5. Browns 15, 49ers 12, Nov. 15, 1981 at San Francisco
Including their three postseason wins, the eventual Super Bowl champion 49ers won 15 of their last 16 games, This was their lone loss during that stretch, as the Browns’ Matt Bahr booted the winning 24-yard field goal with 43 seconds left. The kick was set up by Brian Sipe’s 38-yard pass to Reggie Rucker.
The win made the Browns a disappointing 5-6 and stirred some hope for an improbable run to the playoffs. Instead, Cleveland lost its last five games for a 5-11 record. This was following the 1980 campaign when the “Kardiac Kids” went 11-5 to win the Central Division but lost a playoff game to the Raiders, 14-12 in frigid Cleveland Stadium, when Sipe’s pass into the Oakland end zone was intercepted by Mike Davis with less than a minute to go.
In this win over San Francisco, the Browns tied the game 12-12 on the game’s only touchdown, a 21-yard pass from Sipe to Rucker with 6:46 left. Dino Hall’s 40-yard punt return helped put the Browns in position to score.
Cleveland took a 2-0 lead in the first quarter when San Francisco quarterback Joe Montana was penalized for intentional grounding in the 49ers end zone. Four Ray Wersching field goals, though, gave San Francisco a 12-5 halftime lead.
Sipe was 16 of 33 for 180 yards. Rucker made three catches for 77 yards. Mike Pruitt carried 18 times for 76 yards and Greg Pruitt had 33 yards on four receptions and 26 more on five carries.
The Browns intercepted two Joe Montana passes and sacked him three times.
Ironically, Bahr had started the season with the 49ers as a replacement for the injured Wersching. When the 49ers veteran kicker returned after four games, Bahr was released. He was soon signed by the Browns, with whom he would stay through the 1989 season.
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