Browns Take to the Air to Rout Pittsburgh for the Sixth Straight Time

Receiver Reggie Langhorne of the Cleveland Browns felt vindicated after he scored on a 77-yard pass play.

“It’s sad that our receivers don’t have any speed,” Langhorne said sarcastically after he combined with quarterback Bernie Kosar on Cleveland’s longest pass play in 16 years during the Browns’ 27-7 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday.

The Browns’ receivers, often praised for having sure hands, have often been criticized for lacking the speed to get deep.

Langhorne’s touchdown came on a short sideline pass from Kosar on which Langhorne bounced off two defenders and outraced several Steelers 60 yards to the end zone. He was gaining ground on the defense as he neared the goal line.

“It was just a little 10-yard stop route where I had man-to-man coverage,” Langhorne said. “I saw one guy come after me and I tried to put a shoulder into him before he could wrap his arms around me. I think we showed today that we have some speed in this receiving corps.”

The completion, on the second play of the second half, was also the longest of Kosar’s career. Kosar completed 12 of 24 passes for 204 yards and 2 touchdowns.

“No doubt about it, that was the big play of the game for us,” Kosar said. “Reggie made a great play on that.”

The victory was the sixth straight for the Browns (7-5) against the Steelers.

Pittsburgh (2-10) hasn’t won at Cleveland since 1981. The Steelers can do no better than match their worst record in 19 years. They have lost 4 straight and 10 of their last 11 games.

They aided the Browns’ cause with three botched punts, two of which led directly to Cleveland touchdowns.

Center Mike Webster had two bad snaps on punts, but refused to blame the weather. Most of the game was played in a driving rain.

“The ball felt good,” said Webster, who was playing his 30th game against the Browns. “There’s no excuse for a bad snap. I haven’t had any trouble with long snaps in 10 or 12 years.”

Frank Minnifield also returned a blocked punt 11 yards for a first-half touchdown.

Kosar’s 77-yard touchdown pass was the Browns’ longest pass play since Frank Pitts caught an 80-yarder from Mike Phipps against the New York Jets on Dec. 17, 1972.

The Browns scored the game’s first 17 points, as they ended a 2-game losing streak.