Kosar Puts the Browns Within Reach of a Title

Rookie Bernie Kosar came up with his best performance of the season Sunday in the most important game of the season for the Cleveland Browns.

The quarterback threw for three touchdowns and ran for his first NFL score to give the Browns a 28-21 victory over the Houston Oilers.

The victory put the Browns (8-7) in position to clinch their first AFC Central Division championship since 1980. They have a one-game lead over Cincinnati and Pittsburgh with one game to go.

The Browns will clinch if they win on the road against the New York Jets or either Pittsburgh or Cincinnati loses next weekend. Cleveland can be eliminated only if the division ends in a three-way tie, in which case the Bengals would get the crown.

“This is one game that could turn Bernie into a Dan Marino or a Dan Fouts,” said Brown tight end Ozzie Newsome, who caught the first of Kosar’s touchdown passes Sunday. “Once you get the experience from playing a good game in a big game, it does a lot for your confidence.”

Kosar, who came to the Browns in a supplemental draft in June, has started all but one of Cleveland’s games since veteran Gary Danielson hurt his shoulder Oct. 6.

“This was definitely one of my best games,” the 22-year-old Kosar said. “Things are really coming for us as on offense. Today we had a good mix between the run and the pass, and that was the key in keeping them off balance.”

Herman Fontenot went 81 yards with the second-half kickoff to set up Kosar’s second touchdown pass, which gave Cleveland a 21-7 lead.

“That really broke our backs,” Houston quarterback Warren Moon said. “We were juiced up in the locker room. We had stopped their offense.”

Kosar completed 14 of 28 passes for 161 yards and touchdowns to Newsome, Fred Banks and Kevin Mack, without an interception. He also ran two yards for a touchdown on a first-quarter bootleg.

The Cleveland victory spoiled the coaching debut of Houston’s Jerry Glanville, who was elevated from defensive coordinator when Hugh Campbell was fired last week. Houston is 5-10.

Fontenot, a rookie running back filling in because regular Cleveland kick returner Glen Young has a sprained shoulder, cut through a seam in the middle of Houston’s kickoff coverage to start the third quarter and took the ball to the Oilers’ 16-yard line.

Two plays later, Kosar drilled an eight-yard touchdown pass to the rookie Banks for a 21-7 Cleveland lead. Kosar added a five-yard touchdown pass to Mack to make it 28-7 midway through the period after Moon was intercepted for the second time.

Mack and Earnest Byner combined for 159 yards rushing for Cleveland against the NFL’s worst rushing defense. Byner had 87 yards on 22 carries and the rookie Mack added 72 in 13 rushes. Byner needs 99 yards next week to reach 1,000 yards, while Mack pushed his total to 1,074.

Newsome caught passes of 25 and 31 yards to set up his two-yard touchdown catch early in the second quarter. The scoring reception made Newsome the 14th player in NFL history with 500 catches.