1993 Cleveland Browns season

The 1993 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 44th season with the National Football League. This season was notable for coach Bill Belichick deciding to bench, and then ultimately release, longtime starting quarterback Bernie Kosar in favor of Vinny Testaverde. Kosar resurfaced during the season with the Dallas Cowboys, when he was part of the eventual Super Bowl champions as a fill-in for injured quarterback Troy Aikman.

1993 Cleveland Browns season
Owner	Art Modell
Head coach	Bill Belichick
Defensive coordinator	Nick Saban
Home stadium	Cleveland Municipal Stadium
Results
Record	7–9
Division place	3rd AFC Central
Playoffs	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	DT Michael Dean Perry KR Eric Metcalf
← 1992 Browns seasons 1994 →

The Browns got off to a 5–2 start despite the quarterback controversy. Prior to the start of the season the Browns signed free agent quarterback Vinny Testaverde. Originally Testaverde was supposed to back-up his former University of Miami teammate Kosar. However, when Testaverde performed better when given the opportunity to play some felt there should be a change at the quarterback position.

However, the Browns went beyond that by unceremoniously releasing Kosar in the middle of the season. The Browns lost their next four games and seven of their last nine to finish with a 7–9 record.

NFL draft

• Traded 1x11 to Denver Broncos for 1x14 and 3x83^[1]
• 1x14: C Steve Everitt
• 2x42: DE Dan Footman
• Traded 3rd Rounder to Detroit Lions for DT Jerry Ball
• 3x83: LB Mike Caldwell
• Traded 4th Rounder to Chicago Bears for C Jay Hilgenberg
• 5x124: OT Herman Arvie
• 6x153: LB Rich McKenzie
• 7x180: LB Travis Hill
• Traded 8th Rounder to Los Angeles Rams for LB Frank Stams

Personnel

Staff

1993 Cleveland Browns staff

Front office Owner and president – Art Modell Director of player personnel – Michael Lombardi Director of College Scouting – Dom Anile Head coaches Head coach – Bill Belichick Offensive coaches Running backs – Steve Crosby Wide receivers – Richard Mann Tight ends – Mike Sheppard Offensive line – Kirk Ferentz Assistant offensive line/tight ends - Pat Hill Offensive assistant – Ernie Adams

Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Nick Saban Defensive line – John Mitchell Outside linebackers – Woody Widenhofer Inside linebackers – Jim Bates Defensive assistant - Phil Savage Special teams coaches Special teams – Scott O'Brien Coaching Assistant – Kevin Spencer Strength and conditioning Strength and conditioning – Jerry Simmons Assistant strength/pass rush consultant - Joe Kim

^[2]

Roster

1993 Cleveland Browns roster

Quarterbacks (QB)  8 Brad Goebel 17 Todd Philcox 12 Vinny Testaverde Running backs (RB) 23 Randy Baldwin 33 Leroy Hoard 34 Kevin Mack 21 Eric Metcalf 44 Tommy Vardell FB 26 Ron Wolfley FB Wide receivers (WR) 83 Mark Carrier 81 Michael Jackson 87 Keenan McCardell 86 Patrick Rowe 84 Rico Smith Tight ends (TE) 88 Brian Kinchen LS 80 Thomas McLemore 49 Clarence Williams

Offensive linemen (OL) 73 Herman Arvie T 72 Bob Dahl G 61 Steve Everitt C 64 Houston Hoover G 66 Tony Jones T 68 Ed King G 69 Rod Milstead G 61 Gene Williams T 67 Wally Williams G Defensive linemen (DL) 93 Jerry Ball DT 90 Rob Burnett 78 Dan Footman DE 94 Bill Johnson DT 96 James Jones DT 92 Michael Dean Perry DT 98 Anthony Pleasant DE 75 Pio Sagapolutele DE

Linebackers (LB) 56 Mike Caldwell OLB 51 Gerald Dixon OLB 59 Mike Johnson MLB 52 Pepper Johnson OLB 57 Clay Matthews OLB 99 Rich McKenzie OLB 50 Frank Stams OLB 54 Eddie Sutter MLB Defensive backs (DB) 31 Stacey Hairston CB 39 Randy Hilliard CB 41 Tim Jacobs CB 22 Selwyn Jones CB 27 Stevon Moore SS 48 Najee Mustafaa CB 42 Louis Riddick SS 43 Del Speer FS 29 Eric Turner FS Special teams (ST) 11 Brian Hansen P  3 Matt Stover K

Practice squad -- Greg Briggs S 71 Jerome Brown DT  2 Kerry Ferrell WR 53 active, 6 inactive, 3 practice squad Reserve 77 Orlando Brown T (IR) 52 Richard Brown LB (IR) 38 Bernard Ellison CB (IR) 93 Travis Hill LB (PUP) 24 Terry Taylor CB (IR) 85 Lawyer Tillman WR (IR) Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 5	Cincinnati Bengals	W 27–14	1–0	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	75,508
2	September 13	San Francisco 49ers	W 23–13	2–0	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	78,218
3	September 19	at Los Angeles Raiders	W 19–16	3–0	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	48,617
4	September 26	at Indianapolis Colts	L 10–23	3–1	Hoosier Dome	59,654
5	Bye
6	October 10	Miami Dolphins	L 14–24	3–2	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	78,138
7	October 17	at Cincinnati Bengals	W 28–17	4–2	Riverfront Stadium	55,647
8	October 24	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 28–23	5–2	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	78,118
9	Bye
10	November 7	Denver Broncos	L 14–29	5–3	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	77,818
11	November 14	at Seattle Seahawks	L 5–22	5–4	Kingdome	54,622
12	November 21	Houston Oilers	L 20–27	5–5	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	71,668
13	November 28	at Atlanta Falcons	L 14–17	5–6	Georgia Dome	54,510
14	December 5	New Orleans Saints	W 17–13	6–6	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	60,388
15	December 12	at Houston Oilers	L 17–19	6–7	Houston Astrodome	58,720
16	December 19	New England Patriots	L 17–20	6–8	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	48,618
17	December 26	at Los Angeles Rams	W 42–14	7–8	Anaheim Stadium	34,155
18	January 2, 1994	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 9–16	7–9	Three Rivers Stadium	49,208

