Browns, Believing They Are on the Right Track, Seek to Improve Passing Attack

The Cleveland Browns’ plan for the 1985 season was a simple one: Let veteran Gary Danielson play quarterback until the young rookie, Bernie Kosar, was ready.

The plan fell apart Oct. 6, when Danielson strained his right shoulder and Coach Marty Schottenheimer, lacking faith in former starter Paul McDonald, handed Kosar the ball.

The results were reasonable, though, as Kosar--with occasional aid from Danielson--guided the Browns to an 8-8 record and a National Football League playoff berth.

“The Browns acquired me for a specific need for this year, and then Bernie had to go in there a little bit early,” said Danielson, who has a Monday appointment with a surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic.

“If I could have stayed in there, he wouldn’t have had the pressure of everybody asking if he’s going to be a good football player--which of course we all know he’s going to be,” Danielson said. “It’s not that I could have done better, but maybe I could have kept more of the pressure off him.”

Danielson got the Browns off to a 3-2 start, including a victory in the New England game that Kosar had to close.

Kosar followed with a victory in Houston in his first professional start, giving the Browns a 4-2 record and first place in the AFC Central Division.

But the 22-year-old rookie then took much of the heat during a four-game losing streak that dropped the Browns to 4-6. They broke the streak with a 17-7 victory over the weak Buffalo Bills, then registered impressive back-to-back victories over the Cincinnati Bengals and New York Giants to put themselves in excellent position to win the division.

They captured their first division title since 1980 despite losing two of their last three games.

Danielson, who was 4-2 as a starter, was the more highly rated quarterback with a mark of 85.2 under the NFL’s complex rating system. Kosar, who was 4-6 as a starter, finished with a mark of 69.3 as he completed 50% of his passes for eight touchdowns and seven interceptions. McDonald held for placekicks.

Kosar’s numbers were not good enough to satisfy many who thought he would step from the University of Miami campus directly into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

But Schottenheimer has no trouble projecting Kosar as the Browns’ quarterback of the future.

“Bernie is,” Schottenheimer said, pausing to re-phrase. “There are ‘great’ quarterbacks, and I guess that’s somewhat subjective. I think the thing that’s important is having a winning quarterback, and there’s no question in my mind that Bernie Kosar’s going to be a winning quarterback in the National Football League.”

Despite that confidence, Schottenheimer is not guaranteeing that Kosar will keep the starting job he won by default this year. If Danielson, who has a couple of years left on his Cleveland contract, recovers completely from the shoulder surgery, he’ll be given the chance to win the job back.

“I don’t have that far to come back,” Danielson quipped. “I can only throw 30 or 40 yards anyway. It’s not like they’re repairing a Porsche. It’s more like a Volkswagen.”

Kosar’s off-season goal is to improve his footwork, which has often been criticized as unorthodox and awkward.

“I’m going to work on my foot mechanics, maybe jump some rope and try to get a little more foot quickness,” he said. “I think there will be a little more flexibility with myself next year. In your rookie year, there are a lot of things to learn, and you don’t really get to do a lot of things you want to.”

Kosar said he was disappointed the Browns were unable to put together a decent passing attack this season, but Schottenheimer said that shortcoming will be atop priority for his offensive coaches in 1986.

“We did what we did this year because it was the thing we did best,” Schottenheimer said, referring to the running game that produced a pair of 1,000-yard rushers in Kevin Mack and Earnest Byner. “It doesn’t make sense to do things that they’re not prepared to do.”

The implication, clearly, is that the Browns need to develop or find a couple of fast, reliable wide receivers. Schottenheimer points to Cleveland’s running game, which was enhanced by the addition of Mack, Byner and others over the past two seasons, as the example the team will follow in pursuing wide receivers.

“Through the development of the receivers we have and the acquisition of a few others, I would like to do the same thing with that position as we did at running back,” the coach said. “One thing that Bernie does very well is throw the deep pass, as well as any quarterback I’ve ever been around. We’ve got to get some people we can do that with.”

The highly rated Cleveland defense faltered in the final four games of the regular season and in the second half o the 24-21 playoff loss to the Miami Dolphins, but Schottenheimer said he was confident the defensive unit will remain strong for years to come.

“Other than (end) Carl Hairston (who’s 33), our oldest defensive player is (linebacker) Clay Matthews, who’s 29,” the coach said, adding he would be concerned about the defense slipping “only if there was e lot of age in it.”

Cleveland’s biggest defensive problem was rushing the passer. Linebacker Chip Banks led the team with 11 sacks, but the defensive line was hampered all year by an injury that slowed end Reggie Camp.

So, Schottenheimer said, the Browns’ top priorities during the off-season will be improving the rush and finding a receiver who can keep up with Kosar’s passes.

“We’ve made progress as a team, but we’ve got a lot to do yet,” Schottenheimer said. “I feel like we are, without reservation, headed in the right direction. We have established a base for our next step. If you’ve won the year before, it makes the next year easier--but it’s no guarantee.”