Perhaps you've heard the Browns have an important Opening Day game on Sunday?
Perhaps you're also aware the Browns are 1-13 in openers since returning to the NFL in 1999, all but one at home? Yeah, that one win 2004 was a long time ago -- so long ago that new head coach Rob Chudzinski was in his first stint with the team then and is now starting his third.
If you're feeling brave, read on and revisit the five most difficult/unexplainable Opening Day losses.
September 12, 2010. Bucs 17, Browns 14
The only Browns opener since 1999 that hasn't been played at home ended a lot like the 12 with bad endings in Cleveland. The Browns were sharp early, carried by a player who would become a breakout star in Peyton Hillis, and got off to a 14-3 lead. Tampa Bay cut that lead to 14-10 at halftime by capitalizing on a terribly-timed Jake Delhomme interception, then scored the only points of the second half on a 33-yard Josh Freeman pass to Micheal Spurlock with 6:45 left in the game. The Browns in the second half had 2 turnovers, 4 punts and just 4 first downs -- two on the opening series of the first half before a Hillis fumble.
September 7, 2003. Colts 9, Browns 6
A year after the most brutal finish -- see below -- the "new" Browns slipped to 0-5 on Opening Day, all at home, and people started to notice the trend. This game marked the second time in three years the Browns lost 9-6 on Opening Day on a late field goal, this one a 45-yarder by Mike Vanderjagt. A stout Browns defense kept Peyton Manning out of the end zone and intercepted him twice in the first half, but Manning completed his last 4 passes on a 65-yard drive that set up the game-winning points. The Browns had five plays from inside the Colts 10-yard line in the fourth quarter but couldn't get in, leading to another thing that became a trend -- a short Phil Dawson field goal -- and tied the game, setting up Manning for one final drive and a third-straight Opening Day loss on a field goal in the closing seconds. Little down Browns fans know the really excruciating stuff was just getting started.
September 10, 2006. Saints 19, Browns 14
The Browns ignited an already-live crowd on the first play from scrimmage with a 74-yard touchdown bomb from Charlie Frye to Braylon Edwards...that was promptly called back by a holding penalty on Kevin Shaffer. The offense didn't get on the scoreboard until the third quarter, but the Browns rallied to within 16-14 on a Frye run and then had a last shot down by five that ended when Saints safety Josh Bullocks intercepted a pass that deflected off the hands of Edwards with less than two minutes left. Frye finished 16-of-27 for 132 yards, a touchdown and 2 interceptions. Frye also started the following year's opener, a 34-7 loss to the Steelers that was actually worse than the score indicates, and was traded the next day. On Sunday, Brandon Weeden becomes the first Browns quarterback to start back-to-back openers since Frye.
September 7, 2012. Eagles 17, Browns 16
The first bad sign came before kickoff, when staffers unfurled a 100-yard American flag on the field but didn't wait for Browns rookie quarterback Brandon Weeden to get to the sideline, temporarily leaving Weeden trapped under the flag. His day got worse from there, but the Browns still had chances to win despite Weeden completing 12-of-35 passes for 118 yards and 4 interceptions. The Browns took the lead a minute in the fourth quarter on a 27-yard interception return by D'Qwell Jackson, but coach Pat Shurmur declined to go for two points after the score and Phil Dawson's PAT made it 16-10. The Eagles took the lead on a 4-yard touchdown pass from Michael Vick to Clay Harbor with 1:23 left, capping the kind of gut-wrenching 16-play drive Browns fans have seen too many times on Opening Day. Weeden immediately threw an interception on the Browns last-gasp drive, and the Eagles escaped with an ugly victory.
September 8, 2002. Chiefs 40, Browns 39
One of the most bizarre endings in NFL history and a stunning gut-punch to a Browns team that turned out to be good enough to rally to a 9-7 finish and sneak into the playoffs. The game was over; with 0:00 on the clock, the Browns had a 39-37 lead when Dwayne Rudd thought he'd sacked Chiefs quarterback Trent Green on the final play. But Rudd never got Green fully to the ground, and Green pitched the ball to 323-pound tackle John Tait. While Tait tried to advance the ball, Rudd took off his helmet behind the play and threw it in celebration. When the Browns got Tait to the ground, Rudd was penalized 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct and Morten Andersen won it for the Chiefs on a 30-yard field goal on an untimed down, capping a fourth quarter in which the Chiefs outscored the Browns 23-12 and won despite a 326-yard, 3-touchdown passing day from Kelly Holcomb. Eleven years later, the legend* of Dwayne Rudd lives on.
