Before we begin, I feel like I need to say this about the “Legacy Of Failure” posts, yes, I did get the idea from Urinating Tree’s Legacy Of Failure videos and fully admit to stealing the idea, I love the videos, I thought it’d be fun to do something like this on my own and…yeah, all credit goes to Urinating Tree (a.k.a. The Artist Formerly Known as Fat Mann Judgeth) for the idea….and now moving on….
Turns out the Bungles aren’t the only NFL team in Ohio that completely sucks, the Cleveland Browns are a team that needs no further explanation of why their team is terrible but to their credit, they have 8 championships and 15 appearances to their name in the pre NFL years, which is more than you can say about the Cincinnati Bengals in their history so, let’s begin our legacy of failure after the AFL and NFL merged in 1970.
1970, The Browns attempted to improve on its 10-3-1 record from 1969. The team would fail to do so, and they finished with an even 7-7 record and missed the postseason. This was the first season that the Browns would play the Cincinnati Bengals, their new arch-rival in the AFC Central. The 2 teams split their 2 meetings in the first season series.
1971, After missing the playoffs the previous year, the Browns got off to a good start at 4–1 only to stumble losing 4 straight to fall to 4–5. However, the Browns would rebound to win the final 5 games of the season for the AFC Central Division title. Just as the 1967 Browns returned to the playoffs following a one-year absence, so, too, did the ’71 club, which was in its first season under new head coach Nick Skorich after Blanton Collier’s final team in 1970 had finished just 7–7, ending a string of three consecutive postseason berths.
As was the case in 1967, the ’71 Browns went 9–5 and won a division crown. They captured the AFC Central for the first time, finishing three games in front of the soon-to-emerge Pittsburgh Steelers (6–8). In the playoffs the Browns would fall in the first round 20–3 to the Baltimore Colts. Running back Leroy Kelly was on the downside of his Pro Football Hall of Fame career, but he did manage to rush for 865 yards and 10 touchdowns – still good for a 14-game season. Wide receiver Fair Hooker led the team in receptions with 45.
1972, 1972 marked the end of a nine-year span in which the Browns made the playoffs seven times; it would be the Browns’ last playoff appearance until 1980.
The 1972 Cleveland Browns not only made it to the postseason as a wild card team with a 10–4 record, but also nearly pulled off what would have been one of the biggest upsets in team and NFL playoff history. Playing in the AFC divisional round in Miami against a Dolphins team that would go 17–0 and win the Super Bowl, the Browns lost 20–14 after blowing a 14–13 lead midway through the fourth quarter.
The Browns started the year with veteran quarterback Bill Nelsen as their starter; Nelsen had arrived from the Pittsburgh Steelers in a 1968 trade. But Nelsen, who had knee problems, struggled early, and the team followed suit by getting off to a rocky 2–3 start. The move was made to start Mike Phipps, drafted in 1970 with the No.3 overall pick the Browns obtained by trading Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Paul Warfield to Miami. Although Phipps didn’t have a very good year statistically—he completed only 47.2 percent of his passes and threw for just 13 touchdowns with 16 interceptions—he was able to make plays when he had to.
The Browns were only 2–3 and had been outscored 48–7 in their last two games, and 74–17 in their three losses, before a six-game winning streak ensued. Included in the streak was a last-second, 26–24 comeback win at home over the Steelers, who were trying to win the AFC Central title and make the playoffs for the second time in franchise history and first time since 1947. The Browns finished second to the Steelers (11–3) by a game after winning eight of their last nine contests, the only loss being a 30–0 decision in the rematch in Pittsburgh. The Browns also turned back the Denver Broncos on the road 27–20.
Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Leroy Kelly, in his last productive season, rushed for 811 yards. Wide receiver Frank Pitts led the team in receptions with 36, good for eight touchdowns—or 62 percent of the team total of 13. But it was primarily the defense that saved the season for the Browns. The unit gave up over 30 points only twice all year, posted a shutout and kept foes to 17 points or less eight times
1973, the Browns got off to a solid start, winning three of their first four games on the way to a 7-3-1 start. However, the Browns did not win another game the rest of the season and settled for third place with a 7-5-2 record.
1974, The Browns finished 4–10 that year and did not look good doing it. All those great players who had led the Browns to much success through the 1960s and the early part of the ’70s, either had retired or were ready to do so. And, as mentioned, since the Browns had been picking at the tail end of the draft for so long, they had little in the way of reinforcements to step into those stars’ shoes.
1975, The Browns lost their first nine games—again, a team record—en route to going 3–11 in Forrest Gregg’s first year as head coach after having been promoted from offensive line coach following the offseason firing of Nick Skorich.
Making matters even harder to swallow was that, save for a 16–15 decision at Denver in Week 5 and a 24–17 decision at Cincinnati in the season opener, the losses were pretty much one-sided. At home no less, the Browns fell 42–10 to the Minnesota Vikings, 42–6 to the Pittsburgh Steelers and 40–10 to the Houston Oilers, the worst three-game stretch they’ve ever had. Later in the year—it was the last of those nine consecutive defeats—the Browns were beaten 38–17 at Oakland.
1976, The Browns were coached by second-year coach Forrest Gregg, and ended their season with a record of 9–5, being third in their division. The team’s top draft choice was running back Mike Pruitt. Brian Sipe firmly took control at quarterback. Sipe had been inserted into the lineup after a Mike Phipps injury in the season-opening win against the New York Jets on September 12. After a 1–3 start brought visions of another disastrous year, the Browns jolted the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers with an 18–16 victory on October 10. Third-string quarterback Dave Mays helped lead the team to that victory, while defensive end Joe “Turkey” Jones’ pile-driving sack of quarterback Terry Bradshaw fueled the heated rivalry between the two teams. That win was the first of eight in the next nine weeks, helping put the Browns in contention for the AFC playoffs. A loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the regular-season finale cost them a share of the division title, but running back Greg Pruitt continued his outstanding play by rushing for exactly 1,000 yards, his second-straight four-digit season.
1977, After a 6-4 start, the Browns lost their final four games of the season, to finish with a disappointing 6-8 record. With one game left in the season, head coach Forrest Gregg was fired and replaced by Dick Modzelewski.
1978, After nearly three years of struggling offensively – and not making the playoffs—while posting just one winning record under ultra-strict, disciplinarian head coach Forrest Gregg, the Browns in 1978 decided to take a softer approach to liven up their attack – and their team. They did so by hiring a virtually unknown assistant at the time, New Orleans Saints receivers coach Sam Rutigliano, to replace Gregg, who was fired with one game left in the 1977 season. Rutigliano was the fourth head coach hired by Art Modell in his 18 years as club owner to that point, and it marked the first time Modell had not promoted from within the organization to fill the spot.
Although it took a while for things to develop, the idea of bringing in someone from the outside nonetheless worked. With Rutigliano, who was as progressive, innovative and forward-thinking of an offensive mind as there was in the game at the time, running the show, the once-stagnant Browns attack scored 30 or more points four times in eight games in the second half of that season. More importantly, Rutigliano was able to jump-start the career of embattled quarterback Brian Sipe, which would pay huge dividends for the team two years later when he won the NFL MVP award and led the Browns to the AFC Central title. He finished with 21 touchdown passes and 15 interceptions in 1978 for a quarterback rating of 80.7, by far his best numbers in his five seasons with the Browns.
The Browns started well, winning their first three games over the San Francisco 49ers (24–7), Cincinnati Bengals (13–10 in overtime) and Atlanta Falcons (24–16). They then stood 4–2 after beating the Saints 24–16 three games later.
But in the process of the Browns offense getting revved up, the defense soon started to come unglued. Yes, the Browns were scoring a lot of points in those final eight games, but they were giving up a lot, too. In fact, they surrendered 34 or more points in three successive games at the very end of the year. The end result was an 8–8 finish in which the Browns were outscored by 22 points overall, 356 to 334, in the first year that the NFL expanded from a 14- to a 16-game regular season. The Browns top draft choice that year, future Hall of Fame TE Ozzie Newsome, fresh off of a NCAA National Championship with Paul “Bear” Bryant’s Alabama Crimson Tide team, had a solid rookie season, snaring 38 passes for 589 yards and two touchdowns.
1979, in a season which could be titled “The Birth of The Kardiac Kids” the Browns, who finished 9–7, nearly made the playoffs while involved in a number of close games. They won their first three contests, all by three points, over the New York Jets in overtime 25–22, Kansas City Chiefs 27–24 and Baltimore Colts 13–10. They lost to the Washington Redskins by four points, 13–9, midway through the season, then beat the Cincinnati Bengals by one, 28–27, the following Sunday and the Philadelphia Eagles by five, 24–19, two weeks later. The Browns proceeded to lose to the Seattle Seahawks by five points, 29–24, beat the Miami Dolphins by six, 30–24, in overtime and lose to the Pittsburgh Steelers by three, 33–30, again in OT. That was the last of the Browns three overtime games that season. Then came a virtual “blowout” – a seven-point victory over the Houston Oilers, 14–7 – followed by two “one-sided” losses, by five points to the Oakland Raiders, 19–14, and by four to the Bengals, 16–12, to end the year. Add it all up, and 12 of the Browns’ 16 games were decided by seven points or less. The club went just 7–5 in those games, though, which was the difference in that season from 1980, when the Browns were 10–2 in 12 contests decided by seven points or less.
How tight was the 1979 season overall for the Browns? So much so that they outscored their foes by just seven points all year. The Browns moved to 4–0 – their fastest start since 1963 – by stunning heavily favored Dallas 26–7 on Monday Night Football. The Browns gave up 51 points at home to the Steelers, who would go on to win their second straight Super Bowl and fourth in six years, yet scored 35 on the vaunted Steel Curtain defense and lost by 16. The game was shown on national TV, but NBC cut away to another contest, leaving only the Pittsburgh and Cleveland markets watching, after the Steelers vaulted to a 27–0 lead.
RB Mike Pruitt rushed for 1,294 yards and nine TDs, while wideout Dave Logan led the team in catches with 59 and missed getting 1,000 receiving yards by just 18. Logan, TE Ozzie Newsome and veteran WR Reggie Rucker combined for 22 TD catches.
1980, the Browns finished the regular season with eleven wins and five losses, and their first division title in since 1971, winning a tiebreaker with the Houston Oilers. The 1980 Cleveland Browns were known as the Kardiac Kids for having several games decided in the final moments. The 1980 season was the first time that Cleveland had qualified for the postseason since 1972. Also, for the second straight year, Browns head coach Sam Rutigliano was named NFL Coach of the Year, and quarterback Brian Sipe was named the league’s Most Valuable Player.
Rallying from a 10–0 first-half deficit against Cincinnati, the Browns came back to beat the Bengals 27–24 to finally snare the Central championship by having Don Cockroft kicked the game-winning 22-yard field goal with 1:25 left, then the Bengals tried to come back when got as far as the Cleveland 14 before time ran out.
The Browns played their first home playoff game in nine seasons against the Raiders, in what has become known as the Red Right 88 game. The Browns marched to the Oakland 13 in the waning seconds trailing by 14–12, but Brian Sipe’s pass into the end zone for Hall of Fame tight end Ozzie Newsome was intercepted, ending Cleveland’s season.
Five Players had 50 or more receptions, led by running back Mike Pruitt. Pruitt also rushed for 1,034 yards and six touchdowns. Running back Calvin Hill, recorded six touchdowns among his 27 catches. Wide receiver Ricky Feacher grabbed just 10 passes, but four went for scores, including two within a matter of minutes in the division-clinching win over the Bengals.
1981, in a highly disappointing season filled with a number of key injuries at different stretches during the campaign, the Browns finished the year with five straight defeats, their longest losing streak since 1975, and dropped seven of their final eight games. By contrast, in 1980, the Browns enjoyed a five-game winning streak, their longest since 1976, and won eight of nine during one stretch.
1982, the Browns were among 8 teams that qualified for the playoffs during this strike shorted season, and became one of only four teams to ever qualify for the playoffs despite having a losing record at 4-5. Browns and the Detroit Lions from the same year are the only two teams with a losing record to qualify as wildcards. In 2010, the Seattle Seahawks became the third team with a losing record to qualify for the playoffs and the first team to win a division title with a losing record (however, the Seahawks were the first to accomplish the former in a non-strike shortened season), followed by the Carolina Panthers four years later. In 1982, the Los Angeles Raiders eliminated the Browns from the playoffs for a second consecutive season, 27–10.
The Browns’ first round draft pick, rookie sensation linebacker Chip Banks earned 6.5 sacks in just nine games.
1983, In a season which was eerily similar to the 1979 campaign, which was arguably the beginning of “The Kardiac Kids” period, seven contests were decided by seven points or less, with the Browns going 4–3. Like the ’79 and ’80 seasons, the Browns scored often and gave up almost as many points, with the Browns scoring 356 to their opponents’ 342. Quarterback Brian Sipe, in his last season with the Browns before jumping to the USFL, had 26 touchdown passes and 23 interceptions, nearly the same ratio (28-to-26) he had had in 1979. It was a good way to go out for Sipe, who had lost his starting job to Paul McDonald late in the 1982 season and then re-gained it in the ’83 training camp. Fullback Mike Pruitt, in his last great season with the Browns, rushed for 1,184 yards. And finally, in his last season in Cleveland before being traded to the Denver Broncos, wide receiver Dave Logan was second on the team in receptions with 37, but that was far behind the team-record 89 hauled in by Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end Ozzie Newsome in a season that could be dubbed “The Kardiac Kids’ Last Hurrah”.
1984, At the season’s mid-way point, head coach Sam Rutigliano was fired after starting 1–7. He was replaced by defensive coordinator Marty Schottenheimer, who went 4–4 to finish the season. (Schottenheimer would coach the Browns until 1988, guiding the Browns to a .620 winning percentage in his tenure with the team.)
1985, In Marty Schottenheimer’s first full year as head coach, the Browns bounced back from a horrible 5–11 season in 1984 to make the playoffs, despite a .500 season. Rookie quarterback Bernie Kosar led the Browns’ offense; Ozzie Newsome’s 62 receptions earned him a trip to the Pro Bowl; Earnest Byner and Kevin Mack each rushed for over 1,000 yards.
In the Divisional Playoffs, the Browns led the Miami Dolphins 21–3 in the third quarter, but in a scene that would be repeated 4 more times in the 1980s, the Browns collapsed down the stretch as the Dolphins came back to score three touchdowns to win the game 24–21.
In 2004, Football Outsiders named the 1985 Browns as one of the “worst playoff teams ever”:
Opponents outscored them 287–294, and they were blown out in two of their last three games (31–13 by the Seahawks and 38–10 by the Jets). They took a 21–3 lead over the Dolphins in the playoffs, only to watch Dan Marino and company score 21 unanswered points to win the game.
The 1985 Browns are probably best known for having two 1,000-yard rushers in Earnest Byner and Kevin Mack. Despite that impressive feat, the Browns were only fourth in the AFC in team rushing yards. They were 13th in the conference in passing yards, thanks to rookie [quarterback] Bernie Kosar and journeyman Gary Danielson. What that team did very well was play defense and take advantage of a weak division. The Browns swept the 5–11 Oilers and split with the 7–9 Bengals and Steelers. A 28–21 win in Week 15 against the Oilers proved to be the division capper: Kosar threw three TDs to open up a 28–7 lead, and the defense withstood a Warren Moon comeback.
