The Cleveland Browns host the Tennessee Titans in Week 14 of the 2025 NFL season.
The Browns hold a 37-32 edge in the all-time series, which began in 1970 when the Titans were still the Houston Oilers. Cleveland won the nine meetings between the teams, and the rivalry took off in the mid-1980s as the Browns went 8-2 against the Oilers from 1985 to 1989 while earning four AFC Central Division titles.
Related: Browns 2025 Schedule Primer: Week 14, Tennessee Titans
The Titans hold a slight 10-7 lead in
the series since 1999, but the Browns have won the past two meetings. And while the playoffs have not been on the line, there have been a few memorable matchups since the Oilers relocated to Tennessee and became the Titans.
With that in mind, here are five memorable games between the Browns and the Oilers/Titans.
December 18, 1988: Browns 28, Oilers 23
The Browns were coming off a close loss to the Miami Dolphins that left their playoff hopes slipping away when they hosted the Oilers at a snowy Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
Houston built a 23-7 lead in the third quarter thanks to three interceptions and a lost fumble by Don Strock, who was forced into the starter’s role after Benie Kosar was lost for the season to a knee injury. But with the season on the line, Strock found his mojo and the comeback began.
A two-yard touchdown pass to Earnest Byner cut the deficit to nine points as the teams headed into the fourth quarter. Byner added a two-yard touchdown run to pull the Browns within two, and then with a little more than six minutes remaining, Strock found Webster Slaughter over the middle for a 22-yard pass to give the Browns their first lead of the day.
Cleveland’s defense held firm from there as the Browns pulled out the win, earned a playoff spot, and set up a meeting a week later against the Oilers in the AFC Wild Card Game.
December 24, 1988: Oilers 24, Browns 23
Christmas came early for the Oilers in the rematch, as an untimely injury and a blown call by the officials ended Cleveland’s season in disappointing fashion.
Don Strock injured his wrist on the first play of the second quarter, and the Browns were forced to play the rest of the day with Mike Pagel at quarterback. After falling behind 14-3 thanks to a pair of touchdowns by Allen Pinkett, the Browns drew within five points at the half after two field goals from Matt Bahr.
Cleveland finally found the end zone in the third quarter when Pagel hit Webster Slaughter with a 14-yard touchdown pass to give the Browns their first lead of the game. The Browns appeared to tag on a defensive score after Clay Matthews returned a lateral for a touchdown in the third quarter, but the refs took the points off the board by erroneously ruling the play an incomplete pass.
Given new life, the Oilers scored the next 10 points to take control of the game. A second touchdown pass from Pagel to Slaughter cut the lead to one point with 31 seconds left, but the Oilers recovered the onside kick, and Cleveland’s season, and the tenure of head coach Marty Schottenheimer, came to an end.
December 23, 1989: Browns 24, Oilers 20
A year later, the Browns and Oilers were back at it, this time at the Houston Astrodome with the AFC Central Division title up for grabs.
It looked like it was going to be Cleveland’s day as the Browns raced out to a 17-3 lead at halftime, fueled by touchdown passes from Bernie Kosar for 68 yards to Eric Metcalf and 40 yards to Webster Slaughter. But the Oilers fought back to trail by just four points in the fourth quarter when the game got crazy.
Houston was at Cleveland’s 15-yard line and threatening to score when a bad snap from center was picked up by Clay Matthews at the 35-yard line. For reasons known only to him, Matthews decided the best course of action would be to lateral the ball to Chris Pike, Cleveland’s 6-foot-8 and 280-pound defensive tackle. The lateral went awry, the Oilers recovered, and on the next play, Warren Moon hit Drew Hill with a 27-yard touchdown pass. Suddenly, the Oilers had the lead, the Astrodome was rocking, and Cleveland’s playoff hopes were fading away.
The Browns got the ball for their final drive of the game with 2:30 remaining and still trailing by three points. Kosar put together that featured key passes to Reggie Langhorne and big runs from Kevin Mack, who had missed the first 12 weeks of the season in part due to a brief jail sentence for drug possession, to bring the ball to Houston’s four-yard line. Mack finished off the drive with a bruising touchdown run with 39 seconds remaining for the win.
The victory was the fourth division title in five years for the Browns, and their fifth consecutive playoff berth, in what would be the final hurrah of the Kosar-era Browns.
December 30, 2001: Browns 41, Titans 38
By the time the Browns returned to the NFL in 1999, the Oilers had left Houston and become the Tennessee Titans. But the game was a spirited as ever when the teams met late in the 2001 season at Adelphia Coliseum in Nashville.
The teams traded scores through the first half, which ended with the score tied at 24 after Tennessee’s Joe Nedney hit a 31-yard field goal as time expired. The Titans opened up a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter on the back of a pair of Eddie George touchdown runs. But then Cleveland’s Tim Couch took over.
Couch led the Browns on a scoring drive that culminated in a two-yard touchdown run by Jamel White to trim the deficit to seven. After the Browns got the ball back, Couch first hit Quincy Morgan with a 78-yard pass before finding Kevin Johnson with a four-yard touchdown pass to tie the score at 38.
The defense forced the Titans to punt, and starting from his 39-yard line, Couch moved the Browns down the field, and Phil Dawson’s 44-yard field goal with 55 seconds remaining gave the Browns the victory.
Couch finished the day 20-of-27 for 336 yards and three touchdowns, completing passes to eight different receivers. Cleveland’s offense broke the 400-yard mark for the first time all season, and Johnson broke 1,000 receiving yards in a season for the only time in his career.
October 5, 2014: Browns 29, Titans 28
The Browns and the Oilers/Titans had their share of memorable games over the years, but this one on the first Sunday in October was truly one for the record books.
Cleveland bumbled its way through the first half as the Titans took a 28-3 lead with less than three minutes remaining after Charlie Whitehurst hit Justin Hunter with a 75-yard touchdown pass. From that point on, Cleveland quarterback Brian Hoyer did not get mad; he got even.
Hoyer started the comeback by hitting Jim Dry with a one-yard touchdown pass just before halftime to cut Cleveland’s deficit to 18. The Browns shaved off another three points in the third quarter on a 42-yard field goal by Billy Cundiff. Cleveland still trailed, 28-13, heading into the fourth quarter, but the Titans had no idea what was about to hit them.
Tank Carder blocked a punt out of the end zone for a safety, and with just seven minutes left, Hoyer hit Travis Benjamin with a 17-yard touchdown pass to cut Tennessee’s lead to six points. Cleveland’s defense then forced a punt, but Hoyer gave the ball back to the Titans when his deep pass to Andrew Hawkins was intercepted.
The defense came up big again, however, and forced another Tennessee punt. This time, Hoyer would not be denied as he led the Browns on a four-play, 42-yard drive that culminated in a six-yard touchdown pass to Benjamin to give Cleveland a one-point lead.
Tennessee had one final chance, but the drive stalled at the 37-yard line, and the Browns had completed the largest comeback in league history by a road team.
What is your most memorable game between the Browns and Oilers/Titans? Have your say in the comments.
More from dawgsbynature.com:
- ESPN drops some news about the Browns’ quarterback situation
- NFL picks and predictions for Week 2
- Daily Dawg Chow: Browns news (9/16/16)
- Browns’ Color Rush uniforms unveiled, but Cleveland won’t get to wear them in 2016
- Film Study: Browns’ only TD drive vs. Eagles
- Film Study: Browns’ 1st three offensive series vs. Eagles - All 3-and-outs, with a botched fake
- Daily Dawg Chow: Browns news (9/15/16)
