CLEVELAND — Editor's note: the video in the player above is from Dec. 7, 2020.
With their 41-35 win over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, the Cleveland Browns advanced to 9-3 on the season -- their best record since 1994.
As previously documented, the world looked a lot different 26 years ago. But what about the Browns, themselves?
Obviously, a lot about Cleveland football has changed over the past quarter-century, including a move to Baltimore, a return as an expansion franchise, a couple of uniform designs and double-digit figures of head coaching, general manager and quarterback changes. But while the "new" Browns may be drastically different than the "old" Browns, there were still plenty of familiar names taking the field and walking the sideline of Municipal Stadium in 1994.
From future Super Bowl and national championship-winning head coaches to fan favorites on both sides of the ball, the 1994 Browns make for a fascinating team to look back at. With that in mind, let's take a stroll down memory lane and remember what the Browns were like the last time they laid claim to a 9-3 record.
Coaching staff
Bill Belichick may have gone on to win six Super Bowls with the New England Patriots, but he was hardly beloved during his time as the head coach of the Browns. That was especially the case in 1994 -- one year after he made the polarizing decision to cut quarterback Bernie Kosar.
Yet despite cutting Kosar, 1994 would mark the only winning season of Belichick's five-year stint as Cleveland's head coach. Upon moving to Baltimore in 1996, owner Art Modell fired Belichick, who had amassed a 36-44 regular-season record with the Browns, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Belichick, however, wasn't the only notable name on Cleveland's coaching staff in 1994 as a 43-year-old defensive coordinator named Nick Saban oversaw a unit that ranked first in the NFL in scoring, allowing just 12.8 points per game. Saban would parlay that success into the head coaching job at Michigan State and go on to become one of the greatest college coaches of all time, having won six national championships, including one at LSU and five at Alabama, where he is currently the head coach of the nation's top-ranked team.
Other future head coaches on the Browns' 1994 staff included offensive line coach Kirk Ferentz (Iowa), quarterbacks coach Rod Dowhower (Vanderbilt), tight ends coach Pat Hill (Fresno State) and defensive line coach Woody Widenhofer (Vanderbilt).
Players
Signing with the Browns as a free agent in 1993, Vinny Testaverde had the unenviable task of replacing his former college teammate, Kosar, as Cleveland's starting quarterback. In 1994, the 1986 Heisman Trophy winner turned in an uneven effort in 13 starts, completing 55.1 percent of his pass attempts for 2,575 yards, 16 touchdowns and 18 interceptions.
On the ground, Leroy Hoard led the way with 890 yards and five touchdowns, while Eric Metcalf added 329 rushing yards and two scores and Earnest Byner totaled 219 yards and two touchdowns. Rookie Derrick Alexander (48 receptions, 828 yards and two touchdowns) served as the Browns' leading receiver, with Metcalf adding 47 receptions for 436 yards and two touchdowns (as well as two punt returns for scores) and Hoard tallying 45 receptions for 445 yards and four touchdowns, bringing his yards from scrimmage total to 1,335 for the year.
On the defensive side of the ball, star safety Eric Turner led the way with an NFL-high nine interceptions -- one of which he returned for a touchdown -- while four Browns defenders tallied at least four sacks, including Rob Burnett (10), Anthony Pleasant (4.5), Don Griffin (4) and Michael Dean Perry (4).
On the year, five Browns players were selected to play in the Pro Bowl: Metcalf, Hoard, Turner, Burnett and Perry.
The results
After winning six of its first seven games, Cleveland moved to 9-3 on the year following a 34-10 victory over the Houston Oilers -- the same franchise that would become the Tennessee Titans, who the Browns beat this past Sunday. Cleveland, however, would lose two of its final four games, finishing behind the 12-4 Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Central.
Entering the NFL Playoffs as a Wild Card, the Browns hosted a New Year's Day matchup against the New England Patriots in the Wild Card Round. Behind a 268-yard, 1-touchdown performance from Testaverde and a three-interception showing from the Cleveland defense, the Browns earned a 20-13 victory -- the franchise's most-recent postseason win.
A week later, the Browns would lose to the Steelers 29-9 in the AFC Divisional round, bringing an end to a season that's success wouldn't be replicated for more than 25 years.