Until 2011, Cleveland’s .500 winning percentage held the record for the lowest such percentage for a division winning playoff team in a non-strike season; the record was tied by the 2008 San Diego Chargers, then broken by the 2010 Seattle Seahawks. (Incidentally, in 1985 and 2008, teams with 11–5 records – Denver in 1985, New England in 2008—missed the playoffs.)
1986, The death of Don Rogers, a promising young defensive back who was preparing to enter his third season in the NFL, cast a black cloud over the team as it prepared for the 1986 season.
The 1986 Browns finished 12–4 to not only win the division again, but also set a franchise record for regular-season victories in the NFL in addition to securing home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.
In one of the most pulsating games in club history, the Browns edged the New York Jets 23–20 in double-overtime in the divisional playoffs.
Then, in maybe the most disappointing contest in team annals, the Browns lost to the Denver Broncos by that same score in OT in the AFC Championship Game as quarterback John Elway orchestrated what has become known as The Drive.
The Browns were involved in six contests decided by three points or less, and eight decided by six points or less. There were two OT games – in consecutive weeks, no less – when the Browns beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 37–31 and the Houston Oilers 13–10, both in Cleveland. That win started the Browns on a five-game winning streak to end the season, and it was also part of a stretch in which they won eight of nine contests.
There were several other big games in addition to the two OT affairs. The Browns beat the Steelers at Three Rivers Stadium for the first time in 16 tries, 27–24. They defeated Miami 26–16 on Monday Night Football, extracting some revenge for their loss to the Dolphins in the divisional playoffs the year before. They wound up clinching the AFC Central crown by going to Cincinnati in the next-to-last game and winning soundly, 34–3. The Bengals finished in second place at 10–6 but did not make the playoffs.
Kosar’s career really took off in 1986, as he threw for 3,854 yards and seventeen touchdowns with just ten interceptions for an 83.8 quarterback rating. Wide receiver Brian Brennan, who led the way with 55 receptions and six scores, was one of seven Browns to catch 28 or more passes. The backfield combo of FB Kevin Mack and HB Earnest Byner battled injuries for much of the year. That, along with the increased emphasis on passing, caused the rushing numbers to go way down. As a team, the Browns got just 1,650 yards, with Mack rushing for a team-leading 665. He did, however, run for ten scores.
Hanford Dixon and Frank Minnifield were among the top cornerbacks in the league, leading a defense that excelled down the stretch, limiting the last four opponents to 17 or fewer points.
1987, Led by another 3,000-yard season from Bernie Kosar, the Browns captured their third-straight AFC Central crown at 10-5. In the divisional playoffs, against the Indianapolis Colts at Municipal Stadium, the Browns routed the Colts 38–21 to advance to their second-straight AFC Championship Game. For the second year in a row, the Browns were matched up against the Denver Broncos for a trip to Super Bowl XXII. The Browns fell behind early at Mile High Stadium, as the Broncos roared out to a big halftime lead. However, the Browns scored 30 points in the second half, and drove down the field in the late fourth quarter with a chance to score a game-tying touchdown. With 1:12 left in the game, RB Earnest Byner was stripped of the ball at the 2-yard line by Broncos’ defensive back Jeremiah Castille in a play since dubbed The Fumble.
Denver ran down the clock and took an intentional safety with 8 seconds left, and the Browns fell 38–33. Denver returned to the Super Bowl for a second straight year at the expense of the Browns.
1988, despite taking the Browns to the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season, head coach Marty Schottenheimer was fired at the end of the 1988 season. He left the Browns having compiled a record of 44–27 (a 62% winning percentage) with the team. Schottenheimer would once again go through the same scenario with the Chargers, as in 2006, he was fired by them after the Chargers posted the best record in the NFL. The Browns finished the season with a 10-6 record, tied for second place in the AFC Central with the Houston Oilers. The Browns would be awarded second place by posting a better division record than the Oilers. The Browns would clinch a playoff berth for the 4th straight season. In the playoffs, they lost to the Oilers in the Wild Card game, 24-23. As of 2018, this remains the last time The Browns swept the Steelers.
1989, it was the Browns’ first season with head coach Bud Carson, who had been the defensive coordinator of the New York Jets the previous season. The Browns reached their third AFC Championship Game in four seasons, and for the third time lost to the Denver Broncos.
It would be the Browns’s fifth consecutive season making the playoffs, but it would be their last playoff season until 1994.
1990, the season was the second for head coach Bud Carson, but the Browns started the season 2–7. Carson was fired one day after a Week Nine shutout loss to the eventual AFC Champion Buffalo Bills. He was replaced by former Browns quarterback Jim Shofner, who finished the season with only one additional win. The move didn’t help as the Browns finished 3-13.
The 1990 Browns surrendered 462 points, the most points of any NFL team in the 1990s. Their −234 point differential is the third-worst total of any team in the ’90s, even worse than the 1999 Browns expansion team.
1991, On August 5, Browns founder Paul Brown died at the age of 82.
1991 was the first of five seasons in Cleveland for head coach Bill Belichick. Under Belichick, the Browns managed a 6-10 record, while finishing in third place in the AFC Central.
