The series between Cleveland and Miami has been even – but oh those playoff games! Here are 5 memorable games between the two teams.
The Cleveland Browns will host the Miami Dolphins in Week 7 of the 2025 NFL season.
The two teams first met in 1970 as members of the newly formed American Football Conference, with the Browns picking up a shutout victory.
Related: Browns 2025 Schedule Primer: Week 7, Miami Dolphins
But while the series has been pretty even, the Dolphins hold a 13-9 lead all-time, and two of those wins came in the playoffs in frustrating fashion. That has been a theme through the years when these two teams meet, with the Browns often coming out on the wrong end of the scoreboard.
This is going to be a tough one, so buckle up as we look at five of the most memorable games between the Browns and Dolphins.
December 24, 1972: Dolphins 20, Browns 14
The Browns earned the AFC Wild Card bid with a 10-4 record, and their reward was a date at the Orange Bowl to face the undefeated Miami Dolphins.
The game could not have started much worse for the Browns as Mike Phipps’ first pass of the day was an interception. While the Dolphins were not able to capitalize on that mistake, they did later in the first quarter when Charlie Babb returned a blocked punt five yards for a touchdown. The Dolphins tacked on a field goal from Garo Yepremian to take a 10-0 lead at halftime.
Cleveland fought back in the second half as Phipps first ran for a touchdown. Then, after Miami’s Dick Anderson fumbled the ball away on an interception return, Phipps converted that mistake into points by hitting Fair Hooker with a 27-yard touchdown pass to put the Browns up by one point with a little more than eight minutes remaining.
The Dolphins methodically marched 80 yards down the field to reclaim the lead after an eight-yard touchdown run from Jim Kiick, but with four minutes remaining, there was still time for the Browns to pull off the upset. But their final chance expired at Miami’s 34-yard line when Phipps threw his fifth interception of the game.
It was a frustrating end to the season for the Browns, who would not return to the playoffs for eight years, but not the last time they would face the Dolphins in the playoffs.
January 4, 1986: Dolphins 24, Browns 21
Cleveland fought its way to the playoffs as champions of the AFC Central Division and earned a rematch with the Dolphins at the Orange Bowl.
After the Dolphins opened the scoring on a 51-yard field goal by Fuad Reveiz, the Browns rolled off three consecutive touchdowns, the final one being a 66-yard rush by Earnest Byner for his second rushing touchdown of the game, to take a 21-3 lead early in the third quarter.
The defense started to break, however, and the Dolphins put up a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter to pull within four points as the teams headed into the fourth quarter. The Browns tried to control the ball on offense, but saw a drive stall at midfield with about eight minutes remaining. Cleveland punted the ball away, and the Dolphins took the lead after a one-yard touchdown run by Ron Davenport just after the two-minute warning.
Cleveland quarterback Bernie Kosar was unable to move the Browns into field-goal position, and the season came to an end when the clock expired with the Browns at midfield. The loss wasted Byner’s big day with 161 rushing yards, part of a team playoff record 251 rushing yards, as the Browns came up short of an upset for the second time in as many tries against the Dolphins.
December 12, 1988: Dolphins 38, Browns 31
Cleveland was fighting for a playoff berth when they headed to Miami for a Monday night game against the Dolphins.
Behind four touchdown passes from Dan Marino, the Dolphins built a 31-17 lead in the fourth quarter. And the situation appeared even dimmer when Bernie Kosar was knocked out of the game with a knee injury. Quarterback Don Strock came off the bench to face his old team and led a pair of scoring drives, with both ending with touchdown passes to Reggie Langhorne to tie the game at 31 with about one minute left on the clock.
That was too much time, however, as Marino hit former Cleveland wide receiver Fred Banks with a 46-yard pass to set up Lorenzo Hampton’s one-yard touchdown run with 34 seconds remaining to send the Browns home on the wrong end of the scoreboard.
September 14, 1992: Dolphins 27, Browns 23
Four years later, the Browns and Dolphins met again on Monday Night Football, but this time it was in front of more than 74,000 fans in Cleveland.
The game followed a familiar script as the Dolphins jumped out to a 14-point lead in the first quarter and pushed it to 17-3 at the end of the third quarter. Cleveland’s offense finally came alive in the final quarter, first with a six-yard touchdown reception by Michael Jackson, then a 32-yard fumble return for a touchdown by David Brandon. When Bernie Kosar hit Mark Bavaro with a three-yard touchdown pass, the Browns were ahead, 23-20, with a little more than a minute remaining.
Marino did his thing once again, however, and drove the Dolphins 85 yards with Mark Higgs scoring a one-yard touchdown to once again deny the Browns a comeback victory. Making things worse, Kosar suffered a broken ankle during the game, which would sideline him for eight weeks and kill any hope the Browns had for a playoff run just two weeks into the season.
Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images
December 5, 2010: Cleveland 13, Miami 10
An ugly game in an ugly season saw the Browns pick up their third consecutive win against the Dolphins.
Cleveland took a 10-3 lead in the third quarter when Jake Delhomme hit Ben Watson with a three-yard touchdown pass to culminate a 94-yard scoring drive. Miami answered back on its next offensive drive as Chad Henne hit Anthony Fasano with an 11-yard touchdown pass to tie the score at 10 early in the fourth quarter.
From there, the teams traded punts until Mike Adams intercepted a Henne pass and returned it 25 yards to Miami’s two-yard line with one minute left in the game. Delhomme knelt on three consecutive plays, and Phil Dawson took it from there to convert a 23-yard field goal to give the Browns the win.
The game would be the last one the Browns would win that season as they closed out the year with four consecutive losses and, following a season-ending loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, head coach Eric Mangini’s time in Cleveland thankfully came to a close.
What is your most memorable game between the Browns and Dolphins? Have your say in the comments.