowns, 1 Interception, 137.3 Passer Rating"
Being able to throw for over 300 yards and put up a completion percentage above 70 percent is an incredibly impressive feat for any quarterback in today’s more passing oriented NFL. Tim Couch doing so in 2001, his 3rd year in the NFL, is even more impressive. These are Drew Brees type numbers that Tim Couch was able to put up.
If I could watch one old Browns game from the Tim Couch era, it would most likely be this one. An offensively packed showdown between Tim Couch and Steve McNair would have been an awesome game to see for any NFL fan.