1992, the Browns once again fail to crack the .500 mark with a mediocre 7-9 record.
1993, this season was notable for coach Bill Belichick deciding to bench, and then ultimately release, longtime starting quarterback Bernie Kosar in favor of Vinny Testaverde. Kosar resurfaced during the season with the Dallas Cowboys, when he was part of the eventual Super Bowl champions as a fill-in for injured quarterback Troy Aikman. The Browns get off to a 5-2 start despite the Quarterback Controversy. Prior to the start of the season the Browns signed Free Agent Quarterback Vinny Testaverde. Originally Testaverde was supposed to back-up his former University of Miami teammate Bernie Kosar. However, when Testaverde performed better when given the opportunity to play some felt there should be a change at the Quarterback position. However, the Browns went beyond that by unceremoniously releasing Kosar in the middle of the season. The Browns lost their next four games and seven of their last nine games to finish with a 7-9 record.
1994, it was the only season that the Browns qualified for the playoffs under head coach Bill Belichick. The Browns finished as the NFL’s number one defense in terms of points surrendered per game (12.8 points per game). In the playoffs, Belichick got his first playoff victory as a head coach in the AFC Wild Card Game against his eventual current team, the New England Patriots…and then lost to the Steelers the following week.
1995, after finishing 11–5 in 1994 under head coach Bill Belichick and winning a playoff game for the first time since 1989, the Browns were favored by many to reach Cleveland’s first ever Super Bowl. The Browns started by winning three of their first four games and were 4–4 halfway through the season.
And then it all fell apart on November 6, 1995…
The day after the Browns recorded their fifth loss, a 37–10 blowout against the Oilers, owner Art Modell announced that he was moving the franchise to Baltimore. Stunned by this news, the team collapsed and only won one of their remaining seven games and Belichick was fired. As part of the agreement to allow Modell to move, the city of Cleveland was allowed to keep the Browns name, the team’s history from 1946 onward, and everything else associated with the Browns while Modell would receive a new franchise, which would become known as the Baltimore Ravens. The Browns’ roster would be transferred to Baltimore but the club would otherwise start from scratch as an expansion franchise would. The NFL also agreed that Cleveland would receive a new franchise once a stadium was built for it, and in 1999 the Browns franchise was reactivated under new ownership. The 1999 Browns were stocked by an expansion draft, but were otherwise a continuation of the original 1946 franchise.
1999, during the course of the 1995 season, then-Browns owner Art Modell announced his decision to move the Browns to Baltimore. Modell’s new team would begin playing in the 1996 season. It would be the first time since 1935 that Cleveland would be left without an existing football team and the first time since 1943 without a team playing, when the Cleveland Rams suspended operation for one year, so the other teams could have enough players during World War II.
However, many Browns fans and Cleveland city officials were determined to keep the team in Cleveland, and orchestrated a grassroots movement to keep the team in Cleveland. The NFL responded by working with city officials, and the two parties came to a unique agreement which would provide the city with a brand-new, state-of-the-art stadium and would promise the return of professional football to Cleveland by the beginning of the 1999 season. Modell also agreed to relinquish the Browns’ name, colors and team history to the new owner of the Browns. Modell’s new team would begin playing in the 1996 season as the Baltimore Ravens.
While the Browns’ new stadium was being built on the site of the old Cleveland Stadium, the foundation of the front office was being set in place. Al Lerner won a bidding war for the new team for $750 million. Lerner hired former San Francisco 49ers front office staffers Carmen Policy and Dwight Clark as the Browns’ president and vice president.
Football finally returned to Cleveland on September 12 when the Browns opened the season against the Pittsburgh Steelers at home; Cleveland native Drew Carey was present and gave a rousing pre-game speech. However, the fans were sorely disappointed as the Browns were defeated by the Steelers 43–0. The team would go on to lose their first seven games, but finally in week 8 of their inaugural season the “New Browns” got their first ever win over the New Orleans Saints. From the Browns’ 42-yard line Tim Couch squared up and threw a Hail Mary pass that was tipped in the endzone by Saints defenders but then caught by the Browns’ Kevin Johnson. The dramatic game-winning touchdown play happened in the last two seconds of the game, causing the final score to be 21–16. Two weeks later, the Browns defeated the Steelers in Pittsburgh, 16–15, for their second and final win of the year.
The Browns finished the season 2–14—sixth in the AFC Central. It was, at the time, the worst record that the Browns had ever compiled at the end of a season. Since then, the Browns finished with worse records in 2016 and 2017. The Browns did not win a home game throughout the season.
2000, kicker Phil Dawson was the Browns’ leading scorer with 59 points. The Browns total offense ranked 31st (last) in the league, while their total defense ranked 26th in the league. The 2000 Browns’ 161 points scored (10.06 per game) is the third-fewest ever by a team in a 16-game schedule tied with the 1998 Eagles and behind the 1992 Seahawks and 1991 Colts. Nevertheless, their four games without even scoring is the most in the NFL since the 1977 Buccaneers failed to score six times; by contrast the 2016 and 2017 Browns went a combined 1–31 but never failed to score a point in any game. Even the 1999 Browns scored 217 points, or 3.50 more per game than the 2000 version.
