Saints/Browns Memorable Game: October 31, 1999 – VIDEO

The New Orleans Saints are on the road for week two of the 2014 NFL season on Sunday, when they travel to Cleveland, Ohio to take on the Cleveland Browns in an inter-conference match-up.

Kickoff at FirstEnergy Stadium is scheduled for noon, and you can hear all the play-by-play action on ESPN 1420, as well as 97.3 The Dawg.

Both teams will go into the match-up at 0-1 on the season, with the Saints falling in overtime to the Atlanta Falcons, 37-34 last Sunday, while the Bowns dropped a 30-27 decision to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Browns lead the all-time series, 12-4, and have outscored the Saints, 371-266, in the 16 match-ups between the two franchises.

After Art Modell moved the original Browns’ franchise to Baltimore in 1995, and the expansion Browns resumed operations in 1999, Cleveland holds a 3-1 advantage over the Saints.

All week long, in anticipation of the upcoming contest, we’ll be taking a look back at some of the more memorable games between the two franchises.

On Monday, we went back to October 1, 1967, for the very first game ever played between the two teams, a convincing 42-7 win by the Browns.

On Tuesday, we went back to October 28, 1984, for a 16-14 Saints’ victory, their first all-time win over the Browns in nine tries

On Wednesday, we went back to September 13, 1987, for a 28-21 win by the Saints in the season opener for both teams at the Louisiana Superdome.

Today, we go back to Sunday, October 31, 1999 for a 21-16 Browns win, their first of the year, and first since 1995, when they the Browns left Cleveland, moved to Baltimore, and became the Ravens.

New Orleans, who won their season opener, 19-10, over the Carolina Panthers, went into the game at 1-5, after dropping their next five, while Cleveland was winless, at 0-6.

That Saints were looking for only their fourth win in franchise history against the Browns, but had won three of the last four match-ups between the two.

New Orleans scored the only points of the first quarter, when quarterback Billy Joe Hobert threw a short 5-yard touchdown pass to Keith Poole, giving them a 7-0 lead at the 3:59 mark of the first period.

Cleveland tied things at the 7:37 mark of the second quarter, when Marc Edwards caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from Tim Couch, making the score 7-7.

The Saints retook the lead with only :08 remaining in the second quarter, when Doug Brien nailed a 49-yard field goal, giving them a 10-7 advantage as the teams went into the locker room at halftime.

The Browns grabbed their first lead of the game at the 8:53 mark of the third quarter, when Couch connected with Kevin Johnson on a 24-yard scoring strike, giving them a 14-10 advantage.

New Orleans got to within one point at the 1:14 mark of the third quarter when Brien kicked through his second field goal of the afternoon, this one from 22 yards out, making the score 14-13, Cleveland.

After a scoreless fourth quarter, for the first 14:39, Brien looked like he helped the Saints to a win, when he made good on a 46-yard field goal, giving New Orleans a 16-14 lead with only :21 remaining.

After a 25-yard kickoff return, and an incomplete pass on first down, Couch completed a 19-yard pass to Leslie Shepherd, giving the Browns the football at their own 44-yard line with only :02 remaining.

The next play will be forever engrained in the memories of Saints' fans, as Couch dropped back, and threw a Hail Mary that was caught by Kevin Johnson, off of a deflection, as time expired, giving the Browns a 21-16 win, snapping the longest winless streak in NFL history based on calendar days and sending the crowd at the Louisiana Superdome home in a state of shock.

New Orleans outgained Cleveland, in terms of total yards, 351-243, including 231-62 advantage on the ground, by turned over the football five time, including three fumbles and two interceptions.

Rickey Williams led the Saints in a losing cause, with 179 yards on 40 carries.

The Saints went on to finish 3-13 in 1999, while the Browns won only one more game, and finished at 2-14.

View the play, at the :51 mark, in the video, below: