Monday, October 11, 1999

Bengals 18, Browns 17

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Akili: One start, one win

BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Akili Smith completed 25 of 41 passes for 221 yards. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        CLEVELAND — In the last two minutes of his first NFL start Sunday, resourceful rookie quarterback Akili Smith doused the fires of the Bengals' winless season and fanned the flames of an old rivalry.

        Smith punctuated his first showdown with Browns rookie quarterback Tim Couch by lofting a two-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Carl Pickens with five seconds left to cap a chest-thumping, heart-stopping 80-yard drive away from the Dawg Pound and into an 18-17 victory.

        Smith then raced to the Browns sideline and thumped his chest at the team that chose Kentucky's Couch No.1 in last spring's NFL draft instead of Smith.

        “I just wanted to let them know that was the first one and we got it,” said Smith after hitting 25-of-41 passes for 221 yards, no interceptions, and two touchdowns — both to Pickens for the first two scores by a starting Bengal wide receiver this season.

        Like his boyhood idol John Elway did on this same patch of ground in a long-ago AFC championship game, Smith beat time and a howling crowd for the Bengals first victory over Cleveland since 1992.

Brian DeMarco congratulates coach Bruce Coslet. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        That was three years before Browns owner Art Modell fled with his team to Baltimore. But the new Browns, now 0-5, couldn't claim their first win because the 1-4 Bengals won in Cleveland for the first time since 1990, when Paul Brown owned the Bengals.

        But Paul Brown vs. Art Modell was never like this.

        Couch, who threw for just 164 yards and no touchdowns, noticed Smith's salute.

        “It definitely angered me. I wouldn't have any competitiveness if I didn't. I will definitely remember that,” Couch said. “I think that he was trying to make it more personal than I was.”

        The Bengals took their first win in nearly 10 months personally. Right guard Brian DeMarco, the Cleveland native, said, “it's like we got this 900-pound gorilla off our backs. It's a real foundational win for our franchise with Akili playing so well.”

Corey Dillon rushed for 168 yards. (Gary Landers photo) | ZOOM |

        Running back Corey Dillon kept Smith close with 168 yards on 28 carries. And inside linebacker Takeo Spikes was in the middle of a defense that suffocated the Browns on one first down and 50 yards in the second half.

        “Not only did we win, we found out how to win,” Spikes said, savoring just the fourth win of his two-year career. We had to find a way to win and that's something we haven't done in the two years I've been here.”

        Some Bengals couldn't even believe after they saw Pickens make the catch for their second win in 16 games.

        “Everyone was looking, "Is this for real?' ” said tackle Willie Anderson. “Everyone was looking for flags on the ground.”

        Beleaguered coach Bruce Coslet wore the wan look of a man who saw his team about to lose to an expansion team because:

        • Browns kicker Phil Dawson ran a fake field goal for a touchdown.

        • Bengals kick returner Tremain Mack fumbled at midfield to set up Cleveland's other touchdown.

        • A blocked punt turned into Dawson's 33-yard field goal that gave the Browns a 17-12 lead with 14:09 left in the game.

Smith scrambles away from LB Jamir Miller. (Gary Landers photo) | ZOOM |

        “It's like pulling teeth,” said Coslet, dismissing what the victory means to his job status. “I'm happy for the players. It has much more of an effect on them than me, believe me. I've been in situations like this. Not them. I'm happy they found a way to win a game.”

        Asked if Smith survived some mistakes, Coslet said, “You wouldn't believe.. .I got on him, too, right in his face. . .But he made some great plays, too. That's why I liked him. Poise. He's a mature guy.”

        He was poised early. Smith was on the field by 10 a.m. throwing balls to receivers coach Steve Mooshagian. Smith saw Couch and said, “he asked me if I was ready, I asked him if he was ready and I said it should be a good game and we'll have plenty of good games in the future. We both agreed. He's a cool cat.”

        But that's what the Browns and their stunned faithful of 73,048 were saying after Smith sifted them on 5 of 8 passing for 51 yards in a drive that began at the Bengals 20-yard line with 2:04 left.

        “Right before that drive, he told us we all had made mistakes during the day and now was the opportunity to make it all right,” said left tackle Rod Jones.

Carl Pickens cradles the winning TD pass. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        Tight end Marco Battaglia said, “He was great in the huddle. It was like he was out at practice. We just witnessed a big-time drive.”

        The big-time plays were a 9-yard arrow to receiver Darnay Scott on a curl-in on fourth-and-four with 25 seconds left, an 18-yard pass interference call on cornerback Corey Fuller on Scott that put the ball on the 2 with 21 seconds left, and the winning lob over Pickens' shoulder on third down.

        “It was a jump ball,' said 6-1 cornerback Ryan McNeil of his joust with the 6-2 Pickens. “It's typical of what they do. He's a big guy, I'm a big guy. The quarterback made a pretty good throw.”

        Pickens and Scott were split right with Battaglia split left and Smith said Pickens ran the “dice route.” After the score, Fuller complained to the official about the interference call, but Bengals receiver Damon Griffin said Smith knew that play to Scott would work.

        “It was a post pattern, like the one Darnay caught early in the drive,” said Griffin, Smith's college teammate at Oregon. “In the huddle, Akili said, "This one will work.' Just like in college. He was in a zone. He was bred for these situations.”

        Smith said he called three of the 10 plays, with Coslet calling the rest, when he would give Smith two plays during a break or a timeout. Smith likes to throw out patterns and curl-ins, like the fourth-and-four completion to Scott.

        “I've got some leeway in the two-minute drill. I tell them what I want to run,” Smith said. “It was bump-and-run and Darnay Scott. Come on. You know he's going to win. ... I felt some pressure and threw it and he made a great catch. Sometimes you miss. Sometimes you get it. The bottom line is, we got the win.”

       

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Bengals Stories

Bengals 18, Browns 17 When Pound barks, Akili shows bite First win makes it fun again Smith's family shares big day Dillon glad to be in it for the long run 'Money player' Pickens pays off Second-stringers busy in secondary Browns 0-5 and unhappy Bengals-Browns summary