2001, the most notable game from the 2001 Cleveland Browns season came on a December 16 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in what became known as “Bottlegate”.
The Browns were driving toward the east end zone for what would have been the winning score. A controversial call on fourth down gave the Jaguars the ball. Browns’ receiver Quincy Morgan had caught a pass for a first down on 4th and 1. After Tim Couch spiked the ball on the next play, referee Terry McAulay reviewed Morgan’s catch, claiming that the replay officials had buzzed him before Couch spiked the ball. (NFL Rules state that once the next play is started, the officials cannot under any circumstances review any previous plays.) Upon reviewing the play, McAulay determined that Morgan never had control of the ball, thus the pass was incomplete, and the Jaguars were awarded the ball. Fans in the Dawg Pound began throwing plastic beer bottles and other objects on the field. McAulay declared the game over and sent the teams to the locker rooms. NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue then called to override the referee’s decision, sending the players back onto the field, where the Jaguars ran out the last seconds under a hail of debris.
After the game, McAulay clarified that they first reviewed whether or not the electronic pager had buzzed before Couch had spiked the ball. In a discussion with the Replay Official, Bill Reynolds, it was determined that Reynolds buzzed down before the spike. After the game was called, Tagliabue called NFL Supervisor Dick McKenzie and informed him that the game had to be finished to completion. Neither McAulay nor Reynolds suggested to Tagliabue that the game should be called, which was within the power of the Commissioner’s Office. Davis would later comment that he was told that the buzzer went off at the same time as the snap. Couch had initially believed that the officials were going to penalize the Browns for intentional grounding for Couch faking a spike before spiking it, but was then told that the spike was legal. The referees then began discussing the play prior to the spike. President and Chief Executive Officer Carmen Policy refused to criticize the actions of the fans and the decisions of the officiating crew.
2002, after getting royally screwed over the previous year, the Browns rebounded nicely and made their only playoff appearance since their re-activation. It was only the Browns’ fourth year since returning to the league effectively as an expansion team, and their first winning season. It would also prove to be the only time that the team made the NFL playoffs in the 2000s, and as of 2018, the Browns have not made it back to the NFL playoffs.
The Browns lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wildcard round.
2003, the Browns were unable to replicate the success from the previous season, and they ended up winning only five games. They failed to return to the playoffs. This season would begin a stretch, unbroken as of the 2018 season, in which the Browns would not make it to the NFL Playoffs in any capacity.
2004, the Browns were looking to improve on their 5–11 record from 2003 and return to their 2002 playoff position; however, hindered by a tough schedule they regressed further and only won four games. On November 30, Butch Davis resigned as Head Coach and General Manager of the team. He was succeeded by offensive coordinator Terry Robiskie. Robiskie promoted tight end coach Rob Chudzinski to offensive coordinator.
On September 12, the Browns defeated the Baltimore Ravens, 20–3, marking the team’s only Week 1 win since returning to the NFL in 1999. In the two decades since the Browns returned to the league, the Browns went 1–18–1.
2005, this was the first season under the leadership of general manager Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel. The Browns posted a record of 6–10, improving upon their 2004 record of 4–12. However, the Browns failed to qualify for the playoffs for the third consecutive season.
2006, it began with the team attempting to improve upon their win-loss record from 2005, where the team ended the year at 6–10. They were one of the most active teams during the free agency period, and looked to be one of the most improved teams of the season at the end of the NFL Draft. They experienced many setbacks during training camp, from which they never fully recovered. By the end of the season they had finished 4–12, losing two more games than the previous season.
2007, the season began with the Browns attempting to improve upon their 4–12 record from the 2006 season, in which the team finished in fourth place in the AFC North. The Browns also attempted to overcome the many injuries that plagued the team throughout the 2006 season. The Browns remained under the supervision of head coach Romeo Crennel and they played all of their home games in Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio.
During the 2007 NFL Draft, the Browns selected Wisconsin offensive tackle Joe Thomas with the third overall selection. The Browns were also able to draft Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn with the 22nd overall selection, after completing a trade with the Dallas Cowboys, which saw the Browns send their second-round pick in the 2007 draft, along with their first-round pick in the 2008 NFL Draft, to the Cowboys for their first-round selection at number 22. The Browns completed their first-day draft by selecting UNLV cornerback Eric Wright, following another trade with Dallas, which saw the Browns giving up their third- and fourth-round picks in the 2007 draft and swapping sixth-round picks with the Cowboys.
During the off-season, the Browns signed key free agents Eric Steinbach (Cincinnati, offensive guard), Jamal Lewis (Baltimore, running back), and Robaire Smith (Tennessee, defensive end).
The Browns ultimately finished the season with a 10–6 record but nevertheless failed to qualify for the playoffs. They were beaten for the division title on a tiebreaker by the Pittsburgh Steelers and lost another tiebreaker for a wildcard berth to the Tennessee Titans. As of the 2018 NFL season, this remains the best record and the last winning season the Browns have had since returning to the NFL in 1999.
2008, the Browns finished with a 4–12 record and failed to qualify for the playoffs. The season marked Romeo Crennel’s fourth (and what would be final) year as head coach of the Browns. Cleveland played all of their home games at Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio. In the 2008 season, the Browns failed to score a touchdown for 24 consecutive quarters. Also from 2008 to present, the Browns have failed to surpass .500 and having a winning record, thus they failed to make the playoffs for the seventh straight season.
