Oilers Let Browns, Kosar Out of Pocket, 21-6

All the scouting reports said Bernie Kosar was immobile, strictly a pocket passer.

But Kosar scrambled out of the pocket and hit Clarence Weathers on a 68-yard touchdown pass play Sunday to rally the Cleveland Browns to a 21-6 victory over the Houston Oilers.

After struggling with three completions in 12 attempts for 44 yards in the first half, Kosar, subbing for injured Gary Danielson, hit 5 of 7 pass attempts for 164 yards in the second half.

“I felt the touchdown pass took the pressure off the whole team and gave us all a lift,” Kosar said. “Once they knew we could go deep, they couldn’t stop our running game.

“I was looking forward to this game. Our game plan was the same throughout the game. We just executed better the second half.”

The touchdown came on his first pass of the third quarter. The Browns (4-2), and leading the AFC Central Division, struggled in the first half when Kosar, subbing for injured starter Gary Danielson, completed only 3 of 12 passes.

Weathers was Kosar’s favorite target, catching three passes for 146 yards.

“He was so wide open, I just didn’t want to overthrow him,” Kosar said. “They line up in a blitz, but got out of it into a zone. I gave Clarence the signal and we executed the play.”

Weathers, who also caught a pair of passes to set up Cleveland’s last two touchdowns, said his touchdown came after an earlier attempt to run the same play.

“Bernie had called the play earlier but I couldn’t run it,” Weathers said. “But he felt like I could do it. The pass was perfect and they may have misjudged my speed.”

Weathers’ 21-yard reception to the Oilers’ six preceded a six-yard touchdown run by fullback Kevin Mack on Cleveland’s next drive of the third quarter.

Kosar scrambled again in the fourth quarter and hit Weathers for a 57-yard pass play to the Oilers’ 30 to set up a five-yard touchdown run by Earnest Byner with 6:37 to play.

The Oilers (1-5), plagued by lack of quarterback protection this season, allowed only two sacks in the first half before the dilemma returned.

Oiler quarterbacks Warren Moon and Mike Moroski were dumped seven times for 41 yards in losses.

“We were unable to throw when they knew we would have to because we weren’t able to protect our quarterback,” Oiler Coach Hugh Campbell said. “We were able to do that in the first half, but we must be able to protect our quarterback when they know we must throw.”

The Oilers, who had not scored in the first quarter this season, took a 6-0 halftime lead on a 50-yard field goal by Tony Zendejas in the first quarter and a 27-yard kick in the second period.