Written by Jonathan Knight

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From the instant Mohamed Massaquoi soared into the air like a falcon taking flight, then landed oh-so-gingerly along the sideline in the end zone with both feet clearly in-bounds, we recognized it as a thing of beauty - a tapestry of art we haven’t seen much along the Lake Erie shore these past few years. Or decades.

Wins have been hard enough to come by, to say nothing of wins defined by spectacular receptions in dramatic situations. But there have been a few truly impressive snags that have either helped deliver or emphatically declared victory since the Browns’ reboot in 1999.

And one of the discussions ramping up this week is where exactly Massaquoi’s ranks.

Here’s my humble opinion - etched out in a ranking of the 10 greatest clutch catches we’ve seen since the Browns’ return:

 

10. KJ Sets Up First Home Win

September 17, 2000

After nine straight losses to open Cleveland Browns Stadium, the home team was overdue for a break. Knotted at 20 with the hated Steelers, they got it from their own 8 with four minutes left when Tim Couch connected with Kevin Johnson over the middle for a 79-yard gain - the longest play of the new Browns’ first five seasons.

A Phil Dawson field goal gave the Browns the lead, then Courtney Brown’s sack of Kent Graham (and subsequent mistake by the officials in not stopping the clock afterward) wrapped up their first win in their new home.

 

9. Campbell’s Christmas Gift

December 22, 2002

With a schizophrenic season hanging in the balance, the Browns capped a typically schizophrenic performance with a 92-yard drive in the final two minutes on the road against Baltimore’s mighty defense.

Trailing 13-7, the Browns reached the Baltimore 1, where Tim Couch faked a handoff, rolled right, and lobbed a soft pass into the waiting arms of ridiculously wide-open tight end Mark Campbell with 29 seconds left to give the Browns an unlikely victory over the Ravens.

 

8. Heiden KO’s KC

December 3, 2006

Not exactly what you’d call a playmaker - even on the talent-challenged Browns teams of the mid-2000s - tight end Steve Heiden played the hero in a Browns’ comeback victory over the Chiefs that, for better or worse, marked the arrival of Derek Anderson.

Trailing the playoff-bound Chiefs by two touchdowns with 12 minutes to go, Heiden capped an 81-yard drive with a six-yard scoring catch. After a defensive stop, the Browns took over at their own 30 with five minutes left and drove to the Kansas City 3.

With 35 seconds remaining, Anderson, in for injured Charlie Frye, hooked up with Heiden again, this time to tie the game and force overtime, where a 33-yard Anderson run set up Phil Dawson’s game-winning field goal.

 

7. Heiden Does the Lambeau Leap

September 18, 2005

This one’s a little bit of a stretch because the Browns were already ahead at the time, but when Steve Heiden - only playing because of Kellen Winslow’s motorcycle accident - caught a short pass from Trent Dilfer on a hot read beating a Green Bay blitz, broke a tackle, and turned it into a 62-yard touchdown with 1:50 to play, it extended the Browns’ advantage over the Packers to 26-17 and turned out to provide the winning points when Brett Favre led the Packers to a touchdown with four seconds left.

Delivering Romeo Crennel’s first victory as Browns’ head coach, it turned out to be the longest catch of Heiden’s career.

 

6. KJ Electrifies the ’Bolts

October 7, 2001

On the day the U.S. military launched its offensive in Afghanistan, the Browns played one of the most entertaining games of the new era in a see-saw battle with the 3-0 San Diego Chargers. Trailing by two points late in the fourth quarter, the Browns drove to the San Diego 19, where Tim Couch lofted a pretty pass into the end zone for KJ, who pulled it in in the back corner to give the Browns the lead with 1:15 to play.

Following a near-miss on a Hail Mary from Chargers’ quarterback Doug Flutie, the Browns moved to 3-1 under new head coach Butch Davis and, it appeared, had turned a corner toward respectability.

 

5. Andre Davis goes up high to pull down a win over the 49ers

September 21, 2003

The lofty expectations for 2003 were about to implode as the Browns were on the brink of falling to 0-3 after making the playoffs the year before. Looking sloppy and undisciplined (a staple of the Butch Davis era), the Browns trailed 12-0 going into the fourth quarter before hobbling Kelly Holcomb - playing on two injured ankles - led a rejuvenating touchdown drive to cut the lead to five.

Then, taking over at their own 9 with six minutes to play, Holcomb huffed and puffed the Browns down the field with a bouquet of short passes that would have made Brady Quinn proud. They reached the San Francisco 11 with 34 seconds left and faced third-and-10 when Holcomb fired a lofty, apparently uncatchable pass into the end zone, where Andre Davis leapt up nearly to the crossbar to make the catch and give the Browns a remarkable victory.

 

4. Massaquoi Skins the ‘Fins

September 25, 2011

If the list were defined solely on athleticism, this one might top them all. Massaquoi, who had only made modest contributions in his first two seasons, became an instant cult hero. Come what may over his remaining years in a Browns’ uniform, they can’t take this play away from him.

And kudos to Colt McCoy for recognizing the single coverage and then putting the ball in a spot where only Massaquoi could have caught it.

 

3. Quincy Morgan’s Hail Mary in Jacksonville

December 8, 2002

Tim Couch didn’t accomplish a whole heck of a lot in his tattered years in Cleveland, but he managed to pull off something that most Hall of Fame quarterbacks never do - twice win a game on a Hail Mary pass.

This one, which rescued the Browns from a maddening defeat in Jacksonville and kept their wavering playoff hopes alive, was to undependable Quincy Morgan as time expired to deliver a 21-20 win. This was one of the more unusual Hail Marys you’ll ever see, since the ball wasn’t tipped and there were only two players involved - Morgan and Jaguars’ cornerback Fernando Bryant. Both players leapt up and Morgan simply outfought Bryant for the ball.

But, if you watch the replay closely after nine years of emotional distance, you’ll probably have to admit that it almost certainly wasn’t a catch - Morgan doesn’t have complete control of the football and the nose of the ball appears to touch the ground as Morgan hits the turf.

 

2. Northcutt Beats the Clock

September 22, 2002

Dennis Northcutt capped the greatest game of his career with two dazzling plays in the final minutes to bring the Browns back from the dead on a sunny September Sunday in Nashville. First, after the Browns trimmed a 14-point Titans’ lead to seven in the fourth quarter, Northcutt - who’d already returned a punt 74 yards for a touchdown earlier - tiptoed the sideline to recover an unorthodox onside kick with 2:35 remaining.

Then, on third-and-five at the Tennessee 8 with 12 seconds left, Northcutt caught a Tim Couch pass at the 5, then with a cunning loopty-loop move, curled around a defender and scurried into the end zone to force overtime, in which the Browns won on a field goal on the first possession.

 

1. Kevin Johnson’s Hail Mary in the Superdome

October 31, 1999

All but doomed to a eighth straight defeat to open their expansion season, the Browns were rescued by the play titled 258 Flood Tip Right, which saw Tim Couch run for his life to his right (something which happened quite a bit that season) and, as time expired, hurl a prayer of a pass toward the ceiling of the Louisiana Superdome.

After the football caromed off a cluster of Browns and Saints at the goal line, KJ  casually reached out and softly pulled in the ball on the rebound with both feet clearly inside the black-painted end zone to give Browns’ fans the victory they’d waited almost four years for - in unbelievably dramatic fashion.

 

Let the discussions (and debates) begin.

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