2009, the team placed fourth in the AFC North with a record of 5–11, improving upon its 2008 record of 4–12. This season marked George Kokinis and Eric Mangini’s first seasons as the team’s general manager and head coach, respectively; however, Kokinis was fired on November 2 during the team’s Week 9 bye week. The Browns played all of their home games at Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio.
The Browns missed the playoffs for the seventh straight season, tying a record set between 1973–79.
2010, the team failed to break the longest playoff appearance drought in franchise history, a current streak of eight seasons without reaching the playoffs. The team finished 5–11, matching its win total from the 2009 season and placed third in the AFC North. This season marked the first season under the leadership of team president Mike Holmgren and general manager Tom Heckert. It also marked the second season under head coach Eric Mangini. The Browns played all of their home games at Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio.
2011, the team had hoped to improve on its 2010 season, where it finished with a record of 5–11 and placed third in the AFC North, however, the team was eliminated from playoff contention in Week 14. This season marked the second season under the leadership of team president Mike Holmgren and general manager Tom Heckert, as well as the first season under head coach Pat Shurmur. The Browns played all of their home games at Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio.
2012, although the team improved on its record to 5–11 this 2012 season from its 4–12 finish in 2011, the team still placed fourth in the AFC North. The team also failed to break its 9-year playoff drought, the longest in franchise history. The 2012 season was the third season under the leadership of team president Mike Holmgren and general manager Tom Heckert and the second season under head coach Pat Shurmur. The Browns also had Jimmy Haslam as their new owner, after buying the team from Randy Lerner. The Browns played all of their home games at Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio.
2013, they failed to improve on their 5–11 record from 2012, finishing the year at 4-12 their sixth consecutive 11+ loss season. They also extended their franchise record playoff drought to 11 years. This was the first season under head coach Rob Chudzinski (who was later fired after the season) and new general manager Michael Lombardi (who was later fired in February 2014). This also marked the first full season under owner Jimmy Haslam. The Browns played all of their home games at the newly renamed FirstEnergy Stadium (formerly known as Cleveland Browns Stadium).
2014, it was the first under new head coach Mike Pettine, as former head coach Rob Chudzinski was fired after a 4–12 campaign, as well as the first under new general manager Ray Farmer. The Browns improved upon their overall record, going 7–9 and securing their first season without double digit losses since 2007. However, they failed to make the playoffs for the twelfth consecutive year, the longest postseason drought in franchise history, and still had a losing record for the 7th straight year.
2015, the team failed to improve upon their 7–9 record from the previous season. It was the second and final season under the head coach/general manager tandem of Mike Pettine and Ray Farmer as both were fired January 3, 2016 following a 3–13 season, tied for the worst record in the league with the Tennessee Titans. The Browns introduced new uniforms prior to the start of the season, along with updating its orange color to a darker hue.
2016, the franchise’s 68th season as a professional sports franchise, its 64th as a member of the National Football League and its first under head coach Hue Jackson and de facto general manager Sashi Brown. The Browns failed to improve upon their 3–13 record from their previous season, finishing 1–15, their worst record in franchise history at the time. The Browns failed to make the playoffs for a franchise record 14th straight season and had a franchise record ninth straight season with a losing record.
Despite the team’s performance, history was made as OT Joe Thomas became one of only five players in the NFL to be selected to the Pro Bowl in each of his first 10 seasons
2017, the franchise’s 69th as a professional sports franchise, their 65th season as a member of the National Football League, their second under head coach Hue Jackson and their second and final season under general manager Sashi Brown.
The Browns failed to improve upon their 1–15 record from the previous season, losing all sixteen games in 2017 and continuing a losing streak dating to the final game of the previous season. They became the second team in NFL history to go 0–16 after the 2008 Detroit Lions. The Browns became the twelfth NFL team to have gone winless playing eight games or more and the fourth since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970.
In going 0–16, the Browns became the first franchise in NFL history to have multiple seasons with 15 or more losses and the first to start consecutive seasons with at least 14 losses. They were mathematically eliminated from the AFC North title contention in Week 11, extending an active NFL record drought of 25 consecutive seasons without a division title. They were then eliminated from playoff contention in Week 12, extending their franchise record playoff drought to 15 consecutive seasons. With the Buffalo Bills qualifying for the postseason for the first time since 1999, the Browns now have the longest postseason drought in the NFL and the second longest in the four major American sports leagues, only behind the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball.
The Browns finished the season with a losing record for the tenth consecutive season, extending a franchise record. It was the first season in which the team lost every home game since 1999. The Browns also extended their road losing streak to 21 games and their losing streak within the division to 17 games, both date back to the 2015 season. A Week 13 loss moved the Browns to 1–27 in their first 28 games under Jackson, surpassing the 1976–77 Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the worst 28 game start (2–26) for a regime in NFL history. The Browns finished the 2017 season with a combined record of 1–31 over the previous two seasons, an NFL record for worst winning percentage over any two season span. After starting 2014 with a 6–3 record heading into Week 11, the Browns went 5–50 in the 55 games between that point and the end of this season.