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Season summary

Week 3 at Raiders

Week Three: Cleveland Browns (2–0) at Los Angeles Raiders (2–0)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Browns	0	0	0	19	19
Raiders	10	3	0	3	16

at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California

• Date: September 19, 1993
• Game time: 4:00 p.m. EDT
• Game weather: Sunny, 66 °F (19 °C)
• Game attendance: 48,617
• TV announcers (NBC): Marv Albert and Paul Maguire
• Box Score, Box Score

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Browns	Passing	Vinny Testaverde	10/22, 159 Yds, TD, INT
	Rushing	Tommy Vardell	14 Rush, 104 Yds
	Receiving	Mark Carrier	5 Rec, 73 Yds
Raiders	Passing	Jeff Hostetler	11/25, 94 Yds, TD
	Rushing	Greg Robinson	18 Rush, 59 Yds
	Receiving	Steve Smith	4 Rec, 42 Yds

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP CLE LA 1 9:22 Raiders Andrew Glover 2-yard touchdown reception from Jeff Hostetler, Jeff Jaeger kick good 0 7 1 1:07 Raiders 24-yard field goal by Jeff Jaeger 0 10 2 12:12 Raiders 27-yard field goal by Jeff Jaeger 0 13 4 8:23 Browns 32-yard field goal by Matt Stover 3 13 4 4:58 Raiders 53-yard field goal by Jeff Jaeger 3 16 4 2:26 Browns Lawyer Tillman 12-yard touchdown reception from Vinny Testaverde, Matt Stover kick good 10 16 4 1:41 Raiders Safety, Jeff Gossett ran out of end zone 12 16 4 0:02 Browns Eric Metcalf 1-yard touchdown run, Matt Stover kick good 19 16 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 19 16

Week 7

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	0	14	6	3	23
• Browns	0	14	7	7	28

• Date: October 24
• Location: Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio
• Game start: 4:00 p.m.
• Game attendance: 78,118
• Game weather: 54 °F or 12.2 °C; wind 14 miles per hour (23 km/h; 12 kn)

Scoring summary

Q2		CLE	Michael Jackson 62 yard pass from Vinny Testaverde (Matt Stover kick)	CLE 7–0
Q2		CLE	Eric Metcalf 91 yard punt return (Matt Stover kick)	CLE 14–0
Q2		PIT	Barry Foster 4 yard run (Gary Anderson kick)	CLE 14–7
Q2		PIT	Barry Foster 1 yard run (Gary Anderson kick)	Tie 14–14
Q3		PIT	Gary Anderson 30 yard field goal	PIT 17–14
Q3		CLE	Ron Wolfley 4 yard pass from Vinny Testaverde (Matt Stover kick)	CLE 21–17
Q3		PIT	Gary Anderson 46 yard field goal	CLE 21–20
Q4		PIT	Gary Anderson 30 yard field goal	PIT 23–21
Q4		CLE	Eric Metcalf 75 yard punt return (Matt Stover kick)	CLE 28–23

^[3]

Week 13: at Atlanta

Week 13: Cleveland Browns at Atlanta Falcons – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Browns	0	0	7	7	14
Falcons	10	7	0	0	17

at Georgia Dome, Atlanta

• Date: November 28
• Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
• Game weather: indoors
• Game attendance: 54,510
• TV announcers (NBC): Drew Goodman (play–by–play) and Beasley Reece (color commentator)

Game information

First quarter ATL (3:25) – Johnson 51 yard field goal Falcons 3, Browns 0 ATL (14:23) – Rison 14 yard pass from Hebert (Johnson kick) Falcons 10, Browns 0 Second quarter ATL (10:14) – Pritchard 8 yard pass from Hebert (Johnson kick) Falcons 17, Browns 0 Third quarter CLE (15:00) – Philcox (Stover kick) Falcons 17, Browns 7 Fourth quarter CLE (11:29) – Philcox 3 yard rush (Stover kick) Falcons 17, Browns 14 Top passers CLE – Todd Philcox 14/26, 207 yds, 1 TD ATL – Bobby Hebert 21/29, 214 yds, 2 TD Top rushers CLE – Eric Metcalf 13 carr, 61 yds ATL – Erric Pegram 22 carr, 58 yds Top receivers CLE – Eric Metcalf 5 rec, 43 yds ATL – Andre Rison 5 rec, 78 yds, 1 TD Turnovers CLE – 1 ATL – 1

Standings

AFC Central
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
(2) Houston Oilers	12	4	0	.750	368	238	W11
(6) Pittsburgh Steelers	9	7	0	.563	308	281	W1
Cleveland Browns	7	9	0	.438	304	307	L1
Cincinnati Bengals	3	13	0	.188	187	319	L1