On December 7, Brown was relieved of his duties as executive vice president. John Dorsey, formerly of the Kansas City Chiefs, was hired as general manager the same day. To further add to these failures, offensive tackle Joe Thomas missed the Pro Bowl for the first time in his career, as he tore his left triceps on October 22, ending his season. Before his injury, Thomas had not missed a single snap since joining the league in 2007, a total of 10,363 plays. He then decided to retire on March 14, 2018 following the season.
The season saw the Browns play in London for the first time in franchise history, where they lost to the Minnesota Vikings 33–16 on October 29.
2018, it was their third and final season under head coach Hue Jackson. The Browns improved upon their 2017 campaign in which they went a franchise worst 0–16, finishing in 3rd place in the AFC North with a record of 7–8–1, their best record since the 2007 season. However, they failed to end their franchise-record and league-high 15-year playoff drought and enter the postseason for the first time since 2002.
On September 9, the Browns opened their season against the Pittsburgh Steelers with a 21–21 tie. This was the Browns’ first tie since 1989, and it ended a 17-game losing streak which dated back to the 2016 season. On September 20, the Browns defeated the New York Jets 21–17, ending a 19-game winless streak.
On October 29, Jackson was fired after posting a record of 2–5–1 through Week 8 and an overall record of 3–36–1 during his two and a half seasons in Cleveland. Offensive coordinator Todd Haley, who was in his first season with the Browns, was fired the same day. Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was named interim head coach. Under Williams, the Browns went 5–3 to finish out the season.
Rookie starting quarterback Baker Mayfield threw 27 touchdown passes, breaking the record for the most touchdown passes thrown by a rookie quarterback. The previous record of 26 was shared by Peyton Manning and Russell Wilson.
2019, after acquiring Jarvis Landry the previous season in a trade with Miami and then following that up in the offseason of 2018 with the trade for Odell Beckham Jr., the buzz was incredibly high that the Cleveland Browns were finally going to put it all together and I mean INCREDIBLY HIGH, everybody was proclaiming that the Browns were going to not only turn the tide but were going to win their first Super Bowl, their team was looking so good in the offseason…so, how has that played off so far?
2 and 4……2 wins…..4 losses….for a team that everybody hyped up as the Browns team that will finally get it together….and it’s not….it’s the fucking 2011 Philadelphia Eagles again, remember when everybody overhyped that team as the “Dream Team”? Remember when they went 8-8 and missed the playoffs all together? Remember that?
Well, guess what, the Browns are that team but even more so. Don’t oversell yourself if you can’t show up in the end, so far, this Browns team is no different than any other Browns team that has come before it.
Baker Mayfield, who admittedly had a good rookie season last year (and this is coming from a Steeler fan), has regressed badly, the dream pairing of Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham Jr. has not panned out at all, the defense has never been healthy enough to really show off its’ true potential, and Freddie Kitchens is not head coach material, I can call better plays on the fucking Madden video games better than the fat fuck that’s currently coaching the Browns.
And the worst part about it is, they are being so hypocritical about themselves, they hyped themselves up all season long as the team that is going to change the NFL, Baker Mayfield is doing commercials left and right for Progressive, they’re criticizing the media for overhyping them when they did it to themselves, they blame the referees for causing them to lose games, and they just won’t admit that they are not as good as advertised.
And guess what, now they’re trying to be tough, guess what Jarvis Landry said just today about Sunday’s game against the New England Patriots…
Jesus fucking Christ, do people never FUCKING LEARN???? The LAST thing you do is provoke Bill Belechick and the New England Patriots with bulletin board material and now a game that you were already likely going to lose is now all but a certainty, there is no way in fucking hell that the Patriots are losing to the Cleveland Browns with the defense that they have and an offense that will do whatever it takes to keep your team’s offense off the field, yeah, there is no way you’re winning this game.
And that’s a shame too, the Cleveland Browns did not deserve the torture they’ve been dealt with the last 20 years, they got screwed over by their owner for getting out of town and since then, they have done nothing to return to their former glory, every five or so years there is that glimmer of hope that the Browns can return to form and get back on track whether it’s a Tim Couch or Jeff Garcia or Brady Quinn or Johnny Manziel or Robert Griffin III or DeShone Kizer or Baker Mayfield and then it never comes, the Browns continue to live in NFL purgatory hell and for a team that comes into this year acting like they’re the hot shit, they’re just plain old hot shit right now.
Now before anybody starts getting at me saying I’m being too harsh, let me make one thing perfectly clear, I don’t think Baker Mayfield is a bad QB, I don’t think the team the Browns has put together is a bad team, it’s a good football team with capable players, the coaches are the problem, I honestly believe that Gregg Williams should’ve stayed as head coach after what he was able to do in the second half of last year getting the team back on track, hiring Freddie Kitchens as head coach after only half a season as the offensive coordinator was a terrible mistake on the levels of when Ben McAdoo was the head coach of the Giants, it’s getting to those levels.
This team that everybody has been building up has not had a whole lot of time together to get it together and until they prove me wrong, this Cleveland Browns team that is playing right now is the most overhyped team in NFL history and will add yet another chapter in their legacy of NFL